Brussels, 08/02/2013 (Agence Europe) - In a meeting in Dublin on Thursday 7 and Friday 8 February 2013, EU employment and social affairs ministers discussed information and communication technology and how it can be used to find new jobs for the 26 million unemployed in Europe and ensure better economic integration of older women.
After this Employment and Social Policy Council, the Irish Presidency pointed out that some 700,000 jobs could be created by 2015 in the computer and communications industry, an industry that is a speciality of the Irish economy, which has been able to attract many global names. Like in the rest of the EU, Ireland has found a mismatch between skills on offer and skills required by industry.
“We need to strengthen cooperation on existing Community policies, instruments and processes so as to enable member states to identify the strengths and weaknesses of their national skills systems, benchmark them internationally and develop policies to transform better skills into better jobs”, stated Irish Employment, Enterprise and Innovation Minister Richard Bruton after the meeting.
Similarly, the low rate of employment of women between the ages of 50 and 64 should be tackled by the EU because 16.6% fewer women in this age-group are in work than men of the same age. This reveals a greater risk of poverty and an under-employed workforce. Aurel Ciobanu-Dordea, equality director at the European Commission, said: “There is a strong case for supporting the economic engagement of women in order to attain the EUROPE 2020 goals. In many member states, the highest potential to increase employment rates lies with older workers and mostly with older women. Beyond employment, women aged 50 to 65 should also be in focus of pension and active ageing policies, to ensure that they remain in employment more”. (JK/transl.fl)