Skill needs for future jobs and the digital, green and demographic transitions – new evidence

The breakout session “Skill needs for future jobs and the transitions”, moderated by Anna Gumbau, started off with presentations of new evidence from two forthcoming European Commission working papers. Matthias Weitzel (JRC) presented new data estimating labour market transition costs and social investment needs of the green transition. He highlighted that expected wind and solar deployment in the EU by 2030 is estimated to require an additional amount of 130.000-145.000 skilled workers, implying a EUR 1.1-1.3 billion investments in skills. He also discussed that transforming sectors account for 30% of the EU workforce and energy sector workers are more likely to receive training.

Nora Wukovits-Votzi (DG EMPL) discussed the workforce characteristics of jobs relevant for the green, digital, and demographic transitions. Jobs requiring a higher amount of digital skills were found to score highest on dimensions of job quality and have greater access to training, while certain green and labour shortage occupations had lower job stability. She also presented data showing that the transitions currently impact around 80% of occupations and that a higher proportion of male workers was identified across green and digital skills intensive jobs.

In light of these findings, the subsequent panellists discussed the skills and employment dimensions of jobs relevant for the transitions. Specifically, Konstantinos Poliakas (Cedefop) shared insights from Cedefop’s Artificial Intelligence (AI) skills survey on skill gaps and AI literacy in Europe. Elva Bova (DG EMPL) outlined several past, present, and future actions at EU level in order to address skill shortages and training gaps in the EU, including efforts to buffer the socio-economic impacts of shifting labour and skills needs. Andrea Garnero (OECD) underlined the heterogeneous quality of jobs relevant for the green transition and shared good practices on how to up-skill and re-skill workers. Mikkel Barslund (KU Leuven) shared findings on the educational and regional disparities in digital skills across the EU. Michael Stemmer (EIB) provided insights on the role of firms and municipalities for alleviating skills shortages, as well as the types of investments in skills that are needed in future. Questions from the audience focused on skills forecasting, the socio-economic impacts of the transitions, and how to better protect the most vulnerable workers.

Speakers

Moderators: