On International Women’s Day, statistics show that less and less women are filling in vacancies in ICT jobs. With a foreseen shortage of 756.000 ICT workers by 2020, Europe put great hopes in women with an ICT education. Yet, unbalance between women’s personal and professional lives is forcing many female ICT professionals out of the job’s market.

In 2018, only 11.8% of workers in digital jobs with ICT-related studies are female, while in 2011 women were 14%[1]. Today, almost 9% of women with tertiary education leave ICT jobs to take care of their children, or, in general, in pursuit of a better balance for their professional and personal lives. Every year, this costs 16.2 billion Euros in productivity loss across Europe.

In spite of this, many sectors are increasingly realizing that technology opens a door for change. The industrial digital revolution is re-shaping the old working patterns in the European labour market. New possibilities of working and attending meetings from home, working part-time, flexible workings hours and remote access to information allow everyone to find a better balance between work and private engagements. The European Commission has recently made a proposal for new work-life balance legislation that builds on the new possibilities offered by digital technologies. The European DIGITAL SME Alliance believes that creating better conditions for working women can contribute to fulfill the skills shortage in ICT.

“The European digital sector, lead by a host of small and medium sized companies, is keen to attract and retain women in ICT jobs. We are committed to work with the European Commission and the other EU Institutions to improve legislation on work-life balance as to create the best possible working conditions for both women and men’ – commented Oliver Grün, the President of the European DIGITAL SME Alliance.

[1] iClaves – ‘Women in Digital Age’, 2018