Empowering Europe’s Workforce: Addressing the Skilled Labour Shortage for a Competitive Future
The European Commission has identified 42 occupational shortages, particularly in the construction, transport, and health sectors.
To stay competitive, the European Union needs a skilled workforce. Therefore, this workforce shortage is problematic, and the Commission and the European Parliament have recently renewed their efforts to address it.
“According to Roxana Mînzatu, Vice-President of the European Commission responsible for social rights, skills, and quality employment, four out of five businesses encounter difficulties in locating employees with the requisite skill sets. There are over 40 occupations experiencing shortages across the European Union, particularly within vital sectors such as construction, trades, transportation, and certain healthcare professions. This statement was made during her address to the European Parliament in Strasbourg.
There are five key areas identified for action:
- Facilitating the entry of underrepresented groups into the labor market.
- Enhancing support for skills development, vocational training, and education.
- Improving overall working conditions.
- Promoting equitable intra-EU mobility for both workers and learners.
- Attracting talent from outside the European Union.
The team developed the action plan in consultation with social partners, which is essential for understanding the needs of workers and effectively addressing the challenges within the labor market. This initiative builds upon various measures that the European Union, Member States, and social partners have already implemented, including the European Skills Agenda, the Pact for Skills, and the European Year of Skills. The proposed actions play a critical role in helping the European Union achieve its 2030 headline objectives related to skills and employment; specifically, the aim is for at least 78% of the population aged 20 to 64 to engage in employment and for 60% of adults to participate in annual training opportunities.
The current shortage of skilled labor results from a combination of supply and demand issues, along with a misalignment between the qualifications that workers hold and the requirements that employers have. There may be pressures due to demand. The ICT (Information and Communication Technology) professions are evolving rapidly, and we cannot accurately predict what the demand will be in 5 or 10 years. This raises the question of how we can prepare for the specific knowledge required in this field.
Ilias Livanos, a specialist in skills and labour market dynamics at the European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training (Cedefop), stated during a conference that our education systems do not equip themselves to handle these challenges.
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42 Occupations Facing Skilled Labour Shortage
Demographic factors, along with the ongoing digital and ecological transitions, are expected to worsen this shortage.
“Firstly, Peter Bosch, a senior research associate at the Egmont Institute, stated that the EU will lose 1 million workers each year until 2050.”
Peter Bosch explained that robotization and artificial intelligence are rapidly changing the types of skills needed, along with developments in various sectors.
He highlighted a third reason: Europe’s economic recovery, which has led many Member States and the European Union to make significant funds available.
According to Bosch, the European rearmament plan proposed by the European Commission, with an €800 billion budget, along with the substantial investment plan in defense and infrastructure put forth by likely future German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, will necessitate recruitment across many sectors.
Both the education system and companies have crucial roles to play, as “the skill system has no single owner.” While formal education is significant in skill development, ongoing training is also “the responsibility of individuals and employers,” according to Livanos
Skills Union Development
The EU’s new roadmap has set a clear direction for the future. On March 5, the European Commission introduced a new initiative called the Skills Union, aimed at enhancing training and increasing European competitiveness.
This initiative focuses on four active pillars: investing in education and training, promoting professional retraining, encouraging students and workers to be mobile, and enhancing the EU’s appeal to foreign workers.
Specifically, the Commission plans to introduce “skills guarantees” to assist companies in hiring or training individuals who are at risk of losing their jobs, as explained by Roxana Mînzatu
The “Choose Europe” initiative serves as a flagship project that actively attracts skilled workers from non-EU countries to the European Union.
The European Commission also plans to support visas for foreign students, enhance the skills pact to facilitate the upgrading and retraining of workers and make the ‘Erasmus+’ exchange program more accessible.
However, as researcher Peter Bosch warns, the EU is not the only region in this competition.
“The European Union will need people, but so will China, India, and various Arab countries, which are offering substantial salaries to attract workers,” he says. “The European Union is becoming aware of this need, but it must act quickly.”
Read More On Available Europe Job Crisis
Which European Regions Attracts Skilled Labour and Talents?
Which European regions attract the highest number of skilled labour and talents?
The northern and central capital and urban regions have the highest rates of highly skilled individuals, while southeastern Europe reports the lowest shares.
According to Eurostat, there are approximately 80 million highly skilled workers in the EU, which constitutes 44% of the workforce aged 25 to 64.
This group includes managers, technicians, and other employees who earn a living based on their specialized knowledge or experience.
Overall, the capital and urban regions of the EU have the highest concentrations of highly skilled individuals, with the most significant talent found in northern European capital regions.
