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The European Year of Skills was necessitated after employers across the European Union reported difficulty finding workers with the necessary skills. The European Labour Authority in Report on labour shortages and surpluses, and the European Union Agency for Cybersecurity in Cybersecurity skills development in the EU, identified 28 occupations which were classified as having skills shortages in 2021. These included occupations in the healthcare, hospitality, construction, and service sectors; and identified shortages of IT and security specialists, in particular cybersecurity experts, and workers with a science, technology, engineering and mathematics background.
Increasingly, ‘lack of workers with the right skills’ has been identified as the biggest constraint to successful green and digital transitions. Labor shortages can also be the result of unattractive jobs and poor working conditions.
Tackling those issues by offering quality jobs and retention policies is important for a well-functioning economic marketplace. In many EU member states, demographic aging is also expected to accelerate over the coming decade as ‘baby boom’ cohorts retire. This situation requires making use of the full potential of all working-age adults, whatever their origin, through continuous investments in their skills as well as activating more people, in particular women and young people, especially those not in employment, education or training, who face specific challenges that hinder their participation in the marketplace.
Efficient and comprehensive skills strategies, increased access to the education and training opportunities of disadvantaged groups, and combating stereotypes, in particular gender stereotypes, are posited to help increase employment and reduce skills shortages. In order to ensure a socially fair and inclusive transition, such measures can be complemented with solutions for persons who are not able to reskill and upskill.
The European Year of Skills (May 9, 2022 to May 2023) aimed to address skills gaps in the European Union (EU) and boost the EU skills strategy, with the goal to help reskill people with the focus on digital and green technology skills. Throughout the year, various stakeholders worked together to promote skills development. A final decision on the European Year of Skills provides several principles developing from the year’s explorations.
Two of the principles are very focused on the learn-and-work ecosystem:
By May 30, 2025, the European Parliament and the Council of The European Union will present a report to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee, and the Committee of the Regions on the implementation, results, and overall assessment of the initiatives provided for in this work on skills and implemented in the Member States and across the Union as a whole. The report will include ideas for further common endeavors in the field of skills in order to create a long-lasting legacy of the European Year of Skills.
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