Beginner IT specialists need to work harder to find a job

Experts say demand for labor in the IT sector, while still high, has leveled off from the boom of a few years ago. Experienced workers remain in high demand, but competition has gotten tougher for beginners in the field.
Estonian Association of Information Technology and Telecommunications (ITL) board member and Playtech Estonia CEO Ivo Lasn highlighted that there have been noticeable changes in labor demand over the past couple of years, particularly as startups have slowed down.
"There is demand both within and outside the sector, but it's not like it was a couple of years ago, when it was easy to find a job even before you'd graduated," he explained. "Nowadays it's vital to have a solid education and strong foundational knowledge in order to land a job."
"We've actually been talking to businesses for years about the need to increase the number of master's graduates and admissions in Estonia," said Margus Haidak, director of the Higher Education Policy and Lifelong Learning Department at the Ministry of Education and Research.
"Many of those who complete their first level of studies can move onto these programs, and then could also take on higher-level positions at companies instead of starting out as junior developers," he added.
In addition to vocational and higher education institutions, many retraining opportunities exist on the market as well. One such program is "Choose IT!" ("Vali IT!"), which has trained nearly 900 software developers over the course of seven years.
The company behind the program is BCS Training, and according to CEO Anni Sild, 85 percent of last year's participants have completed internships, while around half are now working in the field.
"Typical positions they move into are overwhelmingly software developer roles, but there are also analysts, testers and project managers," Sild said. "We've gotten feedback that 'Vali IT!' grads are clearly highly motivated and have strong backgrounds — they're ready to contribute, which employers appreciate, and as a result, companies are all the more willing to help them further develop their tech skills."
Both Lasn and Dagmar Vlassov, HR manager at the IT company Boku, noted that job openings vary somewhat between companies. Larger firms are more willing to hire junior employees, but doing so can be too resource-intensive for smaller companies to swing, leading them to seek more experienced workers instead.
"Since we're a fast-growing company, we actually need quick results, and the more experienced the employee when they join the organization, the faster they learn," Vlassov explained regarding why Boku's Estonian branch is currently focusing on hiring more experienced employees. "They only need to familiarize themselves with the specifics of the organization, rather than requiring daily monitoring or guidance."
Lasn pointed out that in Estonia, two-thirds of IT specialists work within the IT sector and one-third outside of it, but globally, it's the opposite: two-thirds of specialists work outside the sector. He believes this shift will reach Estonia soon as well.
"This isn't just the domain of IT companies," he explained. "For example, banks could be considered among Estonia's largest IT companies; they have IT departments made up of hundreds of people."
It specialists aren't locked into one field, the ITL board member highlighted.
"You've got the entire market, and the market needs more and more IT professionals across all sectors," Lasn said. "That means the range of opportunities and choices for where someone can ultimately land a job is so much broader."
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Editor: Mirjam Mäekivi, Aili Vahtla