By Martin Banks - 1st December 2010
The success of the new world of work and the employability of the next generation is dependent on the investment we make today
Jan Muehlfeit
A senior Microsoft official has called for a "fine tuning" of EU structural funds in order to meet the changing demands of the labour market.
Speaking in Brussels, Jan Muehlfeit said such funding should in future go to support those organisations which "embrace" the so-called digital revolution.
His comments come amid growing speculation about the future of cohesion policy in the seven-year period after 2013.
Some fear the EU will cut back on regional funds which, after the common agricultural policy, accounts for the biggest shared of the annual EU budget.
His intervention also comes in the wake of the recently-launched innovation union initiative, one of the flagship policies of the Barroso II commission.
In a speech on e-skills, Muehlfeit, chairman of Microsoft Europe, said, "The reality is we are working in a digital era.
"Regardless of economic sector - retail, automotive, logistics, tourism, manufacturing or telecom - the transformation of industrial processes is upon us.
"No firm is exempt. Big and small companies alike are affected. It is our responsibility to up-skill and prepare for this new era of innovation.
"I personally have the view that by nurturing a digital-ready workforce we will approach a critical turning point for Europe; critical for inclusion, critical for competitiveness and critical for innovation."
The Czech-born official said that, with youth unemployment standing at 20 per cent in some member states, society had to prepare for a more "digitally-driven" economy.
He said, "To drive the greatest innovation potential in industry, it is essential to match the emergence of new and dynamic industrial processes with training platforms that reflect these changes in the market."
Muehlfeit, who joined Microsoft in 1993, predicted that 90 per cent of all jobs in five years will require technology skills, adding, "A new series of job profiles will influence not only information workers and ICT specialists but all knowledge workers across all sectors."
In order to secure a successful transition to an "innovation era" he called for the "fine-tuning of the next cycle of cohesion funds to support organisations embracing the cloud computing transformation".
He said, "At a national level, we need incentive schemes to support up-skilling and lifelong-learning schemes.
"The success of the new world of work and the employability of the next generation is dependent on the investment we make today."
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