The capital is clearly ahead in the technology sector. The regional government has revealed that 28% of the country’s digital job offers are in Madrid. They have also confirmed that the community is home to one in four mid- and high-end technology companies. Two encouraging figures for future employment in Madrid, which are accompanied by the announcement of the advances in the digital shock plan announced in March 2024, with a budget of 63 million euros.
According to the Telefónica Foundation’s Employment Map, the most abundant offers are currently aimed at information and communication technology consultants -15%-, software developers -14%- and digital project managers -9%-. This also highlights the demand for system administrators, data analysts and cybersecurity experts.
The same study, whose data has just been updated with contributions from Infojobs, Tecnoempleos and Buscojobs, reports on the most requested digital skills. Cloud computing – the study of storing information only in the cloud – is the most needed, followed by the always sought-after knowledge of programming languages such as Java and Javascript.
Among the least demanded digital jobs between June and August of this year are mobile developers and robotics engineers. In this sense, the trend is clear: information technology is on the rise and computer hardware is on the decline. As for the technological skills that no longer constitute a strong asset for the CVs of Madrilenians, the use of Adobe Photoshop and SEO positioning stand out, whose added value is increasingly diminishing due to the arrival of Generative Artificial Intelligence.
According to the latest report from the Madrid Knowledge Foundation, jobs directly related to AI in the community have increased by 62% compared to last year. The same study highlights the importance of startups, which provide 18% of technology jobs in the Community.
To measure the magnitude of the changes in the demand for work, a comparison: in Madrid, more software developers are sought than teachers/education professionals. The problem in this sector is therefore not the lack of vacancies; it is the lack of suitable profiles to fill the positions. More than 70% of innovative companies have difficulty finding staff that match the profile they are looking for.
New work impulses
The administration of Isabel Díaz Ayuso is aware of the paradigm shift and is committed to a plan that will allow the creation of 40,000 new digital jobs. To achieve this, the proposed investment amounts to 63 million euros aimed at optimizing the use of technological tools for the capital’s residents, both for those who need basic experience and for those who seek to improve advanced knowledge.
The Ministry of Economy and Employment has already launched an initiative called Digital Talent Plan this year, in collaboration with Amazon, Microsoft, Oracle and SAP. Currently, 32 measures are active for this purpose. These are free courses that allow you to get the most out of the main applications/platforms on the market, which are usually only used superficially.
Also active are the Madrid Aula Digital programs, grants for training vulnerable populations, digital development initiatives in rural areas and digital banking courses for the elderly. All public policies that prepare the capital so that its citizens arrive in good condition for the new wave of global digitalization, which threatens to eradicate many jobs but which, in turn, generates new opportunities for those who know how to keep up.
