IW: Weak economy leads to job decline in IT professions

Cologne – According to a study by the Cologne Institute for Economic Research (IW), the weak economic development in Germany is increasingly impacting the IT sector. According to the study, the average number of vacancies in IT professions fell by 26.2 percent in 2024 compared to 2023, according to the newspapers of the Funke Media Group (Sunday editions), citing the study's short report. 46,431 positions remained unfilled, 16,500 fewer than in the previous year. The IT sector is particularly hard hit by the decline in jobs: Across all professions, the number of vacancies for qualified workers fell by only 4.4 percent between 2023 and 2024. Study author Jurek Tiedemann attributes the sharp decline in the IT sector primarily to the weak economic development. However, a connection with the use of artificial intelligence cannot be proven. Instead, the study states that companies are more likely to expect an increase in demand for IT specialists due to the use of AI. However, because growing uncertainty about economic developments is causing companies to make cost-cutting measures and postpone investment projects, the number of vacancies is also declining. With regard to IT services, Tiedemann also cited the relocation of services abroad as a reason for the decline in vacancies. According to the economist, positions requiring a master's degree or diploma are particularly affected by the decline (minus 33.7 percent). The decline in vacancies is particularly noticeable in computer science (minus 46.2 percent) and business informatics (minus 38.2 percent). In contrast, demand for IT personnel in the areas of legal and tax consulting, as well as auditing, has increased. 1,770 positions were recently advertised in this sector, around six times as many as in 2023. Of the 88 economic sectors examined, the number of IT vacancies decreased in 56 sectors and increased in 25. Despite the decline in vacancies, the shortage of skilled workers in IT remains high. According to the IW, more than 13,500 vacancies in IT professions could not be filled last year. In computer science, seven out of ten vacancies could not be filled either. "Thus, the skilled labor situation in these professions remained very tense, despite a significant decline in vacancies," Tiedemann said. For the study, data from the Federal Statistical Office were linked to the IW's skilled labor database. For its skilled labor database, the IW uses the unemployed and vacancies registered by the Federal Employment Agency.