Why IT Jobs are Hard to Fill

Why IT Jobs are Hard to Fill

DEED’s Hiring Difficulties Study looks at select occupations to determine why Minnesota employers might be having difficulty filling open positions. The first round of the study last fall examined six occupations.

In the latest round, employers were asked about their experiences filling jobs in information technology (IT).

According to a story by Alessia Leibert in a recent issue of Trends magazine, the study found that employers had difficulty filling 37 percent of their openings in IT. Within that group, employers said they struggled to fill 37 percent of the jobs because job candidates did not have the right skills. Another 32 percent were difficult to fill because of other factors, such as uncompetitive wages, inconvenient work hours or unsatisfactory work locations. Another 31 percent of the IT jobs were difficult to fill because of a mix of skills deficiencies and unattractive job characteristics.

While formal education is often preferred for job candidates, it generally is not considered absolutely necessary in IT. Fourteen percent of IT vacancies in the survey required no formal education. Often, specific skills and previous work experience were more important to the employer than the degree of formal credentials. The most common degrees employers preferred were computer science or management information systems.

The Hiring Difficulties Study is an ongoing survey that will continue looking at select occupations in Minnesota to determine whether jobs are hard to fill and, if so, whether a skills gap or other factors are responsible.

More details about the study and its findings are at www.tinyurl.com/HiringDifficultiesStudy.