ICT Labor Market Needs: The Gap in Secondary School Graduate Soft Skills as a Challenge for the Educational System

Abstract

The article deals with the topic of soft competences that should be acquired by secondary school students planning a professional career in the Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) sector. In connection with the assumed goal, the paper describes key trends on the labor market in the ICT sector, indicates soft skills related to those trends as identified, and presents the results of an analysis of curricula and class organization in domestic and foreign secondary schools providing education in occupations related to the ICT industry. It also provides draft recommendations for companies. The research was carried out over the years 2019–2020. Desk–research, Individual In–depth Interview (IDI), and Computer Assisted Web Interview (CAWI) methods were used, as appropriate at each stage of the work. As a result of the research, a competency gap was identified among secondary school students, a catalogue of soft competences was developed, and recommendations were formulated for the Polish educational system at ISCED Level 3 and for entities in the ICT sector.