Competence and skill development in a context of the green and digital transition

Background

The digital transition is transforming the labour market, leaving many workers in need of updating their skills in order to stay employable in the future. Job automation is already creating a big digital divide, reducing the number of medium-skilled and medium-wage jobs and increasing the number of jobs at two ends of the spectrum: low-skilled, low-paid jobs on one end, and high-skilled, high-paid jobs on the other. In Europe, demographic decline is shrinking the working-age population and leading to labour shortages across all sectors. Training is key for helping businesses and workers cope with the digital transition and for preventing labour market inequalities, which the transition could create. In-house training provided by companies to their workers to help them master necessary skills is of particular importance.

Key points

In the opinion, the EESC:

• points out the need for digital skills programming to be more targeted towards training older people and other disadvantaged groups; believes that a just transition includes ensuring everyone has access to opportunities to improve basic digital skills relating to daily tasks, and also to understand issues such as data security, personal data protection, privacy online and the dangers of disinformation; calls for training on digital skills and competences to be recognised and certified by the competent authorities;
• calls for the EU Digital Education Action Plan 2021-2027 to include effective strategies to improve training and adapt the skills of employed and unemployed workers in all sectors, regardless of company size, with the involvement of social partners; proposes including sustainable development in education and training policies and programmes;
• calls for efforts to promote and facilitate the adjustment of existing learning programmes to include the skills needed for the dual digital and green transitions, and for teaching staff to be trained on these subjects.

The text of the draft opinion can be found here.

Additional information

Section: Employment, Social Affairs and Citizenship (SOC)

Opinion number: SOC/755

Opinion type: Exploratory opinion requested by the Swedish Presidency

Rapporteur: Maria del Carmen BARRERA CHAMORRO

Co-rapporteur: Justyna Kalina OCHĘDZAN

Reference: Letter of 14/11/2022

Date of adoption by section: 3/4/2023

Result of the vote: 73 in favour / 0 against / 0 abstentions

Date of adoption in plenary: 27/4/2023

Result of the vote:

Contacts:

Press officer: Laura Lui

Tel.:     00 32 2 546 9189

email:  laurairena.lui@eesc.europa.eu

Administrator: Sabrina Borg

Tel.:     00 32 2 546 9727

email:  Sabrina.Borg@eesc.europa.eu