The global talent shortage may not be the freshest topic, but the cold, hard fact remains that 75% of employers still report difficulty filling roles.
Estonia, with its population of 1.3 million, is no stranger to creative ways of keeping the country’s ever-growing list of tech companies and unicorns staffed with top-tier tech talent. One of those ways is to scale up education for said talent.
There’s perhaps no better place for it — according to the latest PISA results, Estonia remains a leader in education. With Estonian students ranked first in science and mathematics in Europe, the Estonian education system lends itself perfectly to solving the IT talent shortage.
Enter Kood/Jõhvi, a self-study and peer-to-peer learning programme for ages 18+. The school in the Eastern Estonian town of Jõhvi has enrolled over 700 active learners and received over 10,000 applications since its launch in 2020. Its mission: to innovate education and rapidly supply skilled IT professionals to the market.
Founded by 8 Estonian entrepreneurs, including Taavet Hinrikus (ex-Wise, Plural) and Martin Villig (Bolt), the Kood community is now expanding to Finland after three successful years of operating in Estonia. The recently launched kood/Sisu in Finland has just enrolled its first 150 students, marking the first international expansion for Estonia’s //kood initiative.
kood/Jõhvi co-founder Taavet Hinrikus said: “We see kood/Sisu as an important member of the //kood community on our road to an international network of regional coding schools. Both schools are launched to bring innovative coding education and new career opportunities to people in regional centres, driving interest and elevating economies. The cooperation potential, even in Europe, is tremendous.”
The //kood school model is designed for self-study and peer-to-peer learning, and is tailored to equip future software developers with critical coding skills.
The initiative aims to significantly reduce the global shortage of software developers and radically change the current educational framework by integrating practical, real-world coding applications. So far, so good — to date, 80% of graduates have found developer and engineer jobs at IT companies.
Estonia’s ambition to solve global problems seems to know no bounds. Are you interested in investing in Europe’s smartEST talent pool? Our quick and free e-consulting service can help.
