The optimism is the dominant note in the ICT services sector in Spain. Expectations point to growth in turnover and the demand for specialized talent. The vast majority of businessmen believe that, after the recovery of the sector that began in 2021, this year will be key to consolidating their activity and rebuilding their profits, with some growth expectations that have not been seen for 13 years.
According to the indicators of the last installment of the monthly barometer ICT Monitorprepared jointly by VASS and the Center for Economic Prediction CEPREDE, the indicator of billing outlook in the ICT services sector rises from +58.3 to +78.4 pointswhich, on a +/- 100 scale, would be equivalent to saying that andl 89.2% of Spanish businessmen expect short-term growth in turnover, exceeding last month’s figures by ten points.
This optimism regarding the growth of the ICT services sector is not only reflected in Spain, but also in the European Union as a whole. Although the report prepared by VASS reveals that thes billing expectations in Spain have four months beating community averagesunusual circumstance in the historical series of TIC Monitor.
“This good perspective can also be interpreted as a significant thermometer of the Spanish economic recovery. If ICT services expect to increase their activity and rebuild their income statement, it is because the rest of the Spanish business fabric can and wants to bet on technology and digitization: good expectations in our sector will always be good news for other companies”says Antonio Rueda, director of VASS Research and head of TIC Monitor.
This optimism is also reflected in the short-term job creationsince on a scale -100/+100, the +46.1 points of the index would be equivalent to saying that 73.1% of employers trust that their workforce will increase between February and April. Although it is slightly below the +54.7 points registered in the last installment, it should not be lost sight of that this level doubles the average of our climate indices since August 2020, which is when expectations began to recover, after the lockdown.
Job demand on the rise
The demand for specialized employment in the digital services sector is also on the rise, maintaining a year-on-year job creation rate of +6%which translates into the sixth month with growth above 5%.
“At this rate of job creation, Spain could have more than a million ICT specialists by 2030”, values Antonio Rueda, although he also clarifies that “The figures are still far from the objectives proposed by the European Commission in its ‘Digital Compass’. If we want to meet these goals, we must speed up the creation and retraining of professional profiles in technical fields”.
Lastly, this optimism regarding the turnover and employability of the ICT sector in the short term is based on the good figures that it has reaped after the months of the pandemic. Such is the case that, between November 2021 and November 2020, the increase in turnover in the field of ICT services has been +14.9%, exceeding forecasts and fueling a 2021 year-end with growth in the environment of double digits. “The increase is even more notable when compared to the figures collected in March 2020, in a framework of restrictive measures as a result of the pandemic, since the level of activity has grown, compared to that date, by no less than one 2. 3%”, Wheel concludes.
