Europe - EU launches "grand coalition" to match skills of jobless with the large number of unfilled vacancies

The Irish Presidency of the EU reports an EU initiative to meet ICT skills demand and reduce unemployment:

A major drive to boost jobs and match young unemployed with large numbers of existing vacancies is behind a major new European initiative aimed at addressing the predicted 900,000 ICT vacancies by 2015, according to Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Richard Bruton TD. Among the initiatives that will be introduced are improved training and skills matching, led by Europe’s top ICT employers; a common EU certification system for ICT skills; and assistance services and funding to enable ICT workers to move within the EU to areas where demand for their skills is highest.

Richard Bruton TD said:

ICT is one of the key engines of economic growth and the better use of ICT will be critical to enhanced European competitiveness, growth and jobs. Even during the economic crisis, the numbers employed in ICT have been growing by 3% annually. In spite of this, strong demand will continue and according to the latest revised data, there is expected to be up to 900,000 unfilled vacancies in the EU for ICT professionals markets to fall behind in this way and lose job opportunities in favour of other regions of the world. The time for action is now.

The Grand Coalition for Digital Jobs is intended to improve the match between Europeans seeking work and in education with the large number of ICT vacancies, running from 2013 ot 2015. The initiative includes:

• Improved ICT training and skills matching, including commitments by Europe’s largest ICT employers to scale up their training programmes and make available their training content in new ways
• The introduction of a single European certification system for ICT skills, enabling greater mobility among ICT professionals within the EU
• Creation of assistance services and funding to enable ICT workers to move within the EU to areas where demand for their skills is highest
• Developing a number of campaigns to ensure European students and young professionals fully appreciate the range of ICT related jobs and career paths open to them
• A one-stop-shop for web entrepreneurs is also being established. Startup Europe contains all available support tools and programmes for people setting-up and growing their online business.

The European Commission press release quotes President Barroso:

The Grand Coalition we launch today is an essential part of getting Europe's economy back on track and finding jobs for some of Europe's 26 million unemployed. I applaud those companies who have signed up today. If, together, we can turn the tide and fill the growing number of ICT vacancies, we will see a much wider impact across the whole economy. We want to empower Europeans to fill the jobs that will drive the next ICT revolution.