BRUSSELS, June 25, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- via PRWEB - According to a study carried out by Web Business Analytics, the leading intelligent and automated online platform, Europe is missing out on countless economic opportunities generated by the internet and new media because of a lack of human resources. With a genuine strategy rolled out across the continent, public authorities could create 1.8 million jobs in the space of only a few years.
In order to reach these conclusions, Web Business Analytics first screened over 42 European countries with the aim of calculating the percentage of businesses that have a website. The greatest concentration was found in Germany (64%), Belgium (61%), Luxembourg (57%) and the United Kingdom (57%).
Looking more closely at companies with over 5 members of administrative staff or over 10 members of production staff, the economic potential turns out to be both immense and also untapped in a vast pool of 1,081,954 companies scattered across the whole of Europe. "It is these companies in particular that need to be investing right now in new media to give a boost to their activities," urged William Vande Wiele, CEO of Web Business Analytics. "If these businesses resort to an agency, they will find themselves faced with potentially exorbitant costs. This is why it is overwhelmingly in their interest to recruit an internet manager to oversee their interactive marketing and who is capable of helping them to develop their online business over the long term in a sustained way."
At the same time, Web Business Analytics recently conducted a survey on the number of European businesses with an e-commerce site. Here too, there is potential to create a significant number of jobs for the European economy, with the majority of these companies employing fewer than 5 people. "Moreover, the rate of businesses actively working in e-commerce is low in the 42 European countries we surveyed, given that it varies systematically between 1 and 7%," commented William Vande Wiele.
Web Business Analytics has therefore been able to pinpoint some 671,404 businesses that are equipped with a transactional storefront and are in a position, starting from tomorrow, to generate new jobs and offer a boost to the economy. Ultimately, the investment that these businesses are making in these internet specialists as well as incorporating digital into the education system are spurring e-commerce along which will benefit all collateral IT jobs. Neelie Kroes, Vice-President of the European Commission is even talking of some 3.8 million jobs being created over the long term.
William Vande Wiele believes that there is an urgent need to encourage the adoption of new media among Europe's leading businesses. "The potential is there, the EU's economic competitors are investing in it heavily and our political decision-makers seem content with merely watching from the sidelines. It is essential to make digital a real priority in the education system. The European Commission is nudging the Member States in this direction but a great deal remains to be done to ensure that Europe is able to catch up. Digital will be a key factor in allowing our economies to emerge from the crisis. It is time to take action."
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