Impact of transformation to knowledge society on employment creation in the EU and Turkey

Technological changes have been main determinants of the economic life in the world history. Specific technologies are embedded in the agrarian, industrial, and knowledge societies Industrial revolution brought radical changes and transformations to the menhood. A similar process is also happening now. Entreprises, which are the producers and users of technology, have been trying to adapt their production, distribution, and organization activities to this new process, with the effect of global competition. The activities and behaviours of the web entreprises reflect on the labour markets as a new paradigm. In the transformation process, alongwith the paradigmal change in the labour markets, significant changes take place in employment. These changes have direct effect on people?s lives. Since economic growth cannot provide a fair distribution and a sufficient level of employment, policies and strategies carry great importance. In this context, the primary aim of this research is to analyze the impact of growth and employment policies and strategies on employment creation in the EU and Turkey. Another aim is to highlight the importance of eqitable policies and strategies and to propose a national employment policy and strategy for Turkey on the grounds of `effiquity?, that is efficiency and equity together. To this end, first chapter of dissertation analyzes definitions and components of knowledge society and employment creation. Second chapter investigates the structure of employment, growth, services sector, and occupational structure of employment in the EU. Empoyment policies and strategies of the EU have been studied and compared, and the new formation in the labour market have been evaluated on the basis of effiquity. Last chapter includes the analysis of the previous subjects for Turkey within the perspective of employment creation. In the end, a national employment policy and strategy have been proposed for Turkey. Key Words: Knowledge Society, Employment Creation, Growth, Employment Policy, Employment Strategy, EU, Turkey