The latest figures from Eurostat’s research also show that more can be done to encourage women in the ICT space.
Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union, has released data indicating how countries within the EU are faring in regards to employment in the technology sector.
The information shows that there are more than 10m people working within Europe’s technology industry as information and communication technology specialists (ICT), representing 5pc of all employed people.
With the figures pertaining to 2024, the most recent data is indicative of a “continuing upward trend”, with the share rising by 0.2 percentage points from the previous year and by 1.6 percentage points since 2014.
Ireland was shown to be among the top countries, coming in above average as the region with the sixth highest number of ICT professionals working in the EU. More than 6pc of employees in Ireland were found to be employed within the technology space.
The country with the highest recorded number of ICT specialists in total employment was revealed to be Sweden (8.6pc), followed closely by Luxembourg (8pc) and Finland (7.8pc). Italy (4pc), Romania (2.8pc) and Greece (2.5pc), were among the countries with the lowest levels of employed technology professionals within the EU.
Additionally, Eurostat’s data also indicated that more could be done to encourage women to undertake technology or ICT specialist roles. Less than 20pc, or only one out of every five ICT specialists operating within the EU last year was a woman.
Czechia (13pc), Malta (14.7pc) and Hungary (15.2pc) were found to have the lowest number of women employed as ICT specialists, while Estonia (27.6pc), Romania (27.3) and Bulgaria (27pc) had the highest figures. Ireland had the fifth highest number of women in tech roles at 24.4pc, coming in above the EU average of 19.5pc.
Currently, in Ireland, there are a number of technology companies looking to recruit, for example, Dundalk’s ControlSoft Automation Systems, Dublin, Cork and Belfast’s ICT Services and US medtech Hollister Inc, which has a manufacturing site in Ballina, Mayo.
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