On 8 June 2018, YouthProAktiv joined a high-level event that addressed the future of jobs, key trends, higher- and lower-skill occupations, digitalisation, and impacts on skills needed over the coming twelve years. The day marked the day of releasing the latest results of Cedefop’s Skills Forecast until 2030.

The event was organised by Cedefop, the European Centre for the Development of Vocational Learning, in collaboration with Eurofound, the EU Agency for the improvement of living and working conditions. Mara Brugia, Director of Cedefop, and Juan Menéndez-Valdés, Director of Eurofound, emphasised in their opening speech how forecasting helps us to make the best choices about our training and education investments. The general aim of the Skills Forecast is to predict future trends in employment, such as future skills needed in different types of jobs, and prepare people and institutions for future challenges.

The key learning from the latest Skills Forecast were delivered by Ilias Livanos, Cedefop Expert, and Donald Storrie, Eurofound Chief Researcher. Cedefop Skill Supply and Demand Forecasts are one of the datasets of Skills Panorama, a website by the European Commission, Directorate–General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion and powered, through technical development of the site and the provision of data and information, by Cedefop. This website, targeted at policy-makers, experts, researchers, career guidance practitioners as well as general public, helps visitors to keep up with the latest developments and make useful comparisons to previous trends or identify anticipated changes, and supports assessment and anticipation of skill needs to help make education and training systems across Europe better aligned to labour market needs and to improve matching of skill supply and demand.

According to Mr Livanos, there are still problems with mismatching skill offer and demand; for example, 13% of Europeans are overqualified and do not have a job related to their education. Thanks to research such as that presented, it will be easier to train people so as to tailor their skills to labour market needs. Some sectors like hotels and catering, health and social work or distribution are expected to see substantial employment growth while others are declining, though there are of course differences between EU member countries, and the various trends forecast can be consulted online on a country-by-country basis.

The presentation of findings was followed by a panel with contributions from Slawomir Tokarski, Director, Dir F, DG Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs; Alison Crabb, Head of Unit, Skills and Qualifications, DG Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion; Ruby Gropas, Social affairs team leader, European Political Strategy Centre; Hanne Shapiro, Director, Hanne Shapiro futures; and Sigrid de Vries, Secretary General, European Association of Automotive Suppliers. Concluding remarks were delivered by Tatjana Babrauskiene, Member of the EESC and Chair of Cedefop Governing Board, and Joost Korte, Director-General, DG Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion.