HC Deb 20 July 1982 vol 28 cc86-7W
Miss Joan Lestor

asked the Secretary of State for Employment what measures he has taken to assist the employment prospects of office workers in Information Technology Year, in view of the estimates by the Equal Opportunities Commission that 170,000 jobs will be lost in this sector by 1990.

Mr. Alison

Some £18 million was spent by the Manpower Services Commission in 1981–82 on supporting computer-related training for adults. In co-operation with the Department of Industry, the commission aims to extend the network of information technology centres—ITECs— to about 100 during 1982, which will provide an increasing number of young people with training and work experience in micro-electronics and computing skills. Estimates of the employment effects of changes in technology are necessarily subject to wide margins of error.