Lack of IT specialists affects Slovakia’s competitiveness

Slovakia is lacking 10,000 IT specialists, the IT Association of Slovakia pointed out on Wednesday, and unless major changes are made, it expects the result to be a post-2020 deficit of up to 20,000 employees, negatively affecting the competitiveness of the Slovak economy and the creation of new jobs. This was stated at a Wednesday press conference by Slovak IT Association President Mário Lelovský. The Association, supported by the academic sector and private sector organisations, stated the need to increase the funding of IT study departments. This opinion is planned to be addressed in the form of an open letter to the Slovak Government. It notes that the largest demand is for IT specialists, but the number of applicants and applicants for IT is paradoxically decreasing. Robert Redhammer, Rector of the Slovak Technical University in Bratislava added that Slovakia has to invest more in IT teachers if it wants to be an economically and socially advanced country.