EN Official Journal of the European Union C 141/11

Opinion of the Committee of the Regions on new skills for new jobs — anticipating and matching labour market and skills needs

2010/C 141/03

THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS ISSUES THE FOLLOWING RECOMMENDATIONS:

— points out that it is incumbent on the political (national, regional and local) players to bring their influence to bear and ensure that the negative effects of the crisis are eliminated and to prioritise the opportunities presented by a low-carbon economy, and to use an integrated and sustainable approach to promote a revised Lisbon strategy;

— notes that thousands of workers in the Member States have already lost their jobs over the course of the ongoing economic crisis; the emergence of new markets and the relocation of businesses to countries where manufacturing costs are lower will further exacerbate this problem. It is absolutely vital for all employees' skills to be upgraded and matched to labour market requirements;

— believes that high-quality initial education lays the foundation for skills acquisition and increases enthusiasm for lifelong learning. Today's societies, particularly in the European Union, are increasingly developing into knowledge societies, in which there is greater demand for highly qualified employees and the bulk of jobs are to be found in the service sector;

— draws attention to the fact that the shift to a low-carbon economy entailed by climate change and continuing technological development, particularly in the field of ICT, necessitate a restructuring – and in some cases an extensive one – of existing fields. This brings about corresponding changes for the labour market, but at the same time has the potential to create new jobs (‘green jobs’), which are often multidisciplinary and require knowledge in many different areas.

Rapporteur : Ms Marianne Fügl (AT/PES), Deputy Mayor, Marktgemeinde (market town) of Traisen

Reference document:

Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions on new skills for new jobs – anticipating and matching labour market and skills needs

COM(2008) 868 final

I. POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS

THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS

1. welcomes the Commission's commitment with regard to the communication on new skills for new jobs;

2. notes that the most serious financial and economic crisis for decades has already led to a social and employment crisis, which will get worse in the future. Therefore, its impact needs to be anticipated and mitigated (1);

3. points out that it is incumbent on the political (national, regional and local) players to bring their influence to bear and ensure that the negative effects of the crisis are eliminated and to prioritise the opportunities presented by a low-carbon economy, and to use an integrated and sustainable approach to promote a revised Lisbon strategy;

4. recognises that this makes it absolutely vital for an analysis to be undertaken of the development of the European Union labour market over the coming years;

Future challenges

5. emphasises that the European Union and its 27 Member States are facing a variety of major challenges over the next few years, as the basic structures and culture of the industrial and information society evolve into the new practices of the knowledge and innovation society, where the ability to quickly forecast the future is a key factor;

6. notes that thousands of workers in the Member States have already lost their jobs over the course of the ongoing economic crisis; the emergence of new markets and the relocation of businesses to countries where manufacturing costs are lower will further exacerbate this problem. It is absolutely vital for all employees' skills to be upgraded and matched to labour market requirements;

7. believes that high-quality initial education lays the foundation for skills acquisition and increases enthusiasm for lifelong learning. Today's societies, particularly in the European Union, are increasingly developing into knowledge societies, in which there is greater demand for highly qualified employees and the bulk of jobs are to be found in the service sector;

8. takes the view that greater attention also needs to be paid to demographic change and the ageing population;

9. draws attention to the fact that the shift to a low-carbon economy entailed by climate change and continuing technological development, particularly in the field of ICT, necessitate a restructuring – and in some cases an extensive one – of existing fields. This brings about corresponding changes for the labour market, but at the same time has the potential to create new jobs (‘green jobs’), which are often multidisciplinary and require knowledge in many different areas;

10. points out that all of these changes have an impact on employees, the labour market and businesses;

11. suggests taking practical, long-term measures, centring on radical action based on close interaction between research, education and innovation (the so-called Knowledge Triangle), supported by cooperation at EU level to exchange experiences and devise appropriate solutions;

Role of Local and Regional Authorities

12. emphasises that local and regional authorities have an important part to play in achieving the goals set in the Commission communication;

13. welcomes the fact that the communication explicitly acknowledges regional variations in skills requirements and labour markets. On top of that, local and regional authorities are the main providers of primary and secondary education, providing the initial training that lays the foundations for additional skills, and they are very often also responsible for the facilities required for mobility and training, such as transport connections, child care and educational establishments;

14. believes that cross-border job mobility is also a precondition that will provide greater freedom of choice and enable more people to find new and better jobs;

15. emphasises that deeper involvement of local and regional authorities via closer regional cooperation between all interest groups, an analysis of regional labour markets and an estimation of future quality requirements are absolutely indispensable for rural areas with structural weaknesses that are at threat from outward migration and for the outermost regions. It is also vital to draw on the knowledge and experience of local and regional authorities in finding EU answers to these challenges;

16. calls for funds from the European Social Fund (ESF) to be used more efficiently for the regions and local authorities. This will make it possible to ensure that the regions and local authorities get the money they need quickly and directly and that they can better coordinate how the money is used;

Changes in the labour market

17. stresses that the labour market is facing a number of developments, both in the individual Member States and in the European Union as a whole;

18. notes that very few employees nowadays stay in one job for life: a study from 2005 showed that, on average, employees had already had four previous jobs (2). Many people also alternate between periods of employment and unemployment, and insecure jobs are on the rise; calls therefore for a worker-friendly balance to be struck between the fundamental need for social security on the one hand, and the requisite labour market flexibility on the other (as reflected in the ‘flexicurity’ concept);

19. believes that job mobility has an important part to play in people's working lives today, with young, highly qualified workers being particularly willing to take on new challenges at work. People who are flexible with regard to jobs and locations are more likely to be able to adapt to new situations and thus to acquire new skills;

20. points out that the population is ageing rapidly, so much so that there could be almost 20 million fewer people in the EU workforce by 2030 (3). Employees therefore need to be equipped, today, with the skills that will enable them to succeed in the labour market of tomorrow, and access to education and further training must be guaranteed. At the same time, there is a need for intelligent migration control systems that take account of the needs of individuals, host countries and countries of origin;

21. draws attention to the fact that demand for highly qualified, adaptable workers with a wide variety of skills (not only technical, but also social and cultural skills such as communication, conflict resolution and such like) is expected to increase over the next decade. The requirements for workers in ‘unskilled’ and ‘semi-skilled’ jobs are becoming increasingly similar: overall, ever higher level qualifications are required for these jobs, and demand for lower skilled activities is falling. At the same time, salaries for highly skilled jobs are increasing, whilst those for less skilled jobs are falling. This polarisation in the job market must result in a productivity-oriented pay policy, in order to avoid low-wage sectors. Efforts must be made to use qualifications to give people real opportunities for mobility;

Anticipation of future skills

22. encourages the Member States to develop transparent forecasting and anticipation tools, which they can use to promote the creation of new, knowledge-intensive jobs and develop training according to the skills that are needed on the job market;

23. recommends that both quantitative and qualitative measures should be used, in order to ensure that such forecasting tools are accurate and effective: this will make it possible to forecast accurately what workers and what skills will be needed in the labour market of the future;

24. believes that, in order to be competitive on the labour market, employees must, above all, be flexible, and should be able to respond to unexpected change and have good communication skills (4). At the same time, there needs to be a framework that ensures that the burden of flexibility is not placed entirely on employees: in other words, public authorities at all levels and the social partners must work together to develop ideas on how the need for social security can be meshed with the labour market's need for flexibility. It should also be borne in mind that there must be no promotion of competition for the lowest standard within the EU single market;

25. therefore calls for closer cooperation in this field between businesses, educational and vocational training establishments, local and regional authorities and interest groups. In particular, cooperation between businesses and educational and professional training establishments needs to be fostered, in order to create partnerships to meet medium-term skills requirements. Furthermore, qualitative studies could be used to obtain valuable information on employers' expectations of students and graduates;

26. supports the Commission's view that additional information concerning the situation in the EU Member States is an essential requirement for providing appropriate political responses to the challenges;

27. calls on the European Commission to continue to support cooperation with Cedefop (European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training) and the application of its research results, so as to identify the new skills needed in the labour market and make detailed provision for these;

28. points out that regional differences must be taken into account in gathering and using information, as it is the only way of enabling practical measures to be taken that are in each case tailored to the individual regions in the various EU Member States;

Importance of basic and further training

29. notes that it is necessary to ensure that workers in the labour market of the future have the necessary skills, which means that basic and further vocational training for employees is very important. Universities and other educational and vocational training establishments must place as much emphasis on training in the skills of those already in the workplace as on basic education;

30. points up the need to plan and implement the type of strategies and policies that will bolster lifelong learning and increase flexibility and security in the area of employment;

31. stresses that existing jobs must also be retained and invested in, and businesses therefore have a responsibility to enable employees to undertake in-house basic and further training. Further training increases productivity and economic growth. In this connection, the European Union and the Member States need to take a coordinated approach, not least to provide incentives for businesses and to encourage further training;

32. believes that the Bologna and Copenhagen processes have already made important progress in the European education area. As more skills will in future be needed on the EU labour market, it is important, in the interests of workers' job mobility, for qualifications to be better recognised in the individual Member States;

33. points out that, by 2020, the proportion of jobs requiring high levels of education attainment should rise from 25.1% to 31.3% (5). On the other hand, the risk of an over-supply of highly qualified workers needs to be countered. Therefore, in parallel with the necessary upskilling, the skills required on the labour market must be recognised in good time, so that enough such highly skilled jobs can be provided to achieve a balance between supply and demand;

34. takes the view that the implementation of the European Qualifications Framework should increase the transparency of qualifications, facilitate access to further training and improve the flexibility and mobility of employees; in this context, mobility should be seen not just as mobility between different businesses but also, and in particular, as mobility within a business;

35. points out that non-EU citizens and migrants also need to have ways for their training to be recognised, so that the existing skills they have brought with them are not wasted. In this connection, international cooperation (for example with the home countries of migrants in combating the brain drain) is also of considerable importance;

36. calls for the transfer of skills to start at a very early age, as lifelong learning is a habit primarily fostered during initial education, and it is particularly during this stage in their lives that children learn new skills most quickly and easily;

37. believes that cooperation between businesses and educational and vocational training establishments can improve the match between the qualifications and skills needed and the jobs on offer by designing and implementing an EU-wide e-skills programme which can be adapted at local and regional level to fit different needs and situations. Internships and taster days provide additional skills and offer an insight into the world of work;

38. believes that it would be worth considering developing an EU Charter for Internships, which would give young people more rights regarding the gathering and recognition of work experience and make it easier for them to start their working lives;

Social cohesion

39. believes that greater attention should in general be paid to the quality of work, including at EU level. In this connection, it should be remembered that achieving decent work for all has been part of the UN Millennium Development Goals since 2008;

40. stresses that growth and employment are not enough to put the European Union on the road to recovery. Accompanying measures that promote social cohesion must also be developed;

41. points out that all people who, due to their interests and physical and mental abilities, are not suited to the demands of the highly skilled labour market must be guaranteed access to the labour market through the necessary employment support and assistance programmes and, where necessary, a decent income, or the applicable minimum income in Member States where such regulations are in place;

42. calls for the equal participation of men and women on the labour market to be fostered by removing all the obstacles that prevent it; a crucial element in this connection is closing the persistent gender pay gap;

43. points out that the ageing population means that demand for staff, and therefore job opportunities, in the caring and social work sector is expected to increase; appropriate training measures and closer cooperation at EU level are therefore important, so that any imbalances between supply and demand within the EU can be rectified;

44. proposes to promote types of employment with flexible working hours that are suited to the skills and health situation of older workers, in order, in particular, to enable older people to stay in the labour market until they reach pension age;

45. believes that cooperation between municipalities, regions, businesses and education and professional training institutions has already produced successful models for further training, recognition of professional experience, broadening skills and job opportunities. The drafting and publication of such best-practice models would be welcomed. In addition, substantial investment must be made in enhancing best practice so that it can be used by everybody to promote concepts, teaching content and teaching, vocational training and learning methods with which skills needed in the workplace can be developed at little extra cost to local authorities (large-scale customisation of ICT use);

46. notes that the existing financial instruments (ESF, ERDF) will need to be amended in order to be able to deal effectively with the changing circumstances on the labour market.

Brussels, 3 December 2009. The President of the Committee of the Regions Luc VAN DEN BRANDE

(1) According to the European Commission's spring forecast of 4 May 2009, the unemployment rate in the EU is expected to rise to 11% by 2010. Both in the EU and in the euro area, employment is expected to fall by around 2.5% this year and by a further 1.5% in 2010. This translates to the loss of around 8.5 million jobs over two years; over the period 2006-2008, in contrast, almost 9.5 million jobs were created. http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/09/693&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en

(2) Eurobarometer 64.1 on geographical and labour market mobility – September 2005.

(3) Council of the European Union, Joint EMCO-SPC Opinion On Active Ageing 9269/07, May 2007.

(4) Origins and Consequences of Changes in Labour Market Skill Needs. Considerations from a European Perspective. Analytical Report for the European Commission prepared by the European Expert Network on Economics of Education (EENEE), www.education-economics.org p. 25.

(5) COM(2008) 868 final, p. 8.