The development of the professional career is, above the salary, the main motivational element of students and young people when choosing a job.

STEM occupations (acronyms for science, technology, engineering and mathematics) are rising in the job market. Over the next three years, the industry will demand more than 90,000 data and artificial intelligence (AI) professionals, according to a report by the Immunity Technology Institute and Randstad Digital, the company's technology services division. This company of Spanish talent is in the first place in the world.

The study pays special attention to the factors that lead professionals to choose a job or, if they are already working, to change. Thus, among students, the main reason for choosing when accepting a job is the potential for professional development, with 77% of mentions, followed by salary (72%), the possibility to work remotely (44%) and training (44%).

"Professional development, salary, continuous training and telecommuting are the factors that the technological profile considers a change of attitude. In fact, it is a fact that 50% of those surveyed would not want to work for the same company for an unlimited time, and this implies a paradigm shift that we all have to make", highlighted Juan Riva, CEO and founder of the IMMUNE Technology Institute.

"Professionals who decide to train in technology and STEM disciplines are the professionals who will have the highest employability in Spain in the coming years. Companies are constantly looking for professionals trained in technological and scientific fields, which has led to an unemployment rate close to 0 in these disciplines," says Jorge González, director of Randstad Digital.

For the unemployed who are actively looking for work, 66% of them cite professional development as a priority when choosing a job, followed by salary (61%), telecommuting (36%) and training (34%). Finally, professionals who are actively searching prioritize salary (70%), professional development (60%) and telecommuting (50%).

Another point that the research examines is how many people who are currently working prefer to work for a long time at the same company. 46% of respondents answered that they would prefer to stay in the same company indefinitely, and 45% if there is a project that interests them. 8.5% would stay for a maximum of one to five years and 2.6% indicate that they prefer to work for themselves.

Priority areas

By age group, we can see how programming is the specialty that arouses the most interest among professionals, since 73% of respondents between the ages of 18 and 25 mention it as a priority, followed by cyber security (35%) and data analysis (31%). Moving up the age group, programming (62% of interested professionals) still remains a top priority for 26- to 35-year-olds, as do 36- to 45-year-olds, who choose coding as their number one priority (46%).

"Coding is a discipline common to almost all technological fields. Although not essential, it is recommended that people who want to start a career in technology know some programming. Among our younger students, cyber security also stands out, often as a field that everyone is looking at in the future," he says. Juan Riva

After coding, another specialty gaining interest among STEM professionals is data analysis. Among professionals aged 18 to 45, a third mentions that this preferred specialty reaches 39% in the case of workers aged 46 to 55.

According to gender, more than half of men opt for programming (52%), while women are divided: cyber security (24%) and, likewise, coding and data science (23%).

"Despite its great potential for growth, the sector faces major challenges, such as talent shortage and retention or the gender gap, as it remains one of the most masculinized sectors," says Jorge González.

Randstad

Randstad is a leading specialized talent company in Spain and the world. With more than 60 years of experience, it operates in 4,900 offices in 39 markets, offering equal opportunities to everyone and promoting agile, diverse and specialized talent among its clients. It has the ambition to build a more inclusive, dynamic, sustainable and future-ready labor market.

It enables 55,000 people to have a job every day in Spain, thanks to its 2,200 employees distributed in more than 250 offices. It works to increase the employability of workers and provides more than 1.5 million hours of training each year. In 2023, Randstad Iberia had a turnover of 1,605 million euros.

Visit Randstad.es for more information or through its social networks Facebook, on LinkedIn, TikTok and YouTube. For labor market data and analysis, go to Randstad Research.

About IMMUNE TECHNOLOGY INSTITUTE

IMMUNE TECHNOLOGY INSTITUTE was founded in 2019. It is a hub for creating talent in the technology sector at European level.

Through an educational method based on the case to be solved and a human approach to technology, IMMUNE offers various trainings, such as degrees, masters, refresher courses or summer courses for the youngest.

In addition to the quality of the teachers, IMMUNE TECHNOLOGY INSTITUTE has partners from higher education, business, institutions and technology, among which Amazon, Google, IBM and HP stand out.