Dutch employers can hardly fill (security related) IT vacancies according to the ‘Factsheet Arbeidsmarkt Ict-beroepen’ from the Dutch Employee Insurance Agency UWV. There is no other profession where the shortage is as dire as IT. According to employers, 7 out of 10 IT vacancies are difficult to fill. This shortage of IT specialists has been growing since 2017.

 

Highest employment growth for security specialists

In the second quarter of 2019, 40% of the employers in IT indicate that they “experience impediments in their business activities because of a shortage of personnel”. They are predominantly looking for highly educated IT professionals with specific knowledge and skills. In this vein, there is a high demand for software developers, testers, database administrators and analysts, and IT-architects. Especially the employment growth of 54% for security specialists in the past three years to 5.000 is striking. Three out of four employers cite a ‘lack of professional knowledge among applicants’ as the reason why they cannot fill vacancies.

 

Need for continuous development

Freek Kalkhoven; labour market advisor at UWV, notices that IT specialists are expected to expand their knowledge because of the rapidly changing cyber security market and digital developments in society. There is a qualitative mismatch because the required specialised qualifications are rapidly changing. This makes it necessary for job applicants to keep their IT knowledge and skills up to date and aligned with the current demand.

 

Overcoming the tight labour market

To address the tight IT labour market, employers increasingly look for talent & potential and less for qualifications & work experience. UWV participates and initiates various projects to interest and attract job applicants and to retrain them for security related positions in IT.

 

How about the security sector?

The results of the UWV study align with the preliminary findings of an analysis conducted in August 2019 by the HSD Office towards the percentage of open IT positions at 192 HSD-partners. The HSD analysis of security employers supports the finding that there is a high demand for software developers in specific applications and languages, testers, database administrators and analysts, (ethical) hackers, engineers, and IT-architects. This analysis also reveals that particularly Small and Medium Enterprises that specialise in cyber security have relatively more open vacancies than corporate business.

 

Making your Career in Security

The Hague Security Delta Office is committed to contribute to a better alignment of demand and supply in the security domain, see for instance our Human Capital Agenda Security 2019-2022. Do you have a passion for IT and technology and are you alert to trends and developments in the field of cyber security? Consider a career in this domain! Security Talent offers a selection of vacancies of HSD Partners and studies & courses.

 

The UWV article (in Dutch) can be found on the UWV website.