The Technology/Jobs Puzzle: A European Perspective

Abstract

This report outlines the importance, for Europe, of securing the creation of good jobs in sectors and occupations that contribute to Europe’s vision of a future resilient, sustainable and competitive economy. The proliferation of initiatives such as the Pact for Skills, the Alliance for Apprenticeships, the Deep Tech talent initiative, the Net Zero Academies and many others show that EU institutions have embraced a vision of industrial policy that incorporates both the consideration of the quality of jobs per se, as well as a degree of directionality as to which sectors (or industrial ecosystems) should see the most significant growth of good jobs.

However, while the recent initiatives show a growing awareness of the need to incorporate the creation of good jobs in EU industrial policy, there is still significant room for improving policy coherence at all levels of government. At the EU level, industrial transition pathways should lead to policy priority-setting through backcasting, in a way that incorporates the need for creating good jobs as an element of economic and social sustainability, and possibly looks at services alongside traditional manufacturing jobs. Likewise, the emphasis on “deep tech” should gradually veer towards the creation of needed (IT and complementary) skills in those sectors in which the EU can claim a degree of technological specialization, as well as in those that the EU deems strategic, and thereby warranting an investment in sovereign solutions. At the national level, resilience and recovery plans should ensure that investment in infrastructure and the modernization of government and industry leads to the creation of good jobs, and that education and life-long learning accompany this process by creating the specializations and professional skills that will be needed in the future.

Keywords: industrial policy, good jobs, twin transition, green deal, digital transformation