the Labour Market Survey Report - Council of European ...

2. Economic Context
2.1 Scale and Importance
While the significant loss of confidence – and resultant downturn - in the Information and Communications
Technology (ICT) sectors have, during 2001, resulted in substantial levels of personnel lay-offs by hightech
companies, this does not reduce the fundamental importance of these sectors of the economy
to future development, and the continuing need for large numbers of people with relevant skills in the
coming years. It is hardly surprising that the growing recognition of the realities of the new-technology
market-place (that – as in all other markets – not every enterprise would succeed and make the initiators
rich) produced a hesitation in the strong growth that arose as the Internet take-up really began at the end
of the twentieth century.
The strategic importance of the new global information infrastructure remains, and further technological
developments will continue to enable speed, functionality and operational business effectiveness – and
so further value – to be added. But the marketplace has behaved – as all marketplaces – as a laboratory
and learning environment, where clever, innovative, business ideas and models will be tested and will
succeed or not.
Unfortunately, the “shake-out” of early e-business models coincided, in early 2001, with a serious
downturn in the United States economy, and this trend was compounded by reactions to the events
of 11 September in New York and Washington. All of this has produced a significant and discouraging
loss of business confidence, and a sombre economic context and prospect for Information and
Communications Technologies at this time (early 2002). The impact of a steady stream of layoffs from
companies in the ICT sectors does, however, have the effect of reducing (if not eliminating) the serious
shortages of ICT skills that have faced employers over recent years within EU Member States and
beyond. That reality will allow policy-makers and others interested in this area a modest respite - an
opportunity to reflect seriously on labour market behaviour, and to consider more thoroughly how future
shortages might be reduced, not least by steps taken in advance of the next phase of growth.
It is important that the lack of labour market pressure does not allow the issue to disappear altogether at
the bottom of the political agendas of national Education, Skills and Industry ministries, for two reasons:
a) because of the strategic importance of the area, and b) because action in advance of the next strong
growth phase could help reduce the severity of the likely skill shortages when the pick-up starts.
Indications of the importance of ICT to national economies within Europe can be shown from both the
economic activity (production volumes) and employment within ICT. OECD and Eurostat estimates for
these are shown in Tables 1a and 1b.
20
| C E P I S I.T. PRACTITIONER SKILLS IN EUROPE | Section 2