while the proportion is falling for products and
services that are intensive in labour, capital or
resources rather than knowledge. This is in part
because of differences in wages across countries
participating in global value chains and the distribution of global value chain tasks between
high- and low-wage countries.
Agrarian economies still exist, although in
declining numbers. And industrial activities
persist, although they are being transformed
and replaced by computer-based technologies
and workplaces. The reality is that the growth of
knowledge societies and innovations in business
models are bringing enormous transformations
to work environments and in the skills demanded for many jobs. Work environments are technology-rich, and a whole new set of occupations
has emerged based on the production, analysis,
distribution and consumption of information.
72
The challenge of the skills mismatch in the
knowledge economy is due to the pace of technological innovation and to the rapid growth
in demand for new and higher skills, which is
are not forthcoming. In a survey of businesses
in eight European countries, 27 percent of potential employers reported that they could not
fill vacancies because applicants lacked the necessary skills.
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Some 45 percent of employers
in Greece and 47 percent in Italy also reported
that their businesses were hampered by a lack of
entry-level skills.
74
Today jobs that are growing in developed
countries demand complex interaction skills