The US is not alone in suffering from the skills shortage. More than 500,000 European IT jobs remain unfilled, according to a report by the European Commission. Pleading for action by member governments, the report says the European Union must move quickly if it is to keep up its momentum in the sector. Information technologies currently account for 5% of GDP. Over four million people are now working in IT related positions, which now account for one in every four new jobs. Future employment potential is enormous, says the report, and the European audio-visual market alone is expected to grow by 70% between now and 2005, yielding 300,000 new jobs. Even in fixed telephony, where employment has decreased with the abolition of state monopolies, the trend is likely to swing upwards as a result of new market segments and new operators and service providers. Member states have been asked to submit national IT strategies by June next year and the EU must do more to develop an enterprise culture in which new start-ups, new products and services are allowed to flourish.
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