With 2023 being the European Year of Skills, we look at the findings of Cedefop’s 2nd European skills and jobs survey. Carried out at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, the survey collected the views of over 46 000 workers in all EU Member States, Iceland and Norway on how digitalisation affects them, how their skills match with their jobs and on their readiness to invest in continuous vocational training. The Cedefop expert behind the project, Konstantinos Pouliakas, the European Training Foundation’s Manuela Prina and Seamus McGuinness, Research Professor at Ireland’s Economic and Social Research Institute, analyse the headline findings.

Cedefop Executive Director Jürgen Siebel and his counterpart of the European Labour Authority (ELA) Cosmin Boiangiu discuss about how the two Agencies' cooperation can advance cross-border transferability of skills and labour force mobility.

In an exclusive wide-ranging interview to Cedefop's Skillset and match podcast, Nobel laureate economist, Sir Christopher Pissarides, shares his optimistic views on the future of work, the impact of automation on jobs, Europe's dedication to lifelong learning, the results of the 2nd European skills and jobs survey, and more. He urges workers to embrace the latest technological revolution and calls for governments to take action against the inequalities caused by the digital technologies. Sir Christopher, who is currently leading a review on the future of work in the UK, was a keynote speaker at Cedefop’s recent high-level conference on ‘Powering the digital transition’.

As he approaches retirement after 26 years of serving European vocational education and training (VET), award-winning Cedefop expert Jens Bjørnåvold shares his career experience, views and predictions on the future of VET, lifelong learning, validation of prior learning and qualifications. Will VET withstand the test of the changing education and labour market landscape? Jens says he cannot imagine a society without vocational training and points to lifelong learning as a basic driver of future individual and collective development. He also assures us that he will continue to be involved in the field, only this time from his hometown in Norway. Listen to his fascinating insights.  

Fabienne Goux-Baudiment has dedicated her academic and professional life to the scientific study of future trends and the probabilistic foresight of the challenges that lie ahead. She speaks on episode 11 of Cedefop's Skillset and match podcast about the emerging faces of education and work, skills and aptitudes, and explains her view of what she terms 'liquid people'.

Cedefop's Cynthia Harrison Villalba and the European Training Foundation's (ETF) Florian Kadletz speak about the first ever Global Careers Month, organised by the Inter-Agency Career Guidance Working Group as well as the crucial part career guidance is playing at the current historical juncture.

European vocational education and training policy sets the targets that must be met so that all Europeans can have better access to and benefits from education. Cedefop helps develop and monitor these policies, together with the European Commission and the EU Member States. As part of this work, a new tool has been created and is now available on our website. It’s called European vocational education and training policy dashboard, and it monitors the progress Member States and the EU overall make towards achieving the policy targets they set. Cedefop experts Steve Bainbridge and Marco Serafini explain what this tool does and how well Europe manages this process.

How two European Union decentralised Agencies join forces to promote vocational education and training (VET), skills and human development in the EU and beyond.

In the eighth episode of Cedefop's Skillset and match podcast, the European Training Foundation's (ETF) Director ad interim Xavier Matheu and Cedefop Executive Director Jürgen Siebel discuss the two Agencies' collaboration, among others transferring VET-related knowledge between European Union Member States and neighbouring countries and cooperating on Europe's response to the refugee crisis generated by the war in Ukraine.

Cedefop website

Three generations of Cedefop people share their experience of living in Thessaloniki, an ancient city with more than 2,000 years of uninterrupted urban history, and working at the oldest European Union decentralised agency. Lore Schmid, Sorhna-Paule Perrot and Thomas Mellios all agree that anyone with an opportunity to live that experience should go for it!

Are microcredentials an effective response to the economy's current challenges? Are they really gaining currency in the labour market and what pitfalls could they potentially involve in the face of the digital and green transitions? How can the challenges of their certification, validation and portability be tackled? And will they be a permanent feature in the world of work and education or just a passing fad? Cedefop's Loukas Zahilas and Anastasia Pouliou with some answers on Cedefop's Skillset and match podcast series.