EU ministers and representatives of ministers for employment and social affairs met, on Thursday 4 May in Stockholm, for an informal meeting on how to better match job needs with available skills and how to adapt social protection to demographic changes, especially to people expected to stay longer in the labour market.
According to European Commissioner Nicolas Schmit, the meeting was an opportunity for Member States, on the first part, to express their concerns about labour shortages in the EU, even in countries where unemployment rates are higher than the current EU average of 6%.
“We all agree that we need to invest in skills”, the commissioner summarised, pointing out that this will be the objective of the European Year of Skills, which starts next week and will aim to send a strong message to the Member States.
Nicolas Schmit also pointed out that while 26% of European companies are looking for workers, only 37% of adults have access to lifelong learning, which is “very low” and far from the targets set in Porto in 2021 (60% of working age adults).
Swedish Minister Johan Pehrson emphasised the need for concerted action by governments, social partners and businesses to address labour and skill shortages.
In this session on skills and jobs, the ministers focused on a note prepared by the Foundation for the Improvement of Working Conditions, Eurofound. This note concludes that it remains difficult to predict precisely what types of skills are needed in which occupations, sectors and regions in a constantly changing world of work. “There is therefore a need for continuous monitoring and involvement of all actors to establish appropriate initial and continuing vocational education and training programmes”. The digital skills gap and the skills required to make the transition to a carbon-free economy are increasingly evident, Eurofound also notes.
Governments should “therefore adjust the focus of active labour market policies, but also broader education and training measures. The sectoral social partners have a role to play in designing training and retraining measures. And companies must facilitate this process by investing in training and organising work in such a way as to encourage on-the-job training and learning “.
In addition, there are large differences in the average levels of digital skills between Member States. In 2021, only 54% of European adults had basic digital skills, compared to the target of 80% by 2030. The proportion of people with basic digital skills in 2021 ranged from 28% in Romania to 79% in Finland and the Netherlands.
With regard to the energy transition, “forecasts indicate that job creation will be uneven across the economy, with employment in the sectors most linked to the green transition - such as construction - expected to see the largest increases”.
Here, the employment forecasts highlight the increased demand for labour in sectors already facing structural labour shortages, due to ageing, but often also due to poor working conditions or pay. By 2030, the sector will need to train 3 to 4 million additional workers to achieve the energy transition.
The second session was devoted to social protection and the issue of financing long-term care with an ageing population as well as financing childcare policies to keep women in the labour market.
National experiences and reforms were discussed here, with one of the Swedish Presidency’s main focuses being to get people to work longer, if they are healthy.
Working Time Directive challenged in Sweden
Nicolas Schmit was also due to meet representatives of the Swedish trade unions on Thursday evening to discuss the application of the European Working Time Directive, which is being challenged by certain professions in Sweden, notably the Swedish fire brigade.
According to local media, hundreds of firefighters believe that the directive sets too high a standard, especially on rest periods. “About two thirds of the country’s firefighters work part-time and 24-hour shifts have so far enabled them to balance their firefighting duties with their main job and their private life. With the 11 hours of compulsory rest per 24-hour period provided for in the directive, this is no longer possible”, explain these media.
The health care sector is said to express the same difficulties.
Asked about the issue on Thursday morning, the commissioner said he was sure a solution would be found, but the aim remains to keep “high social standards”.
The Commission is “not here to dismantle the Swedish model”, but there will be “a problem “ if national collective agreements fall short of the standards set at European level, the Commissioner also warned.
Link to the Eurofound note: https://aeur.eu/f/6p8 (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)