These jobless rates are now much higher than those in the United States and the United Kingdom which has also undergone a period of substantial labor market deregulation. It is also noteworthy that the unemployment rate differential is particularly large in younger age groups; youth unemployment rates were around 30% in 1997 in France and Italy, for example.
To the extent that younger people are likely to have had more exposure to information technology in the educational process, this bias by itself could potentially be an important obstacle to the incorporation of technology into business processes. In addition, workers who are unemployed for long periods of time are likely to see their technology skills deteriorate.