EuropeOn and GCP Europe sent this Monday an open letter to the Executive Vice-President Ribera, Executive Vice-president Séjourné, and Commissioners Hoekstra and Jorgensen to “support the inclusion of a dedicated pillar on labour and skills in the upcoming Clean Industrial Deal”, and provide recommendations on how to address the workforce and skills shortages.
“Competitiveness and the energy transition go hand in hand. Without enough skilled workers to install clean technologies, businesses will face delays, higher costs, and lost opportunities,” said Julie Beaufils, General Secretary of EuropeOn.
The installation sector enables the deployment of clean technologies, as well as electrification, energy efficiency and digitalisation in industry, buildings and infrastructure. Addressing the labour and skills shortage that this sector is currently facing is fundamental for a competitive and successful energy transition in the EU.
The letter explains how the solution can be broken down into three components: increasing the ‘pipeline’ of technical students and workers, upskilling the existing workforce, and reskilling career changers. EuropeOn and GCP Europe identify a root problem: the undervaluation of technical education. Against this backdrop, they suggest several policy measures, including:
- Assessing workforce shortages and supporting national corrective actions.
- Promoting technical education and improving access to technical education, especially for women.
- Scaling up apprenticeships to build a pipeline of skilled professionals.
Read the open letter here
