Talent Monitor: IT labor market in figures

The labor shortage in the Netherlands is now present in all occupational groups, according to the UWV. Figures for the second quarter of 2022 show that with a tension indicator - number of open vacancies divided by the number of people receiving unemployment benefits for less than six months - the occupational group IT is classified as the most tight of sixteen groups. Therefore, extremely interesting to further scrutinize in this Talent Monitor. This jam-packed edition looks at:

• Development of job openings and freelance assignments (demand side)
• Labor market activity, job changes and sourcing pressure (supply side)
• Pull factors, working conditions, most desired work or client (IT workers' wants & needs)
• Desired IT skills

A peek into the data kitchen

This IT Talent Monitor special is packed with findings. Below we have listed the most important ones. Important to note is that while the average IT professional does exist, it is much more important to use more specific target group information to achieve recruitment success in the job market. Enclosed data mainly reflects the larger and broader trends and developments:

• No surprise: IT professionals are extremely scarce. Demand is increasing, but supply is also up 6.9% year over year. Over the past decade, the number of IT workers has nearly doubled, and by 2030 there will be more than 1 million in the Netherlands. By that time, one in ten people in the labor market will be IT professionals.
• There remains a continuing growing demand for IT workers, both permanent and self-employed. The latter group is growing less rapidly and is more dependent on economic fluctuations.
• There is increasing competition between clients who more often use labor market communication to be attractive, resulting in some having offers and others having none. The latter can certainly be called a trend. The tightness in the self-employed market means that clients are investing more in “selling” their assignments.
• The number of active job seekers is very low. The battle for the latent job and assignment seeker takes place mainly on LinkedIn, networks, platforms and the company's own VMS/ATS systems. While salaried IT professionals are increasingly being hounded - nearly two in three are approached at least once a quarter - it is notable that active sourcing of IT professionals seems to be on its way out slightly. This may run parallel to slightly fewer assignments on the market, and we don't want to call it a trend either, since it is by far the most important sourcing channel, from both permanent and flex.
• One in five IT professionals manages to remain structurally under the radar. This is quite apart from the group that is found and approached, but does not respond. The right to privacy and the right to be unreachable is certainly a trend - whether or not soon supported by legislation in the Netherlands - that IT professionals are leading in the labor market.
• In terms of working conditions and pull factors, IT workers have already seen many of their needs met. This is increasingly a hygiene factor. Selling the job, the assignment and the work, that's the emphasis. What am I going to do? With whom? For whom? And why? Three sentences won't get you there as an employer.

Curious about all the results? Download the Talent Monitor here.

About Talent Monitor

Every quarter Intelligence Group and HeadFirst Group provide unique insights on labor market related themes based on Intelligence Group's recruitment and labor market data, combined with HeadFirst Group's hiring data. Both data sources are stored in a structured way, in accordance with the ISCO standard.