Europe is facing a skills and labour gap. To overcome this, Europe needs a radical step change in ambition and action.
Delivering on the commitment in its Political Guidelines, as well as the Draghi Report, the European Commission has presented the Union of Skills. By bridging the gap between labour supply and demand by identifying skills shortages across European countries, a Union of Skills will support this Commission’s work; from boosting competitiveness to ensuring the transition to a clean economy.
Research projects funded under Horizon Europe are contributing to this initiative by proposing holistic approaches to skills development, with a focus on ensuring Europe’s social model is protected.
“We will establish a Union of Skills – focusing on investment, adult and lifelong learning, skill retention and the recognition of different types of training to enable people to work across our Union.”
President Ursula von der Leyen
Empowering enterprises and individuals
The SKILLAB project will develop an “intelligent skills shortage identification” platform – which is already being tested in public authorities in Greece and Cyprus. This will support citizens, enterprises, and policymakers in matching skills to labour market demands.
Firstly, for citizens, the platform will provide the possibility to monitor emerging trends and facilitate career change opportunities through re-training plans. Secondly, for enterprises, the project’s outputs can feed into short-and-long-term hiring strategies based on identified gaps. Finally, the platform will allow for in-depth reporting on the growing and fading market segments for policymakers to develop adequate responses.
Skills and Artificial Intelligence
The TRAILS project sees the skills shortage as something that affects productivity, social welfare, and cohesion. It also recognises shifts in the labour market due to recent crises, such as COVID-19.
By leveraging the power of Artificial Intelligence – including through establishing novel primary datasets, collecting data, and deploying real-time skill profiling and matching methodologies - TRAILS aims to optimise the usage of technology to bridge the gap between labour supply and demand.
Skills in the Digital and Green transitions
The SkiLMeeT project is equally examining the skills gap in Europe.
However, the project is focused on how decarbonisation and digitalisation are re-shaping European economies – in particular, how these trends are forcing companies to search for individuals with skills that they do not find in the current labour market. This is creating a mismatch, which the project aims to overcome through indicators and policy recommendations.
A more inclusive education system
The SCIREARLY wants to reduce early school leaving and underachievement.
The project takes the approach that educational development begins in childhood – and that since COVID-19, inequalities in achievement have become particularly stark, especially for children from socially and financially disadvantaged backgrounds. The project examines a whole learning community to provide high-quality education for children - which will support their life-long learning development.
Further information
The EU funds various initiatives to boost skills in Europe. The above projects are funded through Horizon Europe – Culture, Creativity and Inclusive Society.
The EU’s MSCA Staff Exchanges funds doctoral and postdoctoral researchers, supporting their skills development in and beyond academia, including their mobility across sectors and Europe.
Press release - Union of Skills
Horizon Europe, the EU’s research and innovation framework programme
Details
- Publication date
- 5 March 2025
- Author
- European Research Executive Agency