Barcelona's digital workforce reached 100,920 professionals in 2022

Barcelona's digital workforce reached 100,920 professionals in 2022, marking a 7.9% increase compared to the previous year. This is a key finding from the fifth edition of the 'Digital Talent Overview 2023' report, driven by Mobile World Capital Barcelona, that analyzes the impact and evolution of the state of digital talent.

An important fact that emerged from the report is that one in four job offers in Barcelona is digital. In 2022, 32,276 digital job offers were published, a figure that doubled the demand for jobs in 2018 (15,856) and represents a 35% growth compared to 2021. If in 2018, one in ten job offers was digital (11%), in 2022, it will be one in four (26%).

One-Third of Barcelona's Digital Professionals are International

Within the European Union, employment growth in the ICT sector over the past decade has been seven times higher than overall employment growth. While employment has grown by 7.9% in the last ten years, ICT employment has increased by over 57%.

Barcelona remains an attractive destination for international professionals, with one-third of its digital workforce being international (32.4%). Over the past five years, Barcelona has attracted 12,382 international professionals.

Digital Sector by Gender

Barcelona ranks among the cities with the highest representation of women in the digital sector. While there were approximately 15,000 women in digital professions in 2018, that number has now surpassed 29,000 in 2022. This acceleration has increased the overall percentage of women in digital careers from 22% to 28.7%.

In terms of specialization, Barcelona stands out for the presence of women in digital marketing (46%) and UX/UI (43%).

Despite the positive trend of increasing female representation in the sector at the European level, the gender gap persists in the digital field, with women accounting for an average of 27.8% of the digital workforce in Europe.

New Trends: Revolutionizing the Job Market

Generative AI is playing a new role in the labor market. For the first time, the 'Digital Talent Overview 2023' report includes insights from 20 international experts who analyze the progressive implementation of generative AI-based technologies.

The adoption of AI has more than doubled since 2017, rising from 20% to 50% of surveyed organizations. Furthermore, 63% of companies expect their investment in AI to increase in the next three years.

The adoption of generative AI will bring about significant changes in the job market as we know it today, leading to the emergence of new professions such as Prompt Engineers, who will serve as intermediaries between technicians and AI systems; auditors specializing in algorithmic fairness and bias to ensure transparency, intelligibility, and neutrality; data analysts; data governance specialists; interface designers; usability experts in AI systems; and cybersecurity professionals, among others.

The surveyed experts have highlighted the new dynamics associated with the democratization of AI and the benefits it can bring. Generative AI has the potential to eliminate routine tasks, saving time and promoting high-quality creativity and decision-making support.

Source: Mobile World Capital Barcelona