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he digital talent gap between supply and demand grows year after year in Barcelona. This is the main conclusion of the report Digital Talent Overview 2019 prepared by Barcelona Digital Talent, a public-private alliance promoted by Mobile World Capital Barcelona, the Technological Circle of Catalonia, Barcelona Tech City, 22@ Network, Foment del Treball, Generalitat de Catalunya and Ajuntament de Barcelona, with the support of GSMA, and whose objective is to convert Barcelona into the capital of digital talent.
According to the study, 1 out of 10 job offers (11.4%) in Barcelona are already digital, which represents a 40% increase compared to the previous year. In contrast, the supply has only increased by 7.5%. In absolute numbers, it is estimated that for every digital talent job offer, there are only 17 candidates, a figure much lower than the 37 in the case of non-technological profile offers. There is, therefore, a need to reduce the existing digital talent gap to respond to the demands of the Barcelona market.
The report proposes different lines of action to reverse this situation, from promoting social awareness to foster digital skills and professional retraining to attracting international talent. It also contemplates measures such as adapting training programs according to market needs and using Big Data to know in real time the state of digital talent and market needs at all times.
The report's presentation event was attended by the president of Foment del Treball, Josep Sánchez Llibre, the director of Digital Talent at MWCapital, Jordi Arrufí, and the main agents of the Barcelona ecosystem involved in talent management and recruitment. During the event, a positive assessment was made of the success of the first action carried out by Barcelona Digital Talent, held within the framework of 4 Years From Now (4YFN), and whose objective was to connect digital talent and companies. During the three days of the event, a speed dating was held, with the collaboration of Social You, where 450 interviews were conducted with more than 15 companies such as SEAT, EPSON, Vueling, Infojobs or CaixaBank, among others. The talent was provided by more than 10 training centers, such as UPC, UPF, IronHack, Codeworks or IT Academy, from the Ajuntament de Barcelona.
BARCELONA: A POLE OF ATTRACTION FOR TALENT IN THE DIGITAL SECTOR
30% of ICT professionals are from outside Barcelona, which shows that the Catalan capital continues to be a city with a high capacity to attract digital talent. Madrid and London are the cities that export the most talent to Barcelona. On the other hand, in terms of technologies, Big Data is the one that proportionally imports the most talent to Barcelona, with 58.7%, followed by cybersecurity with 42.67%.
DATA AND SCIENTIFIC ANALYSIS, ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AND MACHINE LEARNING AND GENERAL OPERATIONS DIRECTORS, THE MOST IN-DEMAND PROFESSIONS IN 4 YEARS
The study Digital Talent Overview 2019 publishes that in the next four years, a boom in new technologies is expected, which will increase the demand for professions such as data analysis and scientific specialists, software and app programmers, and e-commerce and social media professionals. In contrast, jobs related to process automation and linked to data entry, compatibility and payroll, secretarial work, auditing, and cashiers, among others, are expected to become obsolete.
The study shows that currently, in Barcelona, the most in-demand positions in consolidated technologies are those related to web and mobile application development and user experience. In this sense, classic profiles such as Java developer, SAP developer or .NET developer are still highly demanded.
For their part, emerging technologies require very specific profiles related to artificial intelligence, closely followed by the Internet of Things (IOT) and 3D printing, which employs the most workers.
IN EUROPE, 900,000 VACANCIES
The talent gap is not only present in Barcelona. Digital professionals are also needed in Europe; specifically, it is estimated that about 900,000 will be needed by 2020. In recent years, the demand for professionals with digital skills in Europe has increased by 36.1%, much higher than the 3.2% increase in other professions.
On the other hand, throughout Europe, incorporating women into the digital sector is a pending issue. The training of women in higher education ICT courses only represents 17% of the total. While in Spain women with higher ICT studies do not reach 13%, in the case of Barcelona, the figure exceeds the European average and of the total of 67,720 existing digital professionals: 22% are women.
Barcelona Digital Talent
Barcelona Digital Talent is a public-private alliance that works to ensure alignment between the needs of companies and digital talent initiatives, develop new digital skills, and position Barcelona as a global digital talent capital.
It is promoted by Mobile World Capital Barcelona, Cercle Tecnològic de Catalunya, Barcelona Tech City, 22@Network, Foment del Treball Nacional, Generalitat de Catalunya, and Ajuntament de Barcelona.
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