Does digital technology create or kill jobs? Do Europeans have the digital skills needed?
29 May 2014 12:50 PM
The latest data,
released by the European Commission, shows that even though more people are
going online, almost 50% of the population have insufficient digital skills for
today’s work environment.
This skills gap persists at a
time when more ICT specialists are needed than ever before, and ICT related
jobs are being created much more quickly than in other
sectors.
@NeelieKroesEU says: "There are plenty of EU
initiatives to help national governments and private organisations tackle these
issues, including: Opening up education, learning to code, Get Online
Week, eSkills for
jobs and the Grand Coalition for Digital
Skills and Jobs."
Up to 50% are digitally
illiterate in some EU member states
Lack of skills is proving to be
more of an ICT access barrier than cost. 37% of households without a broadband
subscription say that this is because of a lack of skills, compared to 26% who
cite equipment costs as a barrier.
40% or more of the population in
some EU member states have no digital skills (Italy, Greece, Bulgaria and
Romania), meaning large groups in Europe remain digitally
illiterate.
Up to 85% of the overall
population and 83% of the workforce in some Member States do not have the
digital skills they need.
The 11 Member States where more
than 50% of the population has insufficient digital skills are: BG, CY, CZ, EL,
HR, IT, LT, PL, PT, RO, SI. Overall, 47% of Europeans have insufficient digital
skills.
Yet a growing number of jobs
require Digital Skills
ICT-skilled employment has grown
by over two million jobs since 2000, and these jobs are growing seven (7) times
faster than overall employment.
The biggest employment gains
have been made in: software publishing, computer programming, consultancy, data
processing and hosting, within the ICT sector; and in financial and business
services (consultancy, accounting, market research etc.) outside the ICT
sector.
This growing demand, when set
against continuing skills gaps means there will be massive numbers of unfilled
jobs in the period 2015-2020, unless national policy interventions are
made. The biggest gaps are expected to be in the UK (250,000), Italy
(180,000) and Germany (150,000).
To tackle this issue, the
European Commission has convened the Grand Coalition for Digital Jobs. Coalition
partners pledge to take specific action to increase ICT training, attract young
people in ICT education or help modernising ICT education. Depending on their
area of expertise, partners pledge to create new training programmes or offer
jobs and internships, to promote coding to youngsters, and so
on.
Non-specialist roles in ICT
shrinking
It should be noted that while
jobs for ICT specialists are growing – in any sector of the economy,
whether in the ICT sector, banking, car manufacturing, hotels or other –
the ICT manufacturing sector has lost jobs. However, the loss of employment in
ICT manufacturing has been only one fifth of the employment gains by ICT
specialists: 400 000 lost vs. 2 000 000 gained.