As Brad Henry has noted, education is the foundation of good business. Highly educated employees can be an asset due to their extensive industry knowledge, but also due to some other skills. In today’s highly specialized economy and labour market companies can enhance their research and development departments or promote innovative ideas by employing doctorate holders. According to the predictions, more than one million jobs will be created in emerging areas in the near future. Since doctorate holders excel in multiple areas, companies need to start thinking about recruiting in the pool of doctorate holders.

Nevertheless, the industry can also benefit from encouraging international learning mobility of potential employees that would obtain a new set of skills and knowledge. Such mobility periods can be organized in cooperation with universities through projects, such as OUTDOC project.

Such mobility periods are crucial for the advancement of employees’ skills at all educational levels. Nevertheless, doctorate holders are excellent employees due to a history of scientifically validated research findings and the ability to present the results to the general public. These skills are necessary for survival and thriving of all companies in emerging sectors.

In the following decades, the economic and job market will be defined by:

• Flexibility: demands for new job qualifications and skills will arise. Training in languages, digitalization, technological skills, etc. are necessary.
• Demands for very specialized outsourcing services.
• Demands for implementing better monitoring systems for improving profitability and competitiveness.
• Globalisation of economic and labour relations. Employees will no longer be constrained by national boundaries, which will promote cooperation in multi-cultural environments.

Companies can benefit the most from recruiting doctorate holders who exhibit high levels of soft/transferrable skills, such as communication or management skills. Many of those can be used in multiple industries and can be trained on-the-job. Such training is beneficial both for the employee as for the employer. An employee on the learning mobility has the ability to get insights into how the company works and the employers can see the advantages of recruiting doctorate holders.