The growth rate in the year 2000 is expected to be 8.9 percent, which will bring the Western European ICT market to a value of 474 billion Euro. According to the EITO, on a global scale, IT markets will grow by 8.8 percent in 2000, after a similar rise in 1999. Scotland is now home to more than 400 major electronics companies. In the United States, growth rates are expected to decrease slightly from 8.1 percent in 1999 to 7.6 percent this year. Due to its market size, the U.S. will generate by far the highest growth in absolute terms.
Analysts are quick to point out, however, that Europe is the more dynamic of the two markets.
Of course, some countries face bigger talent problems than others. France, which levies heavy taxes on everything from bank accounts to baguettes, is watching its talented young professionals leave in droves. A recent commission report from the French Senate estimated that at least 40,000 French nationals have moved to Silicon Valley and 12,000 more make their way across the channel to the UK each year. People throughout Europe still see the States as the leader in information technology. And Christine Bell, vice president at Global IT Options, a Georgia-based company that places IT talent around the world, says that many of the adventurous professionals they place see Europe as virgin territory, where their skills could make a real difference in the shape of the industry.