Hewlett-Packard, SAP, Cisco Systems, Alcatel-Lucent and Nokia are among the companies that have joined an EU initiative to boost tech employment in the European Union, reports Reuters. Despite high unemployment, the number of open positions continues to grow because citizens lack the skills companies need, EU Telecoms Commissioner Neelie Kroes said at the World Economic […]
Hewlett-Packard, SAP, Cisco Systems, Alcatel-Lucent and Nokia are among the companies that have joined an EU initiative to boost tech employment in the European Union, reports Reuters.
Despite high unemployment, the number of open positions continues to grow because citizens lack the skills companies need, EU Telecoms Commissioner Neelie Kroes said at the World Economic Forum in Davos.
The 27 countries in the European Union have an unemployment rate of 10.7 percent — 26.1 million people.
Kroes wrote in a recent blog post:
… as it stands, the supply of people with the right skills is not growing in step. From 2006 to 2010, ICT (information and communications technology) graduates actually shrank by 10 percent; pretty soon, Europe could face 1 million unfilled ICT jobs. At a time of unemployment – wouldn’t that be absolutely crazy?
If we don’t act, we’re not just letting down our citizens; we’re denting our productivity and competitiveness. Businesses won’t have the human capital to prosper in the digital age, multinationals will go elsewhere, and European workers are missing out on a great hope.
The participating companies have pledged to provide training, free online university courses or startup funding.
The EU plans to formally launch the initiative, called “Grand Coalition for Digital Jobs” in March with a roadmap and implementation plan.
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