EU regions ranked on high-tech workforce

EU capital regions in Northern Europe tend to lead the way towards the knowledge-based economy with the highest share of highly qualified workers in science and technology (S&T). At national level, France has the highest proportion of high-tech workers, while Poland’s S&T workforce is the Union’s youngest, according to the EU statistical office Eurostat.

Recent statistics comparing EU-27 regional data on human resources in science and technology show that Stockholm (SE), Brabant Wallon province (BE), Inner London (UK) and Utrecht (NL) had the largest proportions (around 28%) of people employed in all S&T occupations in their regional workforces in 2006. 

The proportion of S&T employees in high-tech sectors was highest in the French capital region Île de France (54%), followed by the Spanish Comunidad de Madrid (49%). The high-tech sectors include ‘high-tech manufacturing’ of computers as well as ‘knowledge-intensive high-technology services’ such as research and development. 

Half of the highest ranking regions in terms of human S&T resources were capital regions, except for the education sector, where only three capital regions got into the top 20.

As for the age structure of regional S&T workforces, the statistics show that Malta (47.1%) and Poland (44.3%) had the highest national shares and Germany the lowest (around 22%) of young people employed in S&T (aged 25-34) among the total labour force in the 25-64 age group. 

According to Eurostat, the proportion of young S&T employees in the total workforce “gives an idea of the dynamism of the regional HRSTC stock and helps in evaluating the possible future shortage of highly qualified workers in the EU”. At regional level, the Polish region of Poludniowy had the highest share in the EU, with nearly 50% of its S&T workforce aged 25-34, whereas Germany’s Thüringen had the lowest (14.7%)

The human resources stock in science and technology can, according to Eurostat, be used as “an indicator of the development of the knowledge-based economy in the EU” as such people are considered key to the development of knowledge and technological innovation.

Read more with Euractiv

ICT comes to aid of unemployed Portuguese textile workers

Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) are key to reverting the negative effects of globalisation on the job market. They were behind a successful project launched two years ago to help the suffering textile sector in Portugal and have been renewed and extended to other industries.