At its plenary session on 22 February, the EESC held a debate that warned about companies' growing struggle to get a skilled workforce and pointed to the pressing need for an all-encompassing skills strategy at all levels. 

The debate was held in the context of the European Year of Skills and in connection with the adoption of the EESC opinion "Supporting market developments". It saw the participation of the OECD Director for Employment, Labour and Social Affairs Stefano Scarpetta, Vice President of SMEunited Marianna Panebarco and President of Social Economy Europe, Juan Antonio Pedreño.

Opening the debate, EESC President Christa Schweng said: "In the aftermath of the pandemic, the accelerated digitalisation, greening, and changing work organisation have shown how important upskilling and reskilling of workers are in maintaining people's employability and productivity, especially in our ageing society."

Speakers expressed the hope that the European Year of Skills would not remain a dead letter but would rather prove to be an instrument for promoting lifelong learning, training and retraining.

They highlighted many issues with trainings, such as limited participation of workers due to, among other things, lack of time or finances or trainings that do not match the needs of companies. 

Emphasis was placed on the vital role social partners can play in pushing for the recognition of skills to help people remain employable. The role of social dialogue as a key instrument for identifying needs and developing skills in workplaces was also underlined.

Both in the EESC opinion and in the debate there was a special focus on small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) as they are already struggling to find qualified workers or offer tailor-made training programmes. 

"The transformation of the European labour market requires a good understanding of what type of skills are needed for future labour market transformations, including in SMEs, " said Mariya Mincheva, rapporteur of the EESC opinion. 

In the opinion, the EESC argued in favour of making lifelong learning an integral part of broader economic growth strategies and recovery and resilience plans. It also suggested that SMEs should be encouraged to work in networks and pool their capacities to respond to the challenges of the twin transition.

Estimates show that 128 million Europeans will have to upskill and reskill to stay active in the labour market. Workers with low skills, whose jobs are most at risk being highly automatable, have the lowest participation in training, with only 4% taking part in EU27 over an observed period of time. 

The participation of adults overall is also low, with only 11% taking part in a given period. Workers aged 25-34 are most likely to attend trainings, with their attendance rate at 22%, compared to only 8% in all age groups. (ll)