Decrease of Highly Educated Technology Workforce

Description:

to be completed Following discussion as part of the European Lisboa conference (2000), the government of The Netherlands has set itself a target to become one of the most competitive and dynamic knowledge economies of the world. In order to realize this goal, the government wants to increase R&D spending to 3% of GDP vs. current spending of 1.8% only (2004). One of the main drivers of the succesful realisation of this goal comprises the availability of sufficient numbers of highly educated technological professionals for both public and private research institutions.

As it currently stands, the number of technological students in The Netherlands has been declining for many years in a row. In addition it appears, that after graduation, a large part of the technological professionals prefer to work in general business roles rather than scientific or engineering roles. Consequently, the number of technological affluent employees is expected to continue to decline going forward.

Enablers:

Increase in (perceptions of) career opportunities for techies; More flexible education programs: bachelor for technological students with business focus, masters for truly technological students; Increased acceptance of foreigners to technological degrees combined with easy access to visa and working permits after graduation