The skills nexus between productivity and job quality

Pier Paolo Angelini is an expert in the Department for VET and Skills at Cedefop, currently engaged on projects and strands of work on short-term anticipation of skills, new European skills forecast, and VET for adults. As a methodologist by training, with four years of experience at Cedefop and a background in research and consulting for public and private national and international organizations, Pier Paolo leverages his expertise in quantitative and qualitative research methods to inform evidence-based policy decisions.

Simon Beausaert is Professor of Learning and Development in Organisations at the Department of Educational Research and Development within the School of Business and Economics at Maastricht University, the Netherlands. His research focuses on strategically supporting workplace learning and development on the one hand, and facilitating the transition from education to the labour market on the other. He is also the director of Brightbook, an authoring platform built on the principles of effective learning, enabling trainers and educators to create their own digital learning materials.

Emil Boc became Mayor of Cluj-Napoca City, The Heart of Transylvania, Romania, first time in 2004. After being prime-minister of Romania during 2008-2012, he was reelected as mayor of Cluj-Napoca city and has stayed in office since 2012 up to present.

Mayor Emil Boc is the Executive President of the Romanian Association of Municipalities.

At the European level, Mayor Emil Boc is the First Vice-Chair of the Commission for Territorial Cohesion and EU Budget (COTER) within the European Committee of the Regions. Previously, Emil Boc served as COTER Chair from September 2022 to February 2025, during which he emphasized the efficient and sustainable implementation of EU cohesion programs.

Mara Brugia is the Deputy Director of Cedefop, the European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training. She has been involved in vocational education and training (VET) since 1994. As Head of Department from 2004 to 2014, she managed teams of European experts working in research and policy analysis to support the development and implementation of the Union policy in the field of VET, skills and qualifications.

Valeria Cirillo is Associate Professor of Economics at the University of Bari Aldo Moro, External Affiliate of the Institute of Economics at the Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies, and Associate Editor of the Italian Economic Journal and Structural Change and Economic Dynamics. Her research focuses on labour market dynamics, technological change and inequality. She has led several national and international research projects, including initiatives funded by the European Commission and Horizon Europe. She currently leads the University of Bari team in the Horizon Europe project BRIDGES 5.0 and is Principal Investigator of the DIGITWORK project. She has published extensively in leading international journals.

Dr. Evangelia Demerouti is a Full Professor in Work and Organizational Psychology at the Eindhoven University of Technology, Distinguished Visiting Professor at the University of Johannesburg and Lingnan University and member of the Board of Governors at Tilburg University. She has published over 250 national and international papers and book chapters on topics including the effects of work characteristics, individual job strategies, occupational well-being, work-life balance and the implementation and use of technology. She is an associate editor of the Journal of Occupational Health Psychology and the president of the European Association of Work and Organizational Psychology.

Steven Dhondt is a senior researcher at TNO (the Netherlands) and visiting professor at the KU Leuven (Belgium). He coordinates the Horizon Europe Bridges 5.0 project on workforce skills in Industry 5.0. His research topic has always been how people and companies deal with new technologies. His quest is to shape human-centric organisations and workplaces. As part of this quest, he is a member of the Steering Board of the Community of Practice Industry 5.0 and of the European Workplace Innovation Network.

Carlo Frising is Vice CEO at the Chambre des Salariés Luxembourg, CSL (professional chamber representing the interests of the employees).

He is in charge of the Luxembourg Lifelong Learning Centre, the CVET centre of the CSL.

He was a member of the Advisory Committee on Vocational Training (ACVT) of the European Commission until June 2025 and is a member of the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) Education and Training Committee.

Nathalie Greenan is Professor of Economics at the Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers (CNAM) and researcher at the Centre d'Études de l'Emploi et du Travail (CEET), where she leads the research axis on Organisational Change, Work and Employment. She is also Co-Director of the interdisciplinary research group GIS GESTES (CNRS). Her research focuses on the interactions between technological change, work organisation, job quality and skills. She has led and contributed to multiple European research projects, including BRIDGES 5.0 on workforce skills for Industry 5.0, and has co-edited a special issue on AI and the labour market.

Dr Stelios Himonas has served as Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Labour and Social Insurance of Cyprus since December 2025. He has held senior leadership positions across several government ministries and deputy ministries, including Research, Innovation and Digital Policy, Energy, Commerce and Industry, and Shipping. As Cyprus Digital Champion (2012–2023), he promoted digital transformation, innovation, and skills development. At the European level, he contributed to telecommunications and regulatory policy through leadership roles within CEPT. He holds a PhD in Electronic Engineering from the State University of New York at Stony Brook.

Ralph Hippe is an expert in the Department for VET and Skills at the EU agency Cedefop (Greece). He works in the skills and workplaces team, focussing on skills, AI, digitalisation, vocational training, and labour markets. His current projects include Cedefop’s AI skills foresights, the European Skills and Jobs Surveys, the European Training and Learning Survey and the Regional Skills Ecosystem index (RESET). 

Yianna Hormova is Governor of the Public Employment Service (DYPA) and an administrative scientist specialising in public policy. She is a graduate of the National School of Public Administration and holds a BA in Archaeology and Art History, and master’s degrees in Public Administration and Museum Organization and Management. She is currently a PhD candidate at Panteion University.

A civil servant since 2010, she previously served as DYPA Deputy Governor, Secretary General for Demographic and Family Policy and Gender Equality, and Secretary General of the Municipality of Karpenisi. Her work focuses on public policies reform, employment, skills, vocational training and social policy.

Christos A. Ioannou, an economist (BA AUEB, M.Sc & Ph.D LSE) is SEV-Hellenic Federation of Enterprises Advisor to the Board since 2023. He has served as SEV Director for Human Capital and Social Affairs between 2017 and 2023. He has acted as advisor, consultant and director for a variety of both private sector and government organizations, national and international. His work and publications (books and academic papers) refer to human capital, labour markets, wage and employment policies, collective bargaining as well as productive development.

Ilias Livanos is a Cedefop expert in Skills and the Labour Market. Working at Cedefop Department for VET and Skills, Ilias had led various flagship Cedefop projects, such as the Skills Forecast and the European skills index while he is currently serving as the department’s Strategic Outreach expert. Ilias is an economist by training, with a master’s degree in industrial relations and a PhD in employment research.

Dr Kevin Marshall has extensive cross-sectoral, education, and industry experience working for Microsoft Ireland for the last 20 years, with the last 10 years as the Head of Future Skilling.

He has been appointed as Adjunct Professor in the Assisting Living and Learning (ALL) Institute in Maynooth University. He has a BA (Hons) in Psychology from University College in Dublin, an MSc in Occupational Psychology from University of Hull and a Ph.D. in Educational Measurements and Research, from Boston College.

Diana Ognyanova is a Policy Officer at the European Commission Directorate-General for Research and Innovation (DG RTD), where she works on industrial research and innovation policy and contributes to initiatives supporting Europe’s industrial transformation, as well as analytical work on corporate R&D investment and innovation performance. She previously worked at the European Commission Directorate-General for Economic and Financial Affairs (DG ECFIN), the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action, and as a health systems researcher at the Technical University of Berlin, where she obtained her PhD.

He leads the Agency’s Skills and Work team and is principal research manager of its Digitalisation and Future of Work and Skill Mismatch projects. His proudest achievement is the development of two waves of the Cedefop European Skills and Jobs Survey.

Antonio Ranieri is Head of Department for VET and Skills at Cedefop.

He leads a team of European experts investigating skills trends and changes in the worlds of work and support the development of the Union policy in the field of vocational education and training. The Department work covers a wide range of research and policy analysis in two Cedefop strategic areas of operation, namely skills and labour market and learning and employability. 

An economist by training, Antonio has taught regional economics at the University of Rome si.nce 2002. He also lectured at the National High School of Public Administration on cost-benefit analysis and public expenditure.

Agnes Roman is senior policy coordinator of the European Trade Union Committee for Education (ETUCE) for 16 years, responsible for trade union policies on formal education and teachers’ qualification. She is also advising the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) for 14 years on VET, apprenticeship and employee training matters.

Giovanni Russo is an Expert at Cedefop. 

His background is in labor economics and behavioral economics. He has a PhD in Economics from the VU University of Amsterdam. Before joining Cedefop in 2010 he was associate professor at Utrecht University, he also had short stints at the University of Turin, Trieste and the VU University. 

His current main line of research revolves around Industry 5.0 and focuses on the importance of human capital for the competitiveness of EU establishments.

Lidia Salvatore is expert for adult learning and continuing vocational training at Cedefop and is responsible for Cedefop work on empowering adults through upskilling and reskilling pathways and on CVET.  Prior to joining Cedefop Lidia worked as a research officer in Eurofound, in the field of youth employment policies.  

Giulia Santangelo has been an expert in 'Department for VET and Skills' at the European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training (Cedefop) since 2022. Working within the 'Skills and Workplaces' team, she contributes to major Cedefop surveys, including the European Skills and Jobs Survey (ESJS) and the European Training and Learning Survey (ETLS).

Jürgen Siebel joined Cedefop from the private sector in September 2019. As Executive Director, he is responsible for managing the Agency’s operations in accordance with the strategic direction of its tripartite Management Board.

Mr Vassilis Siomadis, MSc Mechanical Engineering, is specialised in industrial management and VET. He is Head of the Branch of KEK GSEVEE, a CVET Centre of the Hellenic Confederation of Professionals Craftsmen and Merchants) in Thessaloniki. In parallel, he is responsible for the European Project of GSEVEE.  He allocates more than 20years experience in the management of activities aiming to promote training and support employment at local. regional, national, and transnational level. Finally, he is Board Member of the European Vocational Training Association (EVTA).

Dr Marinos Stavrou is an Officer in the Research and Planning Directorate of the Human Resource Development Authority of Cyprus (HRDA), a semi-governmental organisation which promotes the training and development of the human resources of Cyprus. He is involved in the HRDA’s strategic planning and implementation monitoring as well as the evaluation of the organisation's activities. He contributes to policy development concerning vocational education and training and adult learning. His work supports designing and implementing skills development policies, and he is involved in national and EU-level reporting processes and initiatives, contributing to policy discussions on skills and lifelong learning.

Sotiria Theodoropoulou is the head of unit European economic, employment, and social policies at the European Trade Union Institute in Brussels. She produces, mobilises, and facilitates the uptake of knowledge from research on European economic, employment and social policies to support European social dialogue, stakeholder consultation and EU policymaking. She manages a team of researchers working on topics such as job quality, platform work, just green and technological transition, wage inequalities, minimum wages, EU economic governance and social protection. Since 2020, she has been the co-editor of the ETUI’s annual flagship publication Benchmarking Working Europe, a recent theme of which has been how quality jobs can support sustainable competitiveness.

Jasper Van Loo is coordinator of Cedefop’s department for VET and Skills.

He currently coordinates the labour market and skills analysis work of the agency. He is also part of the team investigating EU skills trends using online job vacancies.

He has a master degree in quantitative and general economics and holds a Ph.d. in social sciences.

Chris Warhurst is Professor and Director of the Institute for Employment Research at the University of Warwick in the UK, and a Fellow of both the Royal Society and Academy of Social Sciences.He is an internationally recognised expert on job quality and skills. He has published 18 books and undertaken around 100 research projects, many for government. He has provided advisory work for the UK, Australian and Scottish Governments and OECD and is currently an advisor to the UK Government’s Cabinet Office and Skills England.