2022 review and 2023 outlook for the digital sector: +7.5% growth expected in 2022, and promising prospects for a sector in search of talent

Outlook confirms the sector's positive momentum

Against an unstable economic and geopolitical backdrop, the digital sector is resilient in 2022. For the sector as a whole, Numeum has slightly revised its initial growth forecast to +7.5% for 2022. All business lines are benefiting from higher sales:

• Estimated 2022 growth for cloud publishers and platforms: +11.3%.

• Estimated 2022 growth for Digital Service Companies (DSC): +5.1%.

• Estimated 2022 growth forEngineering and Technology Consulting (ICT): +7.4%.

Growth in the digital sector is largely driven by the cloud (+24.5%) and its implementation in many companies. Growth is also underpinned by its classic levers: Big data, IoT services and digital transformation. Finally, investment in cybersecurity rose by 11.3% to 3.3 billion euros, due to the upsurge in cyberattacks in recent years.

The size of the digital market is estimated at 60.9 billion euros in 2022: 35.5% of the market for software publishers and cloud platforms with 21.6 billion euros in sales, 52.4% of the market for NSEs with 31.9 billion euros, and 12.1% for Engineering and Technology Consulting with 7.4 billion euros.

Rising corporate IT budgets look set to boost growth in 2022. According to a survey of 100 CIOs conducted by PAC for Numeum, 48% of CIOs say their IT budgets will increase in 2022, up 10% on 2021 .

For corporate customers of digital players, the main IT objectives are, in order of priority: information system security (very important for 62% of CIOs), data analysis (49%) and improving the customer experience (43%). There has also been a sharp increase in the importance attached by CIOs to teleworking (implementation, tools…) and agile development. Taking CSR issues into account is a criterion almost systematically demanded of suppliers in calls for tender (source: PAC survey, for Numeum).

A sector that recruits but faces a talent shortage

For the 12th year running, the digital sector is creating jobs. The number of employees in the digital sector totaled 572,126 in 2021 (sources: BIPE, Numeum and ACOSS data), with 34,000 net new salaried jobs created in 2021. This dynamic trend looks set to continue, with recruitment up 66% and stable at 24% in the second half of 2022.

However, companies are facing a war for talent. This is not a new problem, but one that is intensifying and becoming an impediment to growth. The sector is facing a shortage of talent trained in all the skills needed to deploy the latest technological innovations and support the entire French economy in its digital transformation.

According to APEC, private sector companies are primarily looking for IT development professionals (4 out of 10 job offers). Industrial and technical IT and Big Data will see the strongest growth in terms of job offers in the first half of 2022 compared to the first half of 2021.

While remuneration is the leading cause of staff departures, digital companies are using a number of levers to try and retain their talent: hybrid working, training, career development, incentive plans and retraining in the most promising and innovative areas.

5 key growth drivers to continue boosting France's digital sector

As established in the previous half-year, 5 strong trends continue to drive the digital sector:

• Digital transformation(a 7.6 billion euro market with +10.2% growth in 2022): such as customer experience, e-commerce, dematerialization…
• Cloud C&SI- Consulting and systems integration (a market worth 15.3 billion euros with +24.5% growth in 2022): vertical clouds, globalized collaboration, widespread use of containers, modernization and transformation of apps/infra…
• Big Data(a market worth 2.3 billion euros, with +22.1% growth in 2022): the collection and use of data to help evolve business models, develop new services…
• IoT (a market worth 5.9 billion euros with +19.1% growth in 2022): the development of new solutions with 5G and edge computing…
• Security(a market worth 3.3 billion euros, with +11.3% growth in 2021): with increased investment and outsourcing to counter the upsurge in risks, attacks…

Responsible digital on the front line

Digital responsibility is a key lever for reconciling the environmental and digital transitions. According to a survey carried out by PAC for Numeum between September 28 and November 14, almost 80% of digital companies are implementing specific measures to limit their energy consumption this winter. More than half of these companies have decided to anchor their actions more deeply and sustainably by training their staff in climate and energy saving issues.

Among the sector’s new challenges, CSR is a subject that players have been quick to grasp. The survey reveals that 93% of CIOs are issuing calls for tender requiring their suppliers to demonstrate responsible actions (vs. 66% in 2020). At the same time, 76% of digital companies are responding to at least one call for tender with CSR criteria.

More and more Responsible Digital projects for CIOs in 2023: CIOs are taking up the environmental issues linked to their own business: 28% of them have IT projects that support their company’s “business” CSR issues, and 57% will have such projects in 2023.

Finally, according to Motherbase’s barometer of startup employment in France, recruitment in the greentech and HRtech sectors of the French start-up industry is booming: 4,335 jobs were created in these two sectors between January and November 2022. This job creation dynamic is greater than in other sectors.