Digital Spain 2025: Impact on Tech Hiring and Foreign Talent Recruitment

‍What is Digital Spain 2025?

Digital Spain 2025 is a government initiative focused on speeding up digital transformation across businesses, public administration, and the workforce. It includes 48 measures across 10 focus areas to help Spain grow as a digital economy.

For tech employers, this initiative brings both new possibilities and some challenges. It will increase demand for specialized digital skills, offer financial support for businesses, and influence hiring trends for companies bringing in international talent.

The 10 Focus Areas of Digital Spain 2025

1. Expanding Digital Connectivity – Ensuring all areas, including rural regions, have access to high-speed internet.
2. Advancing 5G Deployment – Positioning Spain as a leader in 5G technology to boost productivity and innovation.
3. Improving Digital Skills – Training 80% of the population in basic digital skills, with a focus on workforce development.
4. Enhancing Cybersecurity – Strengthening national cybersecurity capacity and creating 20,000 new specialist roles.
5. Digitizing Public Administration – Making government services more efficient and accessible through digital tools.
6. Supporting SME Digitalization – Helping small and medium-sized businesses adopt digital solutions.
7. Modernizing the Industrial Sector – Promoting digital transformation to improve sustainability and reduce emissions.
8. Boosting the Audiovisual Sector – Increasing Spain’s attractiveness for digital content production and media investment.
9. Developing a Data-Driven Economy – Encouraging AI and big data adoption across industries.
10. Protecting Digital Rights – Establishing legal frameworks to safeguard privacy and digital freedoms.

How Digital Spain 2025 is Affecting Tech Hiring

Growing Need for Tech Talent

With digitalization expanding, there’s more demand for experts in artificial intelligence (AI), cybersecurity, cloud computing, and data analytics. Employers are actively looking for specialists in roles like:

• AI Engineers
• Cybersecurity Specialists
• Cloud Infrastructure Engineers

Spain has a shortage of thousands of professionals in these areas. More than 30% of Spanish companies struggle to find employees with technical skills, particularly in AI. On average, it takes almost six months to fill digital positions, driving up hiring costs and slowing down technology adoption.

With competition for skilled workers increasing, companies in Spain are offering significantly higher salaries for technical roles, with some willing to pay up to 33% more to attract professionals with cloud technology expertise. These trends highlight the growing value of digital skills and the need for businesses to develop strong recruitment and training strategies.

Spain’s Ministry of Education has started partnering with private companies to address this skills gap through large-scale training initiatives. For example, Amazon has committed to training 500,000 young people in Spain with digital skills by 2027, helping to build a future-ready workforce. This initiative, in partnership with Spain’s Ministry of Education, will support young talent in developing expertise in AI, cybersecurity, and cloud computing - some of the most in-demand skills in today’s job market.

More Opportunities in Regional Tech Hubs

Madrid and Barcelona have traditionally been the main tech centers, but other cities like Valencia and Bilbao are gaining momentum thanks to government support and startup activity. This expansion gives companies more hiring options outside the usual talent hotspots.

A Focus on Practical Skills

More employers are hiring based on hands-on experience and learning potential rather than just academic degrees. Reports show that 83% of hiring managers now value problem-solving and adaptability over formal qualifications. This is good news for international candidates with relevant expertise.

Government Support for Digital Transformation

Spain is offering financial support to businesses investing in digital tools and innovation. This includes grants, tax benefits, and funding for projects using AI, automation, and cloud-based solutions.

The government is offering grants of up to €40,000 to help companies adopt new technologies, including artificial intelligence (AI), big data, and the Internet of Things (IoT). For small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs), that often find it difficult to afford these upgrades on their own, these grants are especially useful.

Simplified Hiring Processes for Foreign Professionals

To help fill talent gaps, Spain has updated its immigration rules, making it easier and faster for companies to bring in international employees. Key improvements include:

• Quicker work permit approvals
• Easier relocation processes for foreign hires
• Expanded visa and permit options

‍

What Employers Should Consider

Finding Skilled Professionals

With tech talent in high demand, companies face tougher competition for skilled workers. Bringing in international professionals can help businesses fill gaps when hiring locally is challenging.

Along with good pay, benefits, and career development, employers should also assist with visas and residency. Many international hires need support with Spain’s visa options, paperwork such as the NIE and TIE, as well as help adjusting to work and life in a new country.

Language Considerations

While many startups and global companies work in English, some roles still require Spanish. Businesses hiring international professionals may need to offer language training or other support.

How Employers Can Adapt

To stay competitive, companies can:

• Improve Global Mobility Strategies to fill tech positions
• Make use of government funding for digital projects
• Work with universities and training programs to develop tech skills
• Offer upskilling programs for current employees

Conclusion

Spain’s digital transformation is moving fast, and companies that adapt quickly will have a clear advantage. With tech roles taking longer to fill and salaries rising, hiring internationally is becoming a necessity for many businesses.

The good news? Between government incentives, emerging regional hubs, and a growing focus on skills over degrees, there are more opportunities than ever to build a strong tech team. But success depends on getting the details right: competitive salaries, visa support, and relocation assistance that helps talent hit the ground running.

If you’re looking to hire and relocate international talent to Spain, now’s the time to do it. Jobbatical’s team specializes in Spain’s immigration process and can help you secure work permits, navigate taxes, and relocate employees stress-free. Book a free consultation with our team today.