There are 23 million people unemployed today in the European Union. More than 11% of the active population, and more than 22% in the young segment, are unemployed (those figures are more than double in some countries like Spain and Greece).

Employment and skills have always been strongly correlated, and so increasingly are employment and Information and Communication Technologies (ICT): The generalised use of ICT increases productivity, which makes redundant some job profiles. At the same time, new ICT-related jobs are created. The ICT sector itself is doing well overall, growing and creating jobs despite the crisis. Demand also grows for ICT professionals in other sectors.

It is estimated that the number of ICT professionals is growing and yet they are sufficient to meet the demand (the Digital Agenda for Europe reports an estimated shortfall of ICT professionals in the EU around 700,000 people by 2015).

Thus a first set of questions:

• How to bridge the gap between the shortage of ICT skilled workforce and the high supply of young Europeans in search for a job and an attractive career?
• What are good examples of practices (from ICT companies or others) bridging that gap?
• How can those practices be replicated and scaled up, including at European level; what is the role for European policy if any? 

Moderator: Stylianos Mystakidis

Hashtag: #da12jobskills