Spain is facing a paradox in its labor market: unemployment coexists with an alarming shortage of qualified tech professionals. This situation directly impacts the IT sector, which is key to business competitiveness in today’s digital economy. While demand for information technology talent keeps growing, companies can’t fill essential roles, slowing their ability to innovate, scale, and digitally transform their processes.
The tech gap is widening
As of September and October 2025, more than 120,000 IT positions remain unfilled in Spain, especially in areas like software development, cybersecurity, data analytics, artificial intelligence, and cloud computing. This figure not only reflects a mismatch between training programs and market demand, but also a loss of opportunities for the business ecosystem.
The outlet Directivos y Gerentes reports that over 40% of Spanish companies struggle to bring in tech profiles, and that only 18.7% of graduates in Spain come from STEM fields, compared to 26% across the EU. This education gap limits access to key profiles and slows the country’s digitalization.
Direct impact on digital transformation
The lack of IT talent has immediate consequences for corporate digitalization plans. Many organizations can’t build their own tech products, automate critical processes, or roll out AI solutions because they don’t have the right technical teams in place. That leads to delays in innovation, lower operational efficiency, and greater dependence on external providers—especially for SMBs that can’t compete with large corporations for talent.
On top of that, the adoption of disruptive technologies slows down, which limits sustainable growth and reduces the ability to adapt to market changes. Instead of moving forward quickly, digital transformation gets bogged down—or even stalled—by a structural shortage of trained tech professionals.
SMBs at a competitive disadvantage
Small and mid-sized businesses, which make up a huge share of Spain’s business fabric, face big challenges adopting technologies like artificial intelligence. Even though 56% already use AI tools—and 93% of those report improved productivity—many SMBs still struggle to attract and retain specialized talent.
The business sector speaks up
At the “Impulsando el Talento” event organized by CEOE and Grupo Clave in 2025, speakers stressed that the lack of IT talent is currently the main roadblock to business growth in Spain. Tech leaders agreed that without trained programmers, analysts, or data engineers, innovation slows and crucial competitive advantages are lost. Tech talent has become a strategic factor—every bit as important as financing or market access.
Spain needs to move fast if it wants to compete in the global digital economy. The IT talent shortage doesn’t just jeopardize tech projects—it holds back growth and the long-term viability of thousands of companies. Solving this challenge calls for coordinated action among the education system, public administrations, and the private sector to boost tech training, professional reskilling, and active policies that help develop digital human capital.
Sources consulted
- El Economista — “Labor productivity in Spain remains stagnant in 2025.” Available at: Article on labor productivity in Spain (September 2025)
- Directivos y Gerentes — “Shortage of tech talent in Spain: a brake on innovation.” Available at: Report on Spain’s tech talent shortage
- Revista Pymes — “The lack of talent slows AI adoption among Spanish SMBs.” Available at: Impact of the talent gap on AI adoption by SMBs
- CEOE and Grupo Clave — “Conference: Tackling the talent shortage challenge.” Available at: Business forum on talent shortages in strategic sectors
