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Swedish public sector crying out for IT talent

The Local Sweden
The Local Sweden - [email protected]
Swedish public sector crying out for IT talent
Oslo 20180423. En som sitter og arbeider i åpent kontor landskap. Foto: Vidar Ruud / NTB scanpix / TT / kod 20520

The Swedish public sector reports that it is getting more and more difficult to find IT staff to fill a skills gap.

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In autumn 2021, 68 percent of state sector employees told the Swedish Agency for Government Employers’ survey that they had a shortage of suitable applicants. That’s up from 44 percent the year before, and a return to pre-pandemic levels, reports Publikt, a magazine published by the ST trade union.

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Digital skills are sorely needed. As many as 39 percent of employers said they had a shortage of system developers and system administrators, and 27 percent reported a shortage of IT staff in areas such as operation, maintenance and support.

According to the survey, there is also a lack of legal professionals. Almost half of employers working in the areas of social security and public administration report a shortage of these professionals.

At the same time, the number of state sector employers struggling to retain employees is falling – in 2021, only 12 percent of respondents had had such issues. However, this percentage is higher in some sectors than others: in the education sector, one in four employers reported difficulties retaining staff.

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Anonymous 2022/01/20 18:09
I meant "little to no Swedish". Sorry, can't edit/delete my comments here.
Anonymous 2022/01/20 18:08
I think if you're willing to put up with newcomers who know little to no English in the public sector then you will be able to fill up these positions rather quick. Give them some time and they'll learn. Your concern is their IT skills not their Swedish skills. Especially since they are not public-facing.

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