Friday 28 May 2021
‘European jobs could soar by 5.7m with sustainable and digital investments’
More investments in sustainability and digitalisation will help Europe catch up with the rest of the world post-covid, resulting in 5.7 million new jobs across the continent by 2030.
That is according to new research from Accenture and BusinessEurope, which has revealed that European businesses expect their recovery from the pandemic to take six months longer than companies in Asia and North America.
The report suggests Europe’s strengths in key industries such as automotive, chemicals and life sciences coupled with accelerated investment in sustainable and digital initiatives would bridge this gap and see employment figures soar.
It notes that the pandemic caused 3.5 million jobs to be lost across Europe but with the correct investment, this loss could be reversed to pre-crisis level by 2023, avoiding a repeat of the 2008 financial crisis, where jobs did not recover to previous levels for eight years.
The report has stated that 88% of European companies plan to increase their investments in digital transformation and sustainability this year, as opposed to just 58% in 2020.
Jean-Marc Ollagnier, CEO of Accenture in Europe, said: “Although the comparatively slow vaccine rollout in Europe may be tempering businesses’ hopes of a speedy recovery, the region’s leading position on sustainability, coupled with investment in the most-promising technologies, could increase its competitiveness and open up millions of new jobs across the region in the long term.”
