Human Resource Development: Strategy and Tactics

12 March 2001 - There is a risk to Europe’s prosperity if the supply of graduate science and technology skills does not match market needs. This is the conclusion of Assessing the Supply and Demand for Scientists and Technologists in Europe, a report from the Institute for Employment Studies.

The report is based on in-depth research across the European Union conducted for the European C commission by IES. It reveals shortages in specific skills such as IT, together with under-utilisation of other skills in life sciences and some areas of engineering which are expensive to develop. But the report also shows that there are considerable problems in providing accurate data about supply and demand of skills that are fundamental to Europe's economic performance.

Richard Pearson, Director of the Institute for Employment Studies (also an author of the report) said that action was necessary:

‘A good supply of science and technology skills is an essential element of our prosperity. Yet knowledge about the flows of scientists and technologists into and out of higher education, in employment and around the EU, is inadequate. The effective operation of these critical labour markets, with skill shortages co-existing with over-supply, requires better information. Existing data sets have major deficiencies and inconsistencies. The establishment of a European science and technology Observatory would be a significant first step, building on our research, to monitor and report regularly on the key trends.’

The report argueds that the proposed Observatory should report on supply and demand trends, together with their imbalances across the European Union. It should advise on future information needs by co-ordinating inputs from experts drawn from every Member State of the EU, these in turn drawing from their own local information sources.

So what information do the report authors think that we need to know about Europe’s scientists and technologists?

Employer demand can be influenced by numerous factors - for example national and international economic climate, historic patterns of national development and structural change, and corporate competitiveness, including competition for skills. On the the supply side it is clear that higher education is in a state of flux with many universities trying to be more responsive to the demands of students and the job market.

Europe is a diverse continent and the job market for scientists and technologists shows huge, and rapidly changing differences between occupations, sectors, countries and locations. Basic trends may be well-reported but some of the studies which have been most widely publicised 'have been rather ad hoc and based on poor research, or undertaken to lobby for more publicly-funded resources', indicating a need or better quality information on which impartial decisions can be taken.

Main findings of the study:

The number of research scientists and engineers within the EU increased from 500,000 in 1985 to 800,000 in 1995. Almost two-thirds were in Germany, France and the UK.

There is no evidence to support theories of a ‘brain drain’ from the EU.

Most R&D employers conduct recruitment within their own countries.

Technical skills are no longer enough: R&D employers increasingly look for recruits with personal skills as well. They cite ability to communicate, adaptability, problem-solving and business awareness as being important.

Just 20 per cent of research scientists and engineers in the research and development establishments surveyed were women. But women make up more than half of people graduating in most EU member states.

Natural sciences account for 18 per cent of people graduating in the EU with Ireland and France having the largest share.

Engineers and technologists feature prominently in Germany, Finland and Denmark, with 24 per cent of graduates.

Unemployment among newly qualified scientists and technologists has been comaparatively high in some countries. Under-employment and under-utilisation of skills can be seen in Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden and the UK, and (at Doctoral level) in France. This is particularly the case for some engineers and life science graduates,

Assessing the Supply and Demand for Scientists and Technologists in Europe
Pearson R, Jagger N, Connor H, Perryman S with de Grip A, Marey P, Corvers F.
IES Report 377, February 2001. ISBN 1-85184-306-X. £40.00