The Future Quantum Workforce: Competences, Requirements and Forecasts

Abstract

With the increasing industrial relevance of new quantum technologies, a well educated quantum workforce becomes increasingly crucial. The foreseeable lack of workforce raises important questions. What are the expectations regarding the future relevance of second generation quantum technologies? What are the requirements for the workforce in the coming quantum industry? Which competences, knowledge and skills should the future employees have? In this paper, we report the results of our study that was aimed at mapping requirements and forecasts for the future quantum workforce. Our study consisted of three consecutive survey rounds. In total, we gathered $188$ responses from industry and academic experts across Europe. Our study results served as an input for the development of the European Competence Framework for Quantum Technologies, delivered by the project QTEdu CSA for the European Quantum Flagship. In addition, we will discuss predictions from experts related to the future quantum workforce, including the expected industrial relevance of the main areas of quantum technologies, the need for educational efforts, and the expected influence of quantum technologies on everyday life.

19 pages, 10 figures; reviewed version to be published in Phys. Rev. Phys. Educ. Res

References in corpus (1)

• Defining the quantum workforce landscape: a review of global quantum education initiatives

Cited by in corpus (18)

• Disparities in access to US quantum information education
• Advancing quantum technology workforce: industry insights into qualification and training needs
• Seeing quantum effects in experiments
• A Framework for Curriculum Transformation in Quantum Information Science and Technology Education
• Extending the European Competence Framework for Quantum Technologies: new proficiency triangle and qualification profiles
• Using multiple representations to improve student understanding of quantum states
• A Holistic Approach to Quantum Ethics Education
• Preparing students for the quantum information revolution: Interdisciplinary teaching, curriculum development, and advising in quantum information science and engineering
• Introducing Quantum Information and Computation to a Broader Audience with MOOCs at OpenHPI
• Landscape of Quantum Information Science and Engineering Education: From Physics Foundations to Interdisciplinary Frontiers
• Exploring the mechanisms of qubit representations and introducing a new category system for visual representations: Results from expert ratings
• Affordances and Challenges of Incorporating a Remote, Cloud-accessible Quantum Experiment into Undergraduate Courses
• A Christmas Story about Quantum Teleportation
• Insights from Educators on Building a More Cohesive Quantum Information Science and Engineering Education Ecosystem
• Investigating High School and Pre-High School Teachers' Perceptions and Experiences Introducing Quantum Concepts: A Survey of QuanTime and other Quantum-related Activities
• Do we have a quantum computer? Expert perspectives on current status and future prospects
• Building Bridges in Quantum Information Science Education: Expert Insights to Guide Framework Development for Interdisciplinary Teaching and Evolution of Common Language
• Photonic quantum information with time-bins: Principles and applications