Archive:High-tech statistics - employment

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Data extracted in December 2015. Most recent data: Further Eurostat information, Main tables and Database. Planned article update: (dd) Month YYYY(, hh:00).

This article analyses data on employment in high-technology (high-tech) sectors in the European Union (EU) and in some EFTA and candidate countries.

In the global race for competitiveness, it is essential to create, exploit and commercialise new technologies. High-tech sectors and enterprises are key drivers of economic growth and productivity, and generally provide high value-added and well-paid employment.

Table, Figure or Map X: Full title of the Table, Figure or Map
Source: Eurostat (educ_ilang)

Main statistical findings

Employment in high-tech sectors

In 2014, just under 34 million people were employed in the manufacturing sector in the EU 28, representing 15.4 % of total employment. Of these, 2.3 million were employed in high-tech manufacturing, corresponding to 1.1 % of total employment. Over twice as many were employed in high-tech knowledge intensive services, which accounted for 2.8 % of total employment.

As a proportion of total employment, employment in the high tech manufacturing and services varied considerably from one country to another in 2014. In high-tech manufacturing, it ranged from 0.2 % in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia to 2.9 % in Malta and 3.0 % in Ireland. Differences in terms of the relative importance of high-tech knowledge-intensive services in total employment were also observed across countries. The biggest proportion (over 5 %) was recorded in Iceland and the smallest (under 2 %) in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Lithuania, Romania and Turkey (Table 1).

At EU-28 level, the average annual growth rate (AAGR) for employment in high-tech sectors was negative over the 2008-2014 period. Comparing to manufacturing sector (where the decrease was 2.1 % a year), high-tech manufacturing sector recorded a slower fall of 1.3 % a year on average. This decrease can be partially explained by the economic crisis that hit Europe in 2010, the impact of which was also observed in the services sector, which recorded only slight growth of 0.5 % a year. At the same time, high-tech knowledge-intensive services showed some resilience to the crisis and recorded an average annual rise of 1.0 % in the number of jobs. Some important differences emerge when one compares employment changes in countries with significant growth on the one hand and equally significant decline on the other. Of 33 countries observed, 20 registered a fall in employment in high-tech manufacturing in 2008-2014, with the biggest fall (37.0 %) in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, followed by a fall of 8.8 % in Portugal. Growth in high tech manufacturing was observed in the following eight countries: Turkey (6.7 %, in 2009-2014), Romania (4.7 %), Malta (3.8 %), the Czech Republic (3.1 %), Austria (2.2 %), Germany (1.4 %), Switzerland (0.9 %) and Denmark (0.7 %). The loss in high-tech knowledge-intensive services was much more moderate, with only four countries registering a decline: the Netherlands (-2.4 %), Spain (-0.8 %), Greece (-0.7 %) and Bulgaria (-0.2 %). The best-performing countries in terms of employment growth in high-tech knowledge-intensive services were the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (13.0 %), Turkey (9.3 %), Estonia (7.8 %) and Luxembourg (6.1 %).

Overall, roughly around one out of three employees in the high-tech sectors was a woman. However, the share of women was different in manufacturing and services (data for EU-28, 2014):

There were more women in high-tech manufacturing than in manufacturing in general: 29.6 % of employees in manufacturing were women comparing to 38.2 % in high tech manufacturing. Five countries reported that over 50 % of all those employed in high-tech manufacturing were women (Estonia, Croatia, Bulgaria, Poland and the Czech Republic).
In the high-tech knowledge-intensive services, the proportion of women (30.5 %) was lower than in the total services sector (54.4 %). No country achieved a gender balance. The lowest proportions were recorded in the Netherlands (23.0 %), Turkey (23.5 %) and the Czech Republic (24.2 %), the highest in Cyprus (44.4 %), Bulgaria (41.1 %) and Croatia (39.5 %). In particular the activities computer programming, scientific research and development, telecommunications and corresponding occupations still seem to attract more men than women.

Employment in knowledge - intensive activities (KIA)

In 2014, almost 77 million people were employed in knowledge-intensive activities (KIA) in the EU-28, which represented 35.9 % of total employment. Luxembourg recorded the highest proportion (60.4 %). At the other end of the scale, the figure was below 30 % in Poland, Bulgaria and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and below 20 % in Turkey and Romania.

In terms of employment growth, Turkey and Luxembourg saw annual increases of over 4 % between 2008 and 2014 (2009 for Turkey). The biggest decrease (2.4 % per year) was registered by Greece during this period (Figure 1).

In the EU-28 in 2014, women accounted for 56 % of employment in KIA, as compared with 44 % in total employment (all sectors): women outnumbered men in all countries except Luxembourg, Malta and Turkey. For the knowledge-intensive activities in business industries (KIABI), the trend was not the same: only Bulgaria, Estonia, Croatia, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland registered a majority of women.

Researchers in business enterprise sectors (BES)

In 2013, nearly 1.5 million people (in full-time equivalents – FTEs), worked in business enterprise sectors of R&D in the EU-28. Of these, nearly 831 000, i.e. 57.1 % of R&D personnel in the BES, were researchers. Of the EU Member States, Sweden, Lithuania and Finland recorded the highest proportion of researchers (around three in four BES R&D employees). Across all countries covered and all economic activities, the proportion of researchers as a percentage of R&D personnel ranged from under 34 % in China to 88 % in South Korea (Figure 2).

In high-tech manufacturing, the proportion of researchers among R&D personnel varied in the countries for which data were available (Figure 3). The lowest levels were registered in Slovenia (39.6 %) and Romania (under 50 %). Among the top-ranking countries, Finland recorded a remarkable 80+ %.

Comparing the proportion of researchers in high-tech manufacturing with that in all economic activities, only eight of 28 countries reported higher proportions in the latter in 2013. Italy noted the most significant difference, with the proportion of researchers in high tech manufacturing 17 percentage points higher.

High-tech employment at regional level

At EU-28 level, high-tech sectors accounted for 3.9 % of total employment in 2014, with two thirds occupied in high-tech knowledge-intensive services and one third in high-tech manufacturing.

Figure 4 shows regional discrepancies in high-tech sectors as a proportion of total employment. For each country, it shows the national average and the regions with the lowest and highest proportions of employment in high-tech sectors.

With regard to national averages, 16 of 33 observed countries registered values above the EU-28 average, with rates of over 5.0 % in Slovenia, Denmark, Iceland, Finland, Malta, Switzerland and Ireland. The lowest national figures (high-tech sectors accounting for less than 2.5 % of total employment) were registered in Romania, Lithuania, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Turkey.

At regional level, high employment in high-tech sectors is often observed in capital regions or regions close to capitals. The Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire region of the UK, which is close to London, stands out, with 11.0 % of its labour force in high-tech sectors. Other examples are Hovedstaden (DK) with 9.5 %, Prague (CZ) with 9.5 % and the Comunidad de Madrid (ES) with 8.2 %. By contrast, the lowest proportions (under 1 %) were registered in Aydin, Denizli, Mugla (TR) and Anatoliki Makedonia, Thraki (EL). Denmark, Norway, Hungary, Spain, the Czech Republic and the UK show the greatest regional variation (ratio of highest to lowest proportion). The least is observed in Turkey, Croatia and Slovenia.

Data sources and availability

Statistics on high-tech industry and knowledge-intensive services (‘high-tech statistics’) comprise economic, employment, and science, technology and innovation (STI) data on manufacturing and service industries or products traded broken down by technological intensity. The domain uses various other domains and sources of official Eurostat statistics (CIS, COMEXT, LFS, SBS, PATSTAT and R&D), on which its coverage is therefore dependent.

Data on high-tech employment come from the EU Labour Force Survey (LFS). Employed people are defined as persons aged between 15 and 74 who performed work during the reference week, even for just one hour, for pay, profit or family gain, or had a job or business from which they were temporarily absent, e.g. because of illness, holidays, industrial dispute or education and training.

The data are aggregated according to the sectoral approach base on the statistical classification of economic activities in the European Community (NACE) at 2-digit level. Due to the move from NACE Rev. 1.1 to NACE Rev. 2, the definition of high tech industries and knowledge-intensive services changed in 2008. For high-tech statistics, this means that two different definitions (one according to NACE Rev. 1.1 and one according to NACE Rev. 2) are used in parallel and figures are presented in separate tables depending on data availability.

The KIA employment indicator was developed to offer a harmonised means across all sectors of comparing economies with respect to knowledge intensity. An activity is classified as knowledge-intensive if employment of persons with a tertiary education represents more than a third (33 %) of the total employment in that activity.

Statistics on R&D personnel are compiled using guidelines in the OECD’s 2002 Frascati Manual. R&D personnel include all persons employed directly in R&D and persons supplying direct services (such as managers, administrative staff and clerical staff). For statistical purposes, indicators on R&D personnel are compiled as both head counts (HC) and full-time equivalents (FTEs). A sub-category of R&D personnel, the researchers, are professionals engaged in the conception or creation of new knowledge, products, processes, methods and systems, and in the management of related projects.

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