The new IT occupations are here!

There is probably no other occupational group as strongly associated with topic of "digitalization" as the Information technology (IT) occupations. New developments in the areas of hardware and software, the increasing digitalisation of work and business processes and the growing importance of data storage, data transfer and IT security directly impact the world of work. On behalf of the Federal Government and together with the responsible federal ministries as well as the social partners and experts from the field of company practice, the Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training (BIBB) has updated the training regulations for four dual IT occupations. This concerns the training occupations of information technology specialist, IT systems electronics technician, digitalisation manager and IT system management specialist. The new training regulations enter into force on 1 August 2020.

The following revisions shown in detail below apply to the four dual occupations:

• For the training occupation of information technology specialist, the two new specialisms of data and process analysis alongside digital networking are being added to the existing specialisms of system integration and applications development. Information technology specialists specialising in data and process analysis ensure the availability as well as the quality and quantity of data, and develop IT solutions for digital production and business processes. Information technology specialists specialising in digital networking work with the network infrastructure and the interfaces between network components and cyber-physical systems.
• For the occupation of IT systems electronics technician, it is mainly the electrical content which has been revised.
• Digitalisation managers (formerly: information technology officer) manage the digitalisation of business processes at operational level.
• In the case of IT system management specialists (formerly: IT system office management clerk) the emphasis is on the supply and marketing of IT services and the management and administration of IT systems.

The following applies across all of the occupations:

• The topics of IT security and data protection are significantly expanded.
• There is increased focus on social and personal competencies.
• The extended final examination has been introduced. This involves an exam in two parts at two separate times. The established “company-based project work” examination tool is retained.

"The new training occupations," explains BIBB President Friedrich Hubert Esser, "provide the IT sector in other areas of the economy with an attractive way of addressing the challenges of digitalisation using their own internally trained specialists." He added that the next step will be to also update the continuing training system for IT so that graduates from the IT occupations can be provided with further promising career opportunities in the future. These attractive employment and career opportunities also come with the hope of increasing the proportion of women in the IT occupations - this continues to remain relatively low."

Background:

Since the end of the 1990s, more than 300,000 skilled workers have been trained in the dual IT occupations. In recent years in particular, demand has steadily grown. The training occupation of information technology specialist is now one of the top 10 occupations in the ranking of training occupations in terms of new contracts (2019: around 16,440). For the employment system, the status of IT occupations has risen significantly in recent years in virtually all areas of the economy. Approximately one-third of IT specialists work in the information and communications technology sector (ICT), the remaining two-thirds work in other sectors in particular in the manufacturing industry, in the public sector and in other services. The majority of trainees are trained in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).