BERLIN, Dec. 13 (Xinhua) -- The shortage of IT specialists has reached a new record high with 82,000 vacancies, almost doubled compared to the previous year, the German information technology association bitkom announced on Thursday.

Eighty-two percent of managing directors and human resource managers of German companies surveyed by bitkom complained that they are unable to fill vacancies in IT sectors. Companies expect that the number of vacant positions will continue to rise, with 59 percent even predicting the shortage of skilled IT workers to worsen in the future.

Bitkom managing director Bernhard Rohleder said that "every vacancy is a loss. A loss of added value, less innovation and this is no longer only relevant for the IT industry, but also for the entire economy and the public sector." On average, vacancies remained unfilled for five months. This condition could "soon develop into a threatening brake on growth", he added.

The lack of qualifications of potential applicants, but also the strong demand for IT specialists that leads to high salary expectations of applicants, are the biggest problems says Bitkom. Seventy-six percent of companies stated that applicants demand "too much salary". As a result, suitable candidates would be hardly affordable for many companies, especially for SMEs and in the public sector.

Bitkom director Rohleder added that "IT professionals have the best outlook on labor market". According to the survey, three out of ten companies across all industries have at least one IT vacancy open and are looking for software engineers.

For recruiting, most German companies rely on online platforms. Ninety-two percent of surveyed companies publish job offers on their own website or on an associated career page. Looking ahead, online media and direct contacts would become increasingly important while classic recruitment channels such as newspapers, trade magazines and employment agencies would become less important.

Recently, a study conducted by the German Economic Institute (IW) warned about an unprecedented shortage of skilled workers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics-based (STEM) professions. According to the study, German companies were unable to fill 337,900 STEM vacancies in October this year. Enditem

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