Delivering 21St Century Skills for Employability in Europe
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
MS_brochure Employability_8p_EN New Skills for More & Better Jobs in Europe Delivering 21st Century Skills for Employability in Europe In partnership with Schools Local Community Centres IT Academies Government andIndustry Partners Workers with better skills get better wages There is a strong relationship between skill levels and the possibility of having a good career st and a decent salary. For example, Delivering 21 Century Skills one additional year of school or training, is estimated at about 6.5% in terms of increased salary and its for Employability in Europe effect could be as high as 9%. And the link between skill levels and individual wages are also more closely related in periods of rapid technological change. As a leader in information technology innovation and developing productivity tools around the world, Microsoft is committed to help address Employability Skills are more one of the greatest challenges facing Europeans and their governments: vital than ever in an ageing unemployment. Europe For Europe to realise its full potential as a knowledge economy, it needs a From 2005 to 2030 the number of people aged over 65 will rise by knowledge economy workforce Ð one in which all citizens have basic IT skills 52.3% (40 million), while the age and future generations gain these skills as part of their education. Europe group of 15-64 will decrease by 6.8% also needs greater numbers of people with more advanced IT skills who (20.8 million). The ratio of dependent provide the infrastructure and innovation needed for the knowledge young and old people to people of economy. working age will increase from 49 per cent in 2005 to 66 per cent in By partnering with local and national governments, local business and 2030. To offset the loss of working- community groups, Microsoft has already shown how delivering skills for age people, we will need an employability can transform lives and create opportunities. We are prepared employment rate of over 70 per cent. to take our efforts a significant step further and to work in partnership with European Commission Green other representatives of the private sector, governments, academia and Paper on Demographic Change, community organisations to provide access to IT skills for 20 million 2005 Europeans by 2010. Ò Learning IT skills opened up a whole new In simple terms, employability is about being capable of getting and keeping world for me and showed me that cutting fulfilling work. European employer surveys consistently cite the most edge technologies can be a precious aid to help people with disabilities create their own important skills for employment across sectors and organisations as being: opportunities and regain access to the literacy, the ability to apply numbers (numeracy), IT skills, communication professional world.Ò skills, teamwork, problem-solving skills, and customer service skills. Martin Kovar, co-founder PCs Against Barriers, Czech Republic "Increasing employment in Europe remains These skills enable people to: one of the top priorities for reform. Labour market reforms that have been undertaken in ¥ Get their first job recent years are beginning to bear fruit. A key ¥ Adapt to new business methods objective is to increase labour market participation, especially of the young, women, ¥Tostart their own successful small older workers, persons with disabilities and businesses legal migrants and minorities. To achieve ¥ Move more readily from sectors these objectives, work should be conducted in where jobs are declining to close cooperation with social partners." sectors where growth is strong, From the Presidency Conclusions of the especially people over 50 Brussels European Council, March 2006 ¥ Extend working life through interesting part-time jobs and contribute their knowledge and experience to community organisations after retiring. "ICT skills training is a key vehicle for employability and job creation in a competitive and inclusive Europe and is at the heart of the EU Jobs and Growth Partnership goals and the objectives recently discussed at the World Summit on information Society in Tunisia. The creation of the European Alliance on Skills for Employability of which Microsoft is a founding partner is part of our commitment to this goal." Jean-Philippe Courtois, President, Microsoft International 2 MicrosoftÕs 21st Century Skills For Employability Initiative At Microsoft, we take on big challenges. World-wide, we have committed to help train and give access to technology to more than 250 million people by 2010. In Europe, together with other founding members of the European Working with government, industry and Alliance on Skills for Employability, we aim to help train and provide access to NGO partners across Europe we are technology to 20 million Europeans by 2010. investing in a comprehensive approach to skills training partnerships that aim to In deepening our commitment to 21st Century Skills for Employability across support and assist: Europe we will build on a number of Microsoft programmes that are already ¥TodayÕs untapped work force Ð to gain well established across the EU: basic IT skills for work and life through local community IT training centres, IT academies and online training tools ¥ Unlimited Potential supports community technology centres with software, curriculum, refurbished PCs and training grants to provide IT skills training for the Ð Especially unemployed youth under unemployed, people with disabilities, the elderly and refugees, as well as train a new 25 who have dropped out of formal generation of community trainers. To date we have provided support to more than education 2,000 community technology centres, and provided skills training for more than Ð And older workers over 50 who need 200,000 people, in all parts of the EU25. new skills and confidence to find jobs in a different sector later in life, to ¥ITAcademies supports accredited academic institutions to provide students with a extend their working lives, or to premium education on the latest Microsoft technologies through academic education resume work after unemployment or tracks, rigorous Microsoft certification exams, and training for IT-related career working in the home. opportunities. To date in the EU25 we have established IT Academy agreements with ¥TomorrowÕs European knowledge more than 2,000 institutions and more than half a million individuals have benefited workers Ð by bringing IT skills into the from this programme. mainstream of schools curricula with an emphasis on support and training for ¥Partners in Learning supports primary and secondary schools to increase access to teachers, students and their technology and skills by providing software, IT lessons, refurbished PCs and helping to communities. expand teacher training. To date in the EU we have signed Partners in Learning memoranda of understanding with 22 governments and provided support to more ¥Today and tomorrowÕs IT professionals Ð than half a million teachers across Europe. by supporting universities and training colleges across Europe to provide fi rst- class IT diploma and degree education on the latest technologies. ¥ And thus also supporting EuropeÕs 20 The importance of million SMEs Ð the heartbeat of the EU economy Ð by widening their skills training certification recruitment base of local people who are able to use IT as tools for business growth and innovation. Independent research commissioned by Microsoft shows that Human Resources managers in Europe: ¥ Regard certified IT skills as important for both IT and non-IT roles; Ò While many seniors may never have ¥Would choose candidates with IT skills certification over candidates used a computer, SeniorNet classes and without them; and Microsoft Works Suite make it very easy ¥Would pay an average of 6.9% additional salary for these certified skills. for them to learn.This is a great Our skills training programmes provide recognised curricula and opportunity for members of my certification in national languages. to ensure the skill levels obtained are generation to keep engaged and active.Ó valued in the labour market. Fran Middleton, SeniorNet, Sweden ÒWequickly seized upon the Microsoft IT Academy programme as a way of introducing meaningful vocational studies to our pupils, teaching staff and the local community.Staff like the skills-based approach and many have already passed several qualifications.They also found the immediacy of the interactive testing environment very useful and were keen to make extra use of the step by step courseware.Ó Des Reynolds, Head of IT, Benjamin Britten High School, Lowestoft, UK "Working in partnership with industry, CompTIA develops globally-recognised, vendor-neutral certifications that are mapped to real job roles.Students and technicians worldwide rely on CompTIA certifications as a perfect entry-point to an ICT career and as a valuable skills builder. Industry acceptance of CompTIA certifications, and endorsement by the major IT vendors such as Cisco, HP and Microsoft, makes them a consistent standard for recruiters as well as a skills benchmark.CompTIA certified ICT technicians are well-respected in their field of work and have the proven skills to make a contribution in the workplace from day one." Matthew Poyiadgi, Regional Director Europe, CompTIA 3 From Skills Training to Good Jobs through Partnerships Partnerships that match trainees Partnerships to support SMEs Ð the goals by consulting with local jobs heartbeat of the EU economy and training a further 250,000 individuals from Small and