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Unions and telecom companies launch recommendations on future skills requirements

On 28 November 2014, UNI Europa, the European trade union federation for services and skills, and ETNO, representing Europe’s leading telecom operators, launched a Joint Declaration on Future Skills Needs during a conference in Brussels.

The declaration proposes 5 key recommendations to address the ICT skills needs of the future. More in specific, UNI Europa and ETNO call for a close collaboration among stakeholders, to enhance the social dialogue in this field, promote young talent engagement and women’s leadership, foster intercompany cooperation on skills and – finally – to develop a common terminology on skills and job profiles.

Andy Kerr, Vice-President of UNI Europa ICTS said: “It is essential that we find solutions for the ICT skills gap and I firmly believe that this can only be achieved through social partnership with both companies and unions working together”.

Sigried Caspar, Head of Sector - Team leader for Sectoral Social Dialogue, DG Employment, European Commission said: “We fully support this joint statement. Sectorial social partners have particularly good insight in the developments to be expected for the sector. Their cooperation to jointly develop solutions is essential and can help minimise the skills gap.”

Daniel Pataki, ETNO’s Director-General said: “ETNO’s vision for Europe is that the Continent needs to embrace the digital revolution. We are supportive of EU policies encouraging investment in Europe’s digital sector and we want to be a positive agent in fostering the debate on future skills, talent engagement and women’s leadership in ICT”.

The Joint Declaration, as well as the recommendations, were developed under the FITS project of the telecom social partners. They are based on the project's research findings carried out by the consultancy Breyer Publico. The study report analyses drivers of change in the telecom sector and provides best practice examples of how industry stakeholders can address the skills gap in the ICT sector. The FITS project was supported by the European Union Programme for Employment and Social Solidarity – PROGRESS.

The full Joint Declaration and the project study report can be found via the links below.