Work Style - Great Place to Work Institute

26
twsm — GPTW Special Issue 2010
The EU industry has changed radically
over the last 10-15 years, not
only in the new Member States, but
also in the so-called ‘EU15’. It has
seen high productivity and strong
innovation, a considerable reorientation
of its workforce and capital
investment, the development of
new products for new and emerging
markets, and a major improvement
in its environmental perfor-
Industrial Competitiveness
The European Union – Changes in Industry and the Workforce
By Antonio Tajani*
Regional specialisation and concentration
Persons employed in industry as
a proportion of those employed in the
non-financial business economy,
NUTS 1 , 2005 (%)
less than 20%
20% to 30%
30% to 40%
greater than 40%
mance. It is unquestionable that
manufacturing remains vitally important
for the EU economy. Before
the present economic crisis, it
contributed some 17.1% of GDP
and accounted for some 22 million
jobs (2007). However, the industrial
base in Europe stretches far beyond
the industrial core of manufacturing
and represents a far
greater share of the economy than
NUTS 1 2003 classification. Bulgaria,
pre-accession NUTS. Czech Republic, 2004.
Cyprus, excluding research and development.
Luxembourg, national series based on
enterprises and not local units.
Norway, 2004 and excluding collection,
purification and distribution of water
(Division 41).
Source: Eurostat (SBS), MAp 3.1.
how well-earned are the reputations
of the companies on our
list; people really like to work at
these places. Employee satisfaction
is a factor you can’t measure
by reading company pamphlets.
People are proud to work for
companies that treat them well.
They become linked to these
companies in more than just an
employer/employee relationship.
Despite the discovery, almost
everyone of the “100 Best” has
something distinctive to offer
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these basic statistics imply. When
the wider productive sector is factored
in (power generation, construction)
along with the associated
business services, the share of
GDP is about 37%. Taking an even
wider perspective, and accounting
for the share of other market services
on which industry depends and
which depend on industry (transport,
communications, financial
services, real estate etc.), the “servoindustrial
economy” accounts for
close to half of GDP (ca. 47%).”
Antonio Tajani has discussed the
following subjects during the opening
speech of the Industrial Competitiveness
Conference which took
place on April 26, 2010:
The Foundations
of Europe’s Economy
The European industrial network is
the real driving force for Europe’s
growth and well-being. Soon Europe
will need a new and ambitious
policy capable of relaunching
European industries and businesses
at best.
Reaffirmation of
the Centrality of Industries
in the European Context
Reaffirming the centrality of industries
in the European context will
require an intervention by means
of reorganization and restructuring
measures which may be useful for
our industrial network in order to
regain competitiveness. Although