Referring to a recent Working Paper from empirica the Commission indicates that demand for digitally skilled employees is growing by around 4% a year and that shortages of ICT professionals in the EU could reach 825,000 unfilled vacancies by 2020 if no decisive action is taken. The Communication mentions that “the responsibility for curricula lies with the Member States which need urgently to address the lack of essential digital skills. The Commission will support their efforts and will play its role in enhancing the recognition of digital skills and qualifications and increasing the level of ICT professionalism in Europe”. The Working Paper provides insights into the ICT workforce development in Europe, within both core and broad definition of ICT jobs, looking also at changes in ICT graduates over years as a major inflow into this workforce. It analyses trends of e-skills demand and supply in Europe and updates foresight scenarios and forecasting until 2020.

Furthermore, the paper shares the latest forecasts on the demand of e-leadership skills, the necessary set of skills for exploiting ICT for innovation and business development.

The full Working Paper can be downloaded here: www.leadership2015.eu/documents