Importance of technical and business skills for future IT professionals

Everyday usage of new information and communication technologies and recent changes in the economy increased the importance of educated IT employees with the right combination of technical and business skills. The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the management literature and practice by answering the question of what abilities today's IT students should have to fulfil the requirements of their future workplace. Our surveys via the questionnaires and semi-structured interviews among IT employers and IT students identify the importance of hybrid skills and the increasing managers' awareness of this topic. The findings indicated that not only the employers but also the students call for the increase of education efforts to improve these skills. The skills and knowledge recognized in our surveys should be mastered by the university educators to prepare graduates by providing innovative learning and teaching methods. For IT students, it is essential to acquire and develop technical skills as the core ones, but they also need the business skills to become desired professionals who can play a significant role in the future workplaces and the economy as a whole.