Battle for IT professionals: Thousands are missing from the Hungarian labour market

If we aimed to find a sector that has expanded at a sweeping pace even during the pandemic, it is likely that the IT field would emerge as an absolute winner: there are almost 44,000 IT professionals missing from the Hungarian labour market.

In addition, the COVID crisis has significantly accelerated digitalization and automation, making the recruitment of young professionals an even more relevant issue for HR leaders and executives. Information technology is still the 3rd most popular field of study in Hungary, however, it seems that higher education needs to step up if it wants to keep up with the growth of the market. Where do next-generation IT people come from and what awaits the sector in the coming years? WHC Group was set to answer these questions with the help of leading HR experts at the IT & Telco & Startup industry event of the HR Fest conference series.

Over the past year, there has been a worldwide increase in the demand for IT professionals.

Digitalization and automation are conquering more and more industries, so the recruitment of qualified IT people has become a key strategic objective for companies. It is difficult to fill the open vacancies in Hungary as well, thanks to this trend – and the time-consuming online selection processes – it can now take up to 80 days for recruiters to find the right candidates for open positions. Although all market actors compete with each other for the best candidates, the demand and supply are quite diverse: some are looking for fresh graduates to train them according to their own business goals, while other companies prefer recruiting colleagues with years of experience. On the other hand, some IT professionals are boldly applying for new positions in the hope of getting interesting projects or a more attractive compensation package, while others are playing a safe game.

“Even the ever-prospering IT sector offers some very interesting HR trends for us to observe these days. Mobility in the IT industry, for example, has emerged significantly in this past year, and many – companies and workers alike – expect the hybrid model and remote work to stay with us for a long time. While this trend can be dangerous, because IT specialists are more likely to choose opportunities abroad, other excellent professionals can finally be drawn back to Hungarian companies, as the real value of domestic wages is quite competitive in this sector” – said Viktor Göltl, CEO of WHC Group at the online conference.

IT professionals are already craving back to the office

The Human Resource Managers of Telenor Hungary and 4iG agreed that the key to the successful recruitment process is to formulate accurate, targeted value propositions that help companies attract the professionals they really need. Besides, the employee referral programs are becoming very effective tools in the selection of IT professionals these days. According to Ibolya Gothárdi, HR Director of 4iG, almost half of the candidates now come to the company’s attention thanks to the recommendation of colleagues, so they allocate a part of the resources intended for employer branding to this area. The HR executives also shared some bullet-proof tips against fluctuation as recent in-house surveys show that IT specialists reward exciting projects, a cohesive team, and executives with a flexible attitude the most, and they cannot wait to be part of the office community again.