Eurostat published data on employment in the high- tech sector. At EU-28 level, the average annual growth rate for employment in high-tech sectors was negative over the 2008-2014 period, whereas the Czech Republic registered growth by 1 percentage point between 2008 (share on total employment was 10.2%) and 2014 (11.2%).

Compared with the manufacturing sector (where the decrease at the EU28 level was 2.1 % a year), the EU's high-tech manufacturing sector recorded a slower fall of 1.3 % a year on average.  At the same time, high-tech knowledge-intensive services showed some resilience to the economic crisis and recorded an average annual rise of 1.0 % in the number of jobs.

Of 33 countries observed, 20 registered a fall in employment in high-tech manufacturing in 2008-2014, with the biggest fall (-37.0 %) in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, followed by a fall of 8.8 % in Portugal. Growth in high-tech manufacturing was observed in Turkey (+6.7 %, in 2009-2014), Romania (+4.7 %), Malta (+3.8 %), the Czech Republic (+3.1 %), Austria (+2.2 %), Germany (+1.4 %), Switzerland (+0.9 %) and Denmark (+0.7 %). 

There were more women in high-tech manufacturing than in manufacturing in general: 29.6 % of employees in manufacturing were women comparing to 38.2 % in high-tech manufacturing. Five countries reported that over 50 % of all those employed in high-tech manufacturing were women (Estonia, Croatia, Bulgaria, Poland and the Czech Republic).

In the high-tech knowledge-intensive services, the proportion of women (30.5 %) was lower than in the total services sector (54.4 %). No country achieved a gender balance. The lowest proportions were recorded in the Netherlands (23.0 %), Turkey (23.5 %) and the Czech Republic (24.2 %), the highest in Cyprus (44.4 %), Bulgaria (41.1 %) and Croatia (39.5 %).

At regional level, high employment in high-tech sectors is often observed in capital regions or regions close to capitals. The Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire region of the UK, which is close to London, stands out, with 11.0 % of its labour force in high-tech sectors. Other examples are Hovedstaden (~Greater Copenhagen, DK) with 9.5 %, Prague (CZ) with 9.5 % and the Comunidad de Madrid (ES) with 8.2 %. In contrast, the lowest proportions (under 1 %) were registered in Aydin, Denizli, Mugla (TR) and Anatoliki Makedonia, Thraki (EL). Denmark, Norway, Hungary, Spain, the Czech Republic and the UK show the greatest regional variation (ratio of highest to lowest proportion). The least is observed in Turkey, Croatia and Slovenia.

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