Speaking ahead of the CeBIT computer fair in Hannover, Dieter Westerkamp from the Association of German Engineers (VDI) announced that the information technology sector employed 176,000 people in 2008, an all-time high that even eclipsed IT boom year 2000.
An industry survey also indicated that the economic crisis was having little effect on the IT sector. Only twelve percent of the 500 poll participants said that there would be job losses in the computer departments of their firms.
Westerkamp also called on politicians to place a higher priority on computers and internet access in schools, as well as to invest in technology and IT. Such a policy would “create long-term growth and employment”, he said.