Commissioner warns on workforce skills

Citation

(2003), "Commissioner warns on workforce skills", Journal of European Industrial Training, Vol. 27 No. 2/3/4. https://doi.org/10.1108/jeit.2003.00327bab.003

Commissioner warns on workforce skills

Commissioner warns on workforce skills

"Skills, training and education are vital for Europe's future economic growth, productivity, well being and sustainability. The fundamental challenge is to ensure that the knowledge society is open and accessible to all people." So said Anna Diamantopoulou, European commissioner foremployment and social affairs, at a conference on "Social and Human Capital in the Information Society", held in Brussels, Belgium.

She continued: "Human capital – the knowledge, skills and attributes that a person holds – is perhaps the most important input into the knowledge-based economy. It is vital for productivity, competitiveness and quality jobs. If we are to maximize thepotential of the new economy, our workforce must be skilled and trained. This is necessary to meet new labour-market’needs and the demands of new and rapidly changing technologies.

"Over the past five years, more than 60 per cent of all new jobs created have been in the high-skilled sectors. Yet 150 million EU citizens lack even a basic level of secondary education, school drop-out rates have reached 25 per cent in some countries and less than 10 per cent of adults take part in further education and training.

"The message is clear. We must not create a new class division of digital haves and have nots – whetherbetween countries, regions, groups or individuals."