Increase the number of student places on IT programmes

Thousands of first-year students have started Danish IT programmes in the autumn, but if it is up to their future employers, there are far, far too few of them: Never has there been a shortage of more IT graduates than right now - and therefore a plea to the incoming government is heard from one of Denmark's largest IT consultancies. There are solutions, says the IT Industry.

Over the autumn, young people have found their new study places at IT programmes across the country, such as ITU, DTU and AAU. This year, the number of applications to the IT University of Copenhagen was 1,768, although only 416 were admitted at bachelor's level, which corresponds to a decrease of 8% compared to the number of admitted in 2021. At the same time, women still only make up 35% of the total applications (which is, however, a slight improvement compared to the previous year, when there were only 31% female applicants). This is happening at a time when 84.5% of Danish IT companies consider the lack of IT skills to be the biggest barrier to growth, while just over 50% of companies have had to give up filling positions altogether because there were no applicants for the jobs. And this makes the IT Industry react:

"The unfortunate thing is that the political focus is on moving educational places around and out instead of increasing them. Because we need to turn up the volume where young people are happy to apply and where there are also jobs. Young people - not surprisingly - want to study in the cities and see it as part of youth life to try their hand at life in a big city. Therefore, it may be a very sympathetic idea to move study places to the countryside, but it just does not meet the wishes of young people. So if we are not to risk missing out on potential new IT specialists, we have to meet that demand and realize that young people do not just follow the study places," says Mette Lundberg, director of the IT Industry, who refers to a survey conducted by the think tank DEA.

Not politics but common sense

With more than 600 IT consultants, the IT consultancy Epico-IT is one of Denmark's largest companies in its field, and at the headquarters in Ballerup, they are shaking their heads at the situation: According to the company's COO and Head of Resource Management Charlotte Thomassen , the development is so worrying that many find it difficult to recruit the workforce themselves through outsourcing or nearshoring, and in extreme cases have to find the skills on the other side of the world. And that is why Epico hopes that a future government will focus on IT education:

"As one of Denmark's largest IT consultancies, we are on the front line and therefore know for ourselves that it is serious when it is said that Denmark may be short of approximately 20,000 IT specialists by 2030. Therefore, it is completely wrong that many who want to study on the IT line are rejected in Copenhagen. It should be emphasized that we do not believe that the number of student places should be cut elsewhere in the country. It is not about where, but about increasing the number of student places on IT programmes across the country. It's not politics - it's common sense."

Charlotte Thomassen.
COO & Head of Resource Management

Many points to score for politicians

However, there is one grip in the "toolbox" that can still be used: Namely, a rethinking of the relocation agreement from 2021. Here, Mette Lundberg predicts many political points to be won for the parties that dare to think of IT as an equally critical part of the future welfare as social care assistants and nurses - a theme that the consulting firm Epico also focused on during this year's People's Festival:

"We are facing an upcoming general election, and a warm wish from here is that a new government – regardless of whether it will be red or blue – will take the initiative to look at the agreement and review it. There is a need to significantly increase the number of training places, but here the relocation agreement has de facto put a cap on IT training places in the cities, where there is otherwise potential to increase admissions. So we have to shake things up so that we don't have to turn away a lot of hopeful young people again, but maybe as early as next year we can welcome many more students to the IT programmes where they want to study. Ultimately, this will benefit the IT labour market throughout Denmark, where employers in both the private and public sectors are waiting for them," says Mette Lundberg, Director of Policy and Communication, IT-Branchen.

Written by Sara Høyer