Results for Skills and changing societies

Continuing earlier activities on older workers and lifelong learning, this project aims to increase understanding of and provide new insights into ageing and work through new research. Its purpose is to support evidence-based active ageing policies in the context of widespread population ageing in many western societies.

Cedefop’s European skills and jobs survey (ESJS) has revealed that about 45% of EU adult workers believe that their skills can either be better developed or utilised at work. European policy that mitigates skill mismatch can thus be conducive to raising productivity and improving worker well-being.

But better matching a country’s skill supply to the needs of its economy is a dynamic process that requires policies to increase education and training responsiveness to labour market needs. Mitigating skill mismatch in an era of fast-paced digitalisation, AI and automation requires a well-developed skills anticipation infrastructure in countries and an integrative approach to skills governance.

Environmental change has been one of the key drivers of labour demand and skills supply across all sectors for the past years. Cedefop has been exploring the implications on jobs and skills for over a decade now. Since 2019, the European Green Deal (EGD) is the EU's new growth strategy, aiming at transforming the EU into a fair and prosperous society, with a modern, resource-efficient and competitive economy where there are no net emissions of greenhouse gases in 2050 and where economic growth is decoupled from resource use. Leaving no person and no place behind this transition is another pillar of the EGD.

Implementing the EGD will affect all EU sectors and occupations, albeit in different intensities and directions. To better understand the implications in jobs and skills, as well as the role of VET in supporting the green transition, Cedefop's relevant work explores employment effects, skill requirements and implications for vocational education and training (VET) at EU, sectoral and occupational level. The main aims are to investigate the expected impact of the EGD and other EU environmental and climate change policies on future skills demand within and across sectors, and to provide insights for effective training and education policies and initiatives.

To learn more about Cedefop's recent work on skills and jobs for the green transition, you can listen to our podcast.