In five years, the demand for digital professionals in Barcelona has doubled, where it has gone from 15,856 to 33,624 annual job offers, according to the Digital Talent Overview 2023 report, prepared by Mobile World Capital Barcelona. “The pace of demand from companies is very important, and not enough professionals with a digital profile are being generated,” says Marc Soldevila, head of Strategy and Operations at Mobile World Capital Barcelona. The study also points out that, despite these increases, demand from companies continues to be much greater.
In the last five years we have gone from having 17 professionals for each offer to only twelve today. The most in-demand profiles currently are that of web developer, who is responsible for the creation and programming of web sites and platforms; expert in artificial intelligence, who makes operational improvements based on machine learning – “In recent years the demand for this profile has tripled,” highlights Soldevila –; and cybersecurity expert, who is responsible for the privacy and security of a company or organization. “As in other digital profiles, in cybersecurity there is also an imbalance between supply and demand, with three professionals for every job offer,” emphasizes the head of MWC.
The adoption of generative AI will also imply changes in the labor market and will lead to the creation of new professions and jobs. The figure of the prompt engineer stands out, or prompt engineer, those in charge of formulating input instructions that guide the AI models to generate the desired results. They are professionals specialized in interacting with large-scale language models and need to understand human-computer interaction, natural language processing, and the capabilities of the artificial intelligence model they are working with. Other professions linked to generative AI are equity auditors, data analysts, data governance specialists, interface designers and usability experts for AI systems or cybersecurity experts, among others.
When it comes to hiring a person, the digital sector is no different from other sectors. Eva Roca, head of Talent Acquisition at Schneider Electric, highlights the importance of soft and power skills: emotional intelligence, time management, teamwork, empathy, motivation, creativity, etc. “We hire those people who have a technological base, harder, but who, at the same time, know how to adapt to unknown contexts, have curiosity and the ability to learn. We take care of them and maximize their well-being and development and, consequently, their performance. If I am happy and content, I will give my best professionally.” Roca believes that companies must create environments to encourage performance, “and we give the tools so that people can bring out the best in themselves.”
Bruno Rizzuti, head of the IT Data Management Services department at Boehringer Ingelheim, indicates that the most in-demand profiles are those linked to cybersecurity, engineering and data science, and, as they do at Schneider Electric, they focus on the soft skills. “Technology advances rapidly, we are forced to constantly recycle and reconvert ourselves, to learn, which is why we look for professionals who have interpersonal skills, who know how to network, relate to clients, suppliers, etc. We work with systems, but in the end what weighs most is the human factor.”
At NTT Data, a multinational company specialized in technology consulting services, soft skills are also very important. “We are a company very oriented towards collaboration, teamwork, projects, where curiosity, the desire to learn and human quality are important,” emphasizes Vanessa Paulino, head of IT Recruitment at NTT Data, who adds: “ In addition to soft skills, it is also important to have a solid technical base and motivation to continue advancing.” Rizzuti points out the importance of working with multidisciplinary teams and away from a hierarchical structure. “At IT we are 365 people in Barcelona alone, with people from all over the world, which represents many cultures, points of view and great wealth,” she says.
Training and being able to progress within the company itself is one of the characteristics in which companies in the technology sector stand out the most, partly due to their need to attract and retain talent. “I used to change jobs every three years; Once I joined Boehringer I no longer needed it, because the company has allowed me to grow and change locations,” explains Bruno Rizzuti, who moved from Buenos Aires to Barcelona as a result of the professional opportunity that his company offered him. Martí Rodríguez, head of Digital Talent and Innovation at Barcelona Activa, emphasizes that the technology sector “is a sector that is thirsty for talent, and anyone who has the desire and the necessary skills can access it.”
