The European Office for Statistics, Eurostat, has revealed that in 2022, three million people were employed in information and communications technology (ICT) – related roles in the European Union, with men comprising 84.4 per cent of this workforce.
Compared to the previous year, 2022 witnessed a significant 6.7 per cent increase in ICT employment, with three million people engaging in the field, SchengenVisaInfo.com reports.
Among the three million employers in the ICT field, men dominated the industry with 84 per cent, totalling 2.5 million of the total workforce.
By contrast, women comprised 15.6 per cent of the workforce, totalling 463,100 employees. This marks a 4.4 per cent increase from the previous year when the number stood at 443,400.
This gender gap was present in each of the EU Member States in 2022, with Slovenia recording the highest share (93.0 per cent) for men in the total number of employed persons.
When analysing the EU members, Slovenia (93 per cent), Latvia (91 per cent), Poland (90.3 per cent), Czechia (89.9 per cent), Belgium (88.7 per cent) and Slovakia (88.5 per cent) stand out for having the highest percentage of men with ICT education among the employed population.
On the other hand, the data reveals that the highest percentages of women equipped with ICT education were found in Bulgaria (31.5 per cent), Denmark (31.3 per cent), Cyprus (30.2 per cent), and Romania (29.9 per cent).
Furthermore, due to EU policies promoting ICT education for women, recent statistics indicate a growing trend. Between 2016 and 2022, the number of employed women with ICT education in the EU increased by approximately 3.6 per cent annually.
Meanwhile, the number of men employed with ICT education increased by an average of 4.2 per cent annually.
Eurostat data further shows that from 2016 to 2022, there was an average annual increase of 4.1 per cent in the number of employed individuals in the EU who possessed tertiary-level ICT education.
The top four countries with the highest average annual growth rates in the number of employed individuals holding tertiary-level ICT education were Luxembourg (with a growth rate of 22.3 per cent per year), Ireland (at 21.9 per cent per year), Slovenia (at 12.8 per cent per year), and Bulgaria (at ten per cent per year).
In the context of this growing trend in ICT education and employment within the EU, it becomes evident that despite the progress made, more men with ICT education continue to secure job opportunities compared to women, as previously reported.
