Economy & Work :: Employment (archived)
This page was archived when this portal was restructured in early 2007. You will find the relevant links originally contained in this theme:
- elsewhere in the newly revised Economy & Work theme;
- the Education & Training Theme, particularly under the Digital Literacy theme;
- the Society & Culture > Inclusion theme.
A skilled European workforce for the knowledge-based economy
Employment policies set out to manage the effect of ICTs on labour markets, jobs and working conditions. They also aim to ensure more and better jobs for all citizens, but for this to happen, greater investment in skills, e-skills and European research is required. The EU has acknowledged the key role that ICTs play in building social and human capital in a knowledge society.
To reap the rich benefits of today's knowledge-based economy, it is increasingly important for workers to be able cope with technology-related shifts in the labour demand and to adapt to changes in the skills content of jobs.
To embrace new technologies, companies need a highly educated and properly trained workforce. Improving our human capital - the knowledge, skills and qualities a persons holds - across the entire workforce must be a priority. This is just as important in terms of technical knowledge and ICT skills, as in terms of higher literacy skills, problem-solving and interpersonal skills. Workers must be involved in new, innovative work practices, such as organisational learning and knowledge management.
ICT skills are vital to companies' competitiveness and to the successful implementation of the Lisbon strategy. The development of e-business applications can boost productivity and provide greater economic value for companies but is also increasing the need for both creative and problem-solving skills. Long-run sustained use of ICT in companies is likely to lead to higher profits and increased market share, but only if it is combined with organisational change and upgrading of skills of employees
Equally the public sector can and will play a strong role in realising the Lisbon strategy: the use of ICT combined with organisational change and new skills will help public administrations to face the challenge of improving their efficiency, productivity and quality of their services. This is what eGovernment is about.
Improving Europe's ICT and e-business skills (e-skills) means taking action both at European and national level, and in several different areas. Key areas for action are education, training, lifelong learning, enterprise and labour policies, but also in other domains such as immigration, outsourcing, taxation and research.
The modernisation of new working environments should also respect basic requirements on health and safety at work. Anticipating and facilitating change will help to improve our competitiveness and will contribute towards a better quality of European working life.
Policies and activities
The European Employment Strategy introduced by EU leaders in 1997 is the EU's main co-ordinated policy process. Supported by a set of tools and instruments based on common EU goals and objectives, it promotes the development of a skilled, trained and adaptable workforce and a labour market that is responsive to economic change. It also aims to co-ordinate EU efforts to create more and better job opportunities. In recent years, a particular emphasis has been placed on developing digital literacy among EU workers as well as e-learning for all citizens.
Following the first European e-Skills Summit in October 2002, the European Commission established a European e-Skills Forum in March 2003. Created to foster an open dialogue between all relevant stakeholders, it acts as a catalyst for change by helping to narrow the e-skills gap and addressing e-skills mismatches. The Forum's activities are vital to the successful implementation of the Lisbon Strategy, the Action Plan for Skills and Mobility and eEurope2005. In June 2004, the European eSkills Forum published a high-level report, drawing concrete policy recommendations and providing ten prority proposals for action. The findings of the report were discussed at the European e-Skills Conference 2004, a major event organised in partnership with CEDEFOP, which took place in Thessaloniki, Greece in September 2004.
The European Council in March 2003 underlined the importance of investment in human capital and lifelong learning as a condition for greater competitiveness, higher growth and better employment rates in a knowledge-based economy. That is why it called for the implementation of the 10-year programme on the objectives for education systems.
Since 1999, the ESDIS - the High level group of Member States representatives examining the Employment and Social Dimension of the Information Society - has supported the European Employment Strategy. Recommendations, best practices, benchmarking and indicators have been part of its mandate, particularly in the context of the eEurope2002 action plan and its Action line "Working in the knowledge-based economy".
The Action Plan for Skills and Mobility, adopted in February 2002, aims to fully open up the European labour markets to all citizens by 2005. By boosting lifelong learning and improving workers' skills (particularly ICT skills) the Action Plan will help to: remove existing barriers to mobility; simplify labour movement between jobs and countries; support the growth of the knowledge and information economy. The European Curriculum Vitae, the European Health Insurance Card and EURES are among the wide-ranging measures to be introduced.
EURES - The European Job Mobility Portal - illustrates how ICTs can improve co-operation and networking between public employment services and facilitate the free movement of workers within the European Economic Area and Switzerland. EURES Internet services provide information for people looking for job or learning opportunities. The EURES job vacancy database is updated daily: it increases job-seekers' chances of finding a job and allows employers to fish from a deeper jobs pool.
The Social Partners also play an active role in the modernisation of work organisation and the reconciliation of work and social life. One obvious example is the cross-industry agreement on telework they signed on 16 July 2002. This agreement defines telework and its scope. It sets up a general framework, at European level, for teleworkers' working conditions.
The main financial lever by which the European Union translates its employment policy into action is The European Social Fund (ESF). Through this fund, the Commission backs, on a major scale, Member States programmes to develop people's skills and their potential for work (examples of projects). Since 1994, The European Social Fund has been supporting innovative actions to improve work organisation, vocational training, industrial adaptation, restructuring, demographic change and Information Society in the regions etc... Most of the pilot projects have a strong ICT focus. Successful projects serve to guide future EU employment and social policies and programmes
Supporting the adaptability of firms and employees to structural economic change and the use of information technology and other new technologies is one of the EQUAL Community Inititative objectives. In this specific field, more than 100 Development Partnerships test new ideas and explore new ways to tackle discrimination and unequal access to jobs and labour market.
Working in a knowledge-based economy also involves new challenges in terms of health and safety at work and the related obligations for both employers and workers. European legislation in this field is starting to address new issues, such as the use of display screens, ensuring more ergonomic work places, protective equipments and protection against electromagnetic fields and stress. More information and studies are available on the European Agency for Health and Safety at Work website.
In the area of European Research, Applied IST research activities within the Sixth Framework Programme (FP6) look at finding innovative solutions to develop new applications and services for mobile users and workers. It promotes advanced technology-enhanced learning systems and helps to improve access to cultural heritage services. Applied IST Research activities also develop Grid-based systems for Complex Problems Solving in particular fields, such as industrial design, engineering and manufacturing, health, genomics and drug design, environment, critical infrastructures, energy, business and finance and new media.
Foresight on Information Society Technologies in Europe provides in-depth view and impact analysis on a range of socio-economic issues such as the relationship between IST and its effect on employment trends and vice versa (see related reports).