Employment and Social Developments in Europe (ESDE) 2023

3. Assessment of policies to address skill shortages and improve matching

3.6 Selected examples of targeted support for skills development at EU level

Under the European Skills Agenda, the Pact for Skills and the associated Blueprint Skills Alliances support large-scale skills partnerships in all strategic industrial ecosystems. The Pact for Skills mobilises public and private organisations to work together on effective upskilling and reskilling to support the green and digital transitions, innovation, and competitiveness. The Pact includes companies, workers, national, regional and local authorities, social partners, industry organisations, VET providers, chambers of commerce, and employment services. The first partnerships were launched in 2020 and now cover all 14 trans-European industrial ecosystems within the New Industrial Strategy for Europe. ⁽³⁶⁴⁾ The associated Blueprint for Sectoral Cooperation on Skills, first introduced by the Skills Agenda for Europe 2016, is a key initiative to create strategic approaches and foster cooperation on concrete skills development solutions in industrial ecosystems. This section presents some of the most relevant partnerships for the sectors experiencing labour or skills shortages, i.e. the digital, healthcare, construction, energy intensive industries, and renewable energy sectors. Overall, Centres of Vocational Excellence (CoVE) and the roll-out of individual learning accounts (ILAs) contribute to upskilling and reskilling of the workforce, improving skills-matching.

Under the Pact for Skills, the skills partnership for the digital ecosystem ⁽³⁶⁵⁾ will contribute to reaching the targets of the Digital Decade. ⁽³⁶⁶⁾ It will address the aim of equipping 80% of people with basic digital skills, achieving gender convergence, and having 20 million ICT specialists employed in the EU by 2030. It will design and implement an ecosystem-wide upskilling and reskilling framework, seek synergies with existing initiatives such as Upskilling Pathways, and use existing best practices and guidance to build on – and potentially expand – existing initiatives, tools and resources (e.g. blueprints, digital skill-up resources). It is supported by the Blueprints for Sectoral Cooperation on Skills in Digital Fields (digitalisation of the energy-value chain, blockchain, cybersecurity and software services. These projects have revised existing job profiles specific to the ecosystem, identified new emerging profiles, and developed relevant training modules and curricula.

In light of current and expected increases in labour shortages in healthcare, the Pact for Skills partnership for the health ecosystem aims to address skills needs and build resilience across the complex network of health systems. ⁽³⁶⁷⁾ Launched in December 2022, it covers:

• Skills to support the digital and green transitions in the health sector, for both existing and emerging occupations;
• Interdisciplinary skills and skills to enhance the integration of care across patient pathways, and health promotion and disease prevention in health-relevant sectors;
• Communication and other skills, including patient engagement, leadership, and advocacy;
• Change management and organisational skills to engage the health workforce in co-creating innovation across the health ecosystem.

This health ecosystem partnership builds on the Blueprint Alliance for a Future Health Workforce Strategy on Digital and Green Skills (BeWell), which started in 2022. It creates comprehensive curricula and training programmes for all health professionals and health workers in emerging occupations.

The Pact for Skills partnership in construction aims to reach three million workers in the next five years. The construction sector is experiencing labour shortages and these are expected to persist, linked to the need to enhance the energy efficiency of buildings in order to reduce carbon emissions (see Chapter 2). The Plan intends to upskill and reskill at least 25% of the construction industry workforce in the next five years. This will require systematic anticipation of skills needs and/or the validation and recognition/certification of skills acquired in the workplace. ⁽³⁶⁸⁾ In this context, the All.Construction Blueprint aimed to improve skills intelligence and address short-term and medium-term skills needs. ⁽³⁶⁹⁾ Implemented by a consortium of 24 partners from 12 European countries between 1 January 2019 and 31 March 2023, it mapped current and future skills needs and available training, and then developed new training content focusing on digital, energy efficiency and circular economy relevant skills, new curricula, and a sectoral skills strategy.

Sectoral associations have established a large-scale skills partnership for energy-intensive industries. These include, for example, the Cross-Sectoral Blueprint for a Sustainable Process Industry (SPIRE-SAIS), and associations in cement, minerals, steel, aluminium, water, engineering, and chemicals working within the European Steel Skills Alliance (ESSA Blueprint). ESSA has nine national/regional rollouts of its own training system, designed in line with specific national/regional demands and solutions. The EU platform ‘steelHub’ for companies, training providers and individual learners ensures the ongoing adjustment of sectoral skills and strategies. A common database of professional profiles has been developed for the steel sector, as well as a sectoral skills matrix. SPIRE-SAIS has developed a common job profile selection for industrial symbiosis and energy efficiency. It has also identified new skills (including digital skills) and developed a framework for training courses, measures, arrangements, tools and activities for integration within VET, company, and association training programmes.

A large-scale Pact for Skills partnership for renewable energy was launched in March 2023, as announced in the REPowerEU plan. Renewable energy sectors are expected to expand considerably (see Chapter 2, section 3.). The partnership will provide an understanding of the sector and skills analytics, while promoting quality careers in line with the values of the Just Transition and reinforcing the sector’s attractiveness to workers.

In February 2023, the European Commission presented the European Green Deal Industrial Plan to enhance the competitiveness of Europe's net-zero industry and accelerate the transition to climate neutrality. Its goal is to provide a more supportive environment for scaling-up EU manufacturing capacity for the net-zero technologies and products required to meet Europe's ambitious climate targets. Equipping workers with the right skills will be essential to successful implementation of the plan (Box 3.9).

CoVE are transnational collaborative networks that can contribute to alleviating labour shortages. The centres aim to drive innovation and excellence in VET, bringing together a wide range of local and regional partners, including VET providers, employers, research centres, and social partners, to co-create skills ecosystems. In doing so, they facilitate close links between VET and the labour market, matching supply and demand for skills. Aligned with the European Skills Agenda and the European Education Area, 100 CoVE will be established between 2021 and 2027, supported by Erasmus+ funding. At European level, several CoVE are currently operating in sectors identified as facing current or future shortages, including renewable energy, advanced manufacturing, and healthcare.

Rolling out ILAs facilitates the take-up of training and can help to respond to skills needs. Around half of the Member States are developing ILA schemes, and a scheme is already operational in France. The Netherlands has a similar scheme that incorporates some of the elements outlined in the Council Recommendation on individual learning accounts. The purpose of ILA is to provide direct financial support to individuals, including the unemployed and self-employed, for use in training activities. The ILA can also be used by workers in companies, in full coordination with their employer, to respond to specific skills needs. These schemes need to be accompanied by complementary measures on clear information, relevant opportunities, personalised guidance, and paid training leave for employed people.