Two fifths of Europeans are digitally illiterate

Two-fifths of EU citizens have little or no ability when it comes to technology at a time when there is expected to be 756,000 unfilled jobs in Europe’s tech sector by 2020.

The European Commission has identified the tech and healthcare industries as two sectors where companies struggle to find employees who are properly trained.

When the Commission presented a detailed ranking of digital skills and internet connectivity in February, EU Digital Commissioner Günther Oettinger said, “Overall we have to say that Europe is behind.”

Europe's tech industry could get boost from visa overhaul

Changes to chaotic EU visa rules could help workers move to Europe if they receive a job offer—and their chances are better if they find work in the tech or healthcare sectors.

Today (10 June), the executive asked national governments to come up with their own plans for boosting the rate of technology education.

According to the executive’s figures, 41% of the EU workforce has little or no digital skills. Romanians are the most poorly educated: 74% of the workforce doesn’t have proper knowledge of how to use technology. Luxembourg’s workforce scored the best marks in the Commission’s ranking.

The figures reflect higher education trends across the EU. 25.5% of Romanians between the ages of 30 and 34 have a higher education degree, compared to the EU average of 38.5%. In Luxembourg, 50.5% of the same group has that level of education.

EU countries issue mea culpas for poor marks on internet connectivity

The European Commission’s new EU internet scoreboard has sparked a wave of mea culpas among the member states that ranked lowest for connectivity and digital skills.

The Commission will start a new ‘coalition’ later this year to bring together national initiatives dedicated to boosting digital skills.

In a blog post published today (10 June), EU Digital Commissioner Günther Oettinger and Commission Vice-President Andrus Ansip wrote that the group will use data analytics to pinpoint what kinds of skills each country’s labour market needs.

“There are many young people who use the internet on a daily basis but do not have the full skills needed to convert this interest into an actual job,” Oettinger and Ansip wrote.

Christian Verschueren, director general of EuroCommerce, the association representing Europe’s retail and wholesale industry, said, “Technology and demographic change are underlining the need for a labour market which allows flexibility and provides the skills for a new era in which lower skilled jobs are already disappearing.”

Lie Junius, Google’s public policy director in Brussels, said the company has partnered with more than 50 European universities on digital skills training programmes and is involved in similar projects in 25 European countries.

Industry group International Association of Privacy Professionals recently predicted that the EU will gain 28,000 new jobs because of the recently approved data protection regulation.

New EU privacy rules will create 28,000 jobs, says industry group

Privacy experts are about to become very in demand. Europe will need an estimated 28,000 specialists under the newly minted EU data protection regulation, according to industry group IAPP.

Earlier this week, the Commission announced that it wants to make it easier for non-EU citizens to take on jobs in Europe under the Blue Card visa scheme for skilled workers.

Migration Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos said the programme should compete with the United States’ green card system because the EU is expected to lose 20 million workers by 2036.

Read more with Euractiv

Europe's tech industry could get boost from visa overhaul

Changes to chaotic EU visa rules could help workers move to Europe if they receive a job offer—and their chances are better if they find work in the tech or healthcare sectors.