EYS 2023: Skills at the heart of the European Union

Since 1983, European Years have been held to raise awareness and encourage debate about a specific topic through various events and activities organised by the EU Member States. These initiatives promote funding for multiple projects and highlight the gaps and needs for improvements in existing legislation that should be addressed by policymakers. To kick of the process, the European Commission proposes a specific topic, which then needs to be adopted by the European Parliament and the EU member governments. On the 10th of May 2023, the above-mentioned institutions adopted the decision to establish 2023 as the European Year of Skills .

But why skills?

First of all, during the past years, the labour market and the economy have been shocked by factors such as the COVID-19 pandemic or the impacts of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine. In response to these adverse circumstances, the EU has to strengthen the market’s resilience.

Furthermore, the labour market must keep up with the 2019–2024 agenda in building a climate-neutral, green, fair and social Europe, as new skill demands have emerged due to the transition. The Digital Economy and Society Index, which is the result of a digital progress monitoring activity conducted by the Commission, has shown that in the future 90% of the jobs will require digital skills. Currently, more than 1/3 of the workforce in Europe lack basic digital skills. It also states that 77% of the companies report difficulties finding workers with the necessary skills. The report also sets out a gender gap regarding skills: only 1 in 5 ICT specialists and graduates are women.

Lastly, it is also high time to develop small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which make up a significant 99% of all businesses in the EU. These enterprises, due to a lack of comprehensive training,have around 83 million staff and employees with limitedor no access to opportunities for personal and the economy’s growth. The EU’s implementation of the Year of Skills is a step towards addressing these issues and aims to boost employment while mitigating skilly shortages.

And what does it look like in practice?

Across Europe, innovative programs have been launched to raise awareness about the importance of education and to create tangible learning opportunities. To address these challenges, the EYS focused on four main objectives:

1. Promoting investment in training and upskilling: Emphasizing adaptability and lifelong learning were crucial to enable people to stay in their current positions or find new opportunities.
2. Ensuring skills meet employer needs: Strategies were developed in close cooperation with social partners and companies to align the workforce’s competencies with market needs, particularly regarding the green and digital transitions.
3. Aligning aspirations and skills with market opportunities: The aim was to ensure that people’s skills and desires matched the actual job offerings, thus supporting a sustainable economic recovery.
4. Attracting talent from outside the EU: Targeted measures were taken to make the European labour market more attractive to international talents to effectively combat the skills shortage.

Initiatives across the EU are being tailored to invigorate and support individuals in gaining the necessary skills to become proficient workers. These initiatives are not only for the workforce but also for the bedrock of the economy, the SMEs. They are being introduced to innovative European solutions and strategies to navigate the skilled labour shortage many face within the EU. This effort aligns with the social target set for 2030: ensuring that at least 60% of all adults engage in training annually. This goal highlights the commitment to lifelong learning and to the development of a skilled workforce capable of adapting to the evolving demands of the global market.

A Eurobarometer survey from September 2023 provides insightful facts: The needs regarding skills vary greatly between Member States. Nearly half of the respondents (45%) stated that the lack of digital competencies hampers their efforts to adopt or use digital technologies. Four out of ten (39%) see difficulties in greening their business activities.

Activities and events

A wide range of events and initiatives were offered throughout the year, covering everything from AI and international collaboration to the development of new skills. The Year kicked off with a festival linking skills-related activities across Europe. The “Skills Fair” in Turin, Italy, is an interactive expo where individuals showcased their skills and connected with potential employers. An interactive map shows thematic events that take place due to the theme year or simply fit in with it, such as the EU Code week.

A key component of the initiative was the “Pact for Skills”, which aimed to bring together public and private organizations to make concrete commitments to the upskilling and reskilling of adults, laying the foundation for lifelong learning and supporting the objectives of the Digital Compass for 2030.

Another highlight was the EU Code Week, offering participants the opportunity to learn coding for programs. These and similar events aimed not only to impart new skills but also to raise awareness of the significance of digitalization and sustainability.

Thematic events will take place until the end of April, 2024. In years whenthere is a European Year, the President of the Commission announces it in the State of the Union speech. However, no further year has been announced this year due to the EU elections taking place.

What happens after the EYS?

While many initiatives have been undertaken to highlight the importance of skills for the future, did these achieve the goals set out? On one side, the amount of funds put into skills through e.g., European Social Fund, the Recovery and Resilience Facility, Horizon Europe or Erasmus+ programmes should not be neglected. With the idea to provide new momentum to reach the EU2030 social targets of at least 60% of adults in training every year, and at least 78% in employment, the adopted Year was also meant to help achieve the 2030 Digital Compass targets of at least 80% of adults with basic digital skills and 20 million employed ICT specialists in the EU. On the other side, there is neither evidence nor data that it moved European citizens towards desired targets. It might take a while until we can see the harvest of these initiatives and witness the real impact of this Year.

We asked Commissioner for Jobs and Social Rights, Nicolas Schmit, about the impacts. He emphasized the significant effect of the EYS: “Having the designated European Year meant we could put the spotlight on investing in skills, and launch a European-wide campaign. And this has clearly had a long-lasting impact. More people and companies are now thinking about providing or taking training courses, meaning we are one step closer to plugging gaps on the labour market and furthering people’s careers. Skills are now mainstreamed into EU and national policies”. Schmit’s remarks also reflected a self-critical perspective on the progress made and the importance of maintaining momentum: “This cannot be understated – it is already a huge step forward. In 20 years from now, I hope we can look back and say that the Year of Skills was a turning point in the EU”.

The EYS concluded with the invitation-only conference “The European Year of Skills – what comes next?” on 30 April 2024, in Brussels. The event gathered participants who shared successful skills stories, and good practices and engaged in a discussion about the legacy of the European Year of Skills. The EYS is evaluated as successful, given the number of initiatives undertaken to raise awareness about skills relevance, possible solutions to reduce inactivity rates in Europe, attracting more talents from outside the EU, promoting collective bargaining at the national level, or encouraging different forms of work. Nevertheless, it should not be forgotten that the employment and education sectors are still severely underfunded and investment in skills needs to be more prominent in the European agenda. The EYS does and should not end at the end of the month. Skills are part of the lifelong learning approach and are a crucial factor in ensuring equal chances in society. They are indispensable to make sure that no one is left behind and each year should be the EYS. The upcoming year will bring a new theme, which will be put on the priority of European policies. Will it be built on what has been achieved in the past year? We will see.