The European Commission presents an action plan to tackle labour and skills shortages
As labour and skills shortages have been increasing and are expected to continue rising over the coming decades in all EU Member States, the European Commission published an action plan setting out key measures that the EU, Member States and social partners should take in the short to medium term to address this challenge.
2024 is marked as the European Year of Skills, an initiative that aims to help people to get the right skills for quality jobs and support companies in addressing skills shortages in the EU.
In order to contribute to this aim, the European Commission published on 20 March 2024 an action plan on labour and skills shortages. The Commission has come forward with it, in cooperation with social partners, whose role is crucial to implement solutions to address these challenges.
The plan sets out actions in five areas to be implemented at the EU, national, and social-partners' level:
- Supporting the activation of underrepresented people in the labour market, for example: the EU Commission will finance projects under the thematic facility of the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (AMIF) to foster multi-stakeholder initiatives for migrant integration into the labour market.
- Providing support for skills development, training and education, for example: social partners will develop and implement actions to promote up-skilling and re-skilling in the context of social dialogue, support skills recognition, and help identify shortage skills.
- Improving working conditions in certain sectors, for example: social partners will work together towards a European framework for improved working conditions for third-country professional drivers.
- Improving fair intra-EU mobility for workers and learners, for example: the EU Commission will promote the timely agreement and widespread implementation of a common form of electronic format for posted worker declarations.
- Attracting talent from outside the EU, for example: Member States will further engage in talent partnerships to enhance legal migration pathways by launching new mobility schemes with the support of EU funding, where relevant.
The Commission will monitor progress in implementing this action plan in the framework of the European Semester. In addition, the Commission will invite Member States in the Employment Committee and the Social Protection Committee to have regular tripartite exchanges on this issue, with the participation of European and national social partners.
For further information, please read the press release from the European Commission and the action plan attached below.