News about Digital Skills and Jobs Coalition

Tomorrow, 18 September, Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs, Skills and Labour Mobility, Marianne Thyssen, and Commissioner for Digital Economy and Society, Mariya Gabriel, will attend the very first meeting of the High-Level Group on the impact of digital transformation, set up by the Commission in May 2018.

On 7 May 2018, the European Commission (Directorates-General for Communication Networks, Content and Technology – CONNECT and for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion – EMPL) announced the creation of the high-level expert group on the impact of the digital transformation on EU labour markets.

There are so many ways in which we can foster digital skills among EU citizens. It is important that we share information on the many good practices across Europe, to see what is working well in one country and replicate it in others, adapting to the specific local needs and demands. The European Commission, with the contribution of the Digital Champions, has identified some great projects that could be an inspiration for other similar initiatives, that could also be supported by the European Social Fund.

Today there are 360,000 online vacancies for information and communication technologies (ICT) professionals in seven EU countries, up more than 170% from just 130,000 in July 2016. On this basis, the number of vacancies for ICT specialists for the entire EU could be estimated at 600,000. These are some results from a pilot project that monitors online vacancies in real-time that can be used by policy makers, universities and companies to provide key information for their digital strategies.

Commissioners Mariya Gabriel and Marianne Thyssen are glad to announce that Professor Maarten Goos from Utrecht University School of Economics has accepted to be the Chair of the High-Level Group on the Impact of the Digital Transformation on EU Labour Markets.

On 3 May 2018 the Swedish National Digital Skills and Jobs Coalition was launched at the IT and Telecom Industries office in Stockholm. The Coalition will work on actions such as developing public sector leadership skills, implementing the national strategy for the digitalization of the school system, raising interest in IT among young people and women, skills uptake and life-long learning as well as immigration and integration and digitalized society available and usable for all citizens.

Digital technologies create new opportunities for businesses and other organisations. They allow them to develop new products, reach more customers, improve efficiency and competitiveness. In fact, 90% of jobs today require at least basic digital skills and there are over 350,000 open vacancies for ICT specialists in the EU. To help improve students' advanced digital skills and their career prospects as well as to provide companies with digitally competent job candidates, the Commission has launched the Digital Opportunity Traineeships initiative.

Today the Digital Skills and Jobs Coalition celebrates its 100th pledge aimed at bringing digital skills to Europeans. Since the launch in December 2016, organisations, government bodies and businesses who are members of the Coalition provided more than 3.7 million online or face-to-face trainings, one million certificates and 9,000 job placements and internships. Over a million citizens became more aware of the importance of digital skills for employability, competitiveness and participation in society through various organised activities.

Through the Digital Skills and Jobs Coalition, the European Commission invites companies and other organisations to make commitments to upskill workers and employees across all sectors of the economy – e.g. banks, health care, manufacturing, transport, teaching, farming, etc.

The Digital Opportunity Traineeships – an EU-funded training initiative – aims to help companies fill vacancies with digitally competent candidates.