han
in the EU15 (less than 5% of the latter’s added value). With 134,000 businesses,
the sector accounts for nearly 2 million jobs in the EU, i.e. 5.98% of
manufacturing employment and 0.94% of overall employment. 53% of these jobs are
in the medical and optical sectors and precision instruments, and 40% in audio,
video and telecom.
Polarization of skills. The study shows that skills are
currently divided between eastern European countries, centered on production
and assembly activities, and western European, specialized in intensive
research and development, “higher value segments.” Generally speaking,
low-skilled jobs are loosing ground to average-skilled jobs, in turn loosing
ground, for computing professionals or managers, to highly educated people.