Increasing Demand for Project Management Professionals, 25 Million Project Managers Needed by 2030

Organized by the EU Projects Institute and Avelant company, a conference on project management titled ‘Challenges of Project Management – Knowledge and Skills Required for Successful Project Managers’ was held on Friday, discussing the key challenges faced by projects in Croatia.

The most prevalent issues are, of course, delays in project implementation, rising costs of work and goods, and insufficiently developed competencies of project teams responsible for implementing complex projects. They also highlighted that Croatia is lagging behind global trends and is not sufficiently focused on the benefits that projects create for the broader community.

However, Croatia finances most of its investments from European Union funds, and according to the latest data presented at the conference, Croatia, with a disbursement rate of EU funds of 81 percent, ranks 13th on the list of EU fund utilization for the financial perspective 2014-2020.

At the conference, alongside the organizers Vitomir Vela, director of the Institute, and Ariana Vela, director of Avelant, participated Zlatko Barilović, director for the development of educational programs at the Institute, Ernest Vlačić, president of the Thematic Innovation Council for Energy and Sustainable Environment, Mladen Vukomanović, president of IPMA Croatia, Sanja Georgina Stropnik, president of PMI Croatia, and Marko Šimac, regional coordinator of PM2 Alliance.

As confirmed by Vukomanović during his presentation, about 32 percent of the global economy is produced through projects, and by 2027, a need for 88 million people in project roles is anticipated, while the value of the project-oriented part of the economy will reach 20 trillion euros.

– However, global research also shows a very low level of achievement of fundamental project goals: time, money, and scope, therefore the development of the project profession is of significant social interest – said Vukomanović, emphasizing that the project economy has arrived.

The president of PMI Croatia reiterated that projects create our future, presenting data that there is a high demand for project managers in Croatia compared to the supply in the labor market, which is also a global problem.

– According to our research, the global economy will need an additional 25 million project managers by 2030, which is even 2.3 million professionals annually – stated Stropnik.

She specifically mentioned the main project skills that are important to possess as a project manager. These include communication skills, building interpersonal relationships, collaborative leadership, strategic thinking, creative problem-solving, and commercial awareness. These skills, Stropnik claims, should be developed throughout life, from elementary school, through high school, to university and beyond.

The Institute also considers this, having organized this conference to raise awareness of the challenges of project management, but also to present its own educational programs through which it will educate all interested parties for work on projects.