Tunis — The Ministry of Employment and Vocational Training on Tuesday organised a workshop dedicated to presenting the results of a sectoral study on the employment market's needs for occupations and skills in the information and communication technologies sector.
This study was conducted in collaboration with the Tunisian Observatory for Employment and Qualifications (ONEQ) and the International Labour Organisation (ILO), with funding from the European Union, as part of a project aimed at establishing a national system for monitoring and forecasting employment market needs.
Minister of Employment and Vocational Training Riadh Chaoued affirmed on this occasion that the employment market has undergone rapid transformations due to technological and economic development, which has led to a strong demand for a specialised workforce in the information and communication technologies sector, both at the national and international levels.
He added that forecasting is no longer a choice, but a necessity to enable the various stakeholders to make decisions that meet market requirements and to ensure a better alignment between human resources preparation and skills in economic enterprises in Tunisia and abroad.
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The Minister specified that this study is part of a series of sectoral studies launched by the Ministry, which have also covered land transport, logistics, construction, and public works, in order to provide accurate data for developing public policies in training and employment in line with the economy's needs.
He pointed out that this study revealed that the European market will need approximately 10 million specialists in the information and communication technologies sector by 2030, considering that this opportunity can be capitalised on by developing Tunisian talent capable of meeting external demand.
He said that the results of this study has revealed a gap between higher education and vocational training programmes and the skills actually required in the labour market, which needs a revision of human resources training mechanisms.
Chaoued pointed to a certain delay in the revision of educational curricula and the creation of new specialities, specifying that the Ministry is relying on short-term supplementary training to bridge the gap between basic training and enterprise requirements to "boost the employability of higher education and vocational training centre graduates".
Taking the floor, ONEQ Director General Fakher Zaibi indicated that this study has identified the most in-demand occupations and skills in the information and communication technologies sector, and developed a map of the distribution of needs in five European countries: France, Italy, Germany, Belgium, and Luxembourg.
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He explained that this study has analysed current and future needs, which will help Tunisia steer vocational training and higher education policies towards specialities in high demand within the European Union.
Zaibi added that the study revealed that the most in-demand occupations include software development, web application development, cloud engineering, data engineering, cybersecurity, and data protection, adding that these specialities have experienced growing demand, both at the national and international levels.
He indicated that the information and communication technologies sector currently employs more than 100,000 specialists in Tunisia, noting a rapid pace of growth, which could offer new employment prospects for young people.
