Maier, Dirk

Post and telecoms were amongst the most changing sectors of the 1990s. Both sectors have now been privatised and opened up to competition following EU liberalisation law. The EU employed about 3.3 million post and telecoms workers in 2006. A large share of them, 83%, was working in the EU-15 and this share has not changed during the last seven years. Report summaries for post and telecommunications are available.

The chemicals industry is a major contributor to the EU economy in terms of output, value-added, employment, and (net) exports. The sector supplies products to almost all downstream industry sectors and is an important engine for innovation for the wider economy. It plays a key role in facilitating and improving product performance and new applications in various industries.

Total employment for the sector aggregate Furniture and other industries amounted to 2,007,000 persons in 2006 in the EU. Almost three-fourth of employment was concentrated in the furniture sector. The jewellery sector accounted for 6% of total employment. Two-third of employment in furniture is still in the ‘old’ Member States, with Germany being ranked first followed by Poland, Italy, and Spain. Overall speaking, employment in the sector shifted gradually but consistently from Western to Central and Eastern Europe over the last decade.

The EU employs about 20 million health and social services workers in 2006, the majority of which live in the EU15 countries. The new member states employ 2.3 million health and social services workers. Moreover, the workforce grew much faster in the EU15 than in the new member states. Hence the share of the EU15 in the health and social services workforce grew by 2% between 1995 and 2006. A report summary is available.

The non-metallic materials sector covers a broad range of industries which are all involved in the processing of natural resources (e.g. silica sand, clay, natural stone and rock) into marketable products. Overall employment in the EU in the non-metallic materials sector amounted to 1.62 million people, which is 0.74% overall employment and 4.72% of overall manufacturing employment in the EU.

Total employment in the printing, publishing, and recorded media industry in 2006 amounted to 1.91 million jobs, which is equivalent to 0.87% of overall EU employment and 5.54% of EU manufacturing employment. The printing and publishing sector is a fairly important sector in terms for employment for most regions across the EU. Employment is most concentrated in a number of geographical clusters, predominantly located in the west of Germany, France, Belgium and Northern Italy. A report summary is available.

The transport sector is one of the most important sectors for the European economy. Its importance stems not only from its size - which is estimated to be € 803 billion or 6.6% of European GDP in 2007 - but also from the fact that it plays a crucial role in connecting other economic actors with each other. The transport sector is characterized by a great diversity and different transport modes that come with different technologies, regulations, challenges and know how and skills requirements.

1.7 million people work in electricty, gas and water. The waste sector has experienced high growth rates over the last decade which were especially policy driven. This report is published as part of a series of forward-looking sector studies on new skills and new jobs. While the main focus of the study is on the future of skills and jobs by 2020, the study is both backward- and forward-looking.

For the purpose of this study, this report concentrates on the activities of Other personal services (NACE 93/96) and Activities of households as employer of domestic personnel (NACE 95/97). The employment in the EU in the other services industry totals about 14 million jobs. Ninety per cent of the sector’s workforce is to be found in the EU15.

The distribution and trade sector (NACE 50, 51, 52) accounted for 6.2 million enterprises in EU-27 in 2004, employing over 30 million people. With the inclusion of Romania and Bulgaria, this number had grown to 33.3 million in 2006. Almost 81% of the jobs in the distribution and trade sector were located in the old Member States (EU15).