Commission launches jobs strategy for the knowledge economy

In February 2000, the European Commission launched an employment strategy aimed at providing workers with the skills needed to operate in what it terms the "knowledge economy". It focuses on exploiting the opportunities provided by information and communications technology in the fields of education and employment, calling on governments and social partners to act to reduce the skills gap in this area.

On 7 February 2000, the European Commission issued a Communication (COM(2000) 48 final) entitled Employment strategies in the information society, aimed at promoting a jobs strategy to increase use of the internet and other information and communications technology in education and at work. Employment and Social Affairs Commissioner Anna Diamantopoulou said: "Our goal is to build an inclusive knowledge-based economy – it is the only route to create jobs and growth in Europe in the coming years ... The next generation of the workforce – the net generation – is in school today. Our actions today in equipping this generation, and in grasping the challenges and opportunities of the knowledge society, are vital to our future economic and social development."

The rationale behind the launch of this new strategy is based on:

• the projection that by 2010, half of all jobs will be in industries that are either major producers or intensive users of information technology products and services;

• the fact that some 9 million people in the European Union (EU) are teleworkers;

• the estimate that some 81 million of the 117 million people aged under 25 years in the EU are in educational institutions and should be groomed for employment in the "knowledge economy"; and

• the belief that employment in the "information society" is less stable than in the past and more dependent on high skills and adaptability.

The Commission's strategy is primarily aimed at reducing the skills gap between the EU and the USA with regard to internet access and the use of communications technology. The report highlights the risk that the next generation of workers could lack the necessary skills to meet the demands of the knowledge economy. It states that the demand for highly skilled workers in the information technology sector in Europe is already not being met and that by 2002 the number of unfilled job vacancies in this sector could reach 1.6 million. This in turn could then stunt the growth of software, services and telecommunications sectors.

The strategy calls on Member State governments and the social partners to act by:

• linking all schools to the internet by 2002;

• ensuring that all teachers are verifiably competent in information skills;

• providing all workers with the opportunity to learn information skills;

• establishing flexible frameworks to facilitate teleworking;

• adapting equipment to improve the employability of workers with disabilities;

• encouraging entrepreneurship through tax policies that reward risk-taking; and

• promoting the use of information tools to small and medium-sized enterprises.

The strategy also seeks to increase access to the internet across Europe. Research shows that internet use is mostly limited to northern Europe, that highly-paid workers are more likely to have access and that women make up only 25% of users of the internet in Europe.