From "silent quitting" to acute labour shortages, the gap between the skills present in the workforce and demand for those skills has rarely been so fragile. At the same time, workers - especially those in vulnerable roles - are experiencing growing insecurity driven by automation, precarious jobs, and rising living costs.
This week, researchers, policymakers, and industry leaders gathered in Maastricht for the Skills2Capabilities end-of-project conference - a major international event exploring how education and training systems can be redesigned to meet these challenges. The conference marked the culmination of the three-year, €2.4 million Horizon Europe project, led by Vienna-based research institute 3s Research & Consulting (3s), with University of Warwick's Institute for Employment Research (IER) playing a key role.
Professor Terence Hogarth of the University of Warwick's Institute for Employment Research (IER), said: "Skills are at the heart of human and economic progress. Our findings show that aligning education and training systems more closely with labour market needs is essential, but we must also recognise the intrinsic value of skills beyond the workplace. A stronger focus on lifelong learning and more adaptable systems will help workers stay resilient and employers thrive in a rapidly changing world."
The Skills2Capabilities project has been tackling some of the most pressing questions facing Europe's labour market: how to support workers to update their skills, navigate career transitions, and stay resilient throughout life - and how to give employers access to a workforce ready for the demands of green and digital transitions.
Key findings from the project show that:
- Developing skills in the workforce benefits economies, firms and individuals. Investing in skills delivers economic gains for individuals, firms and economies while also supporting personal well-being and life satisfaction. Skills policies therefore have the potential to generate multiple types of value for people and societies.
- Better alignment between education systems and labour markets reduces mismatches. Aligning labour market demands with Vocational Education Training (VET) curricula reduces skill mismatches and improve employment and wage rates. The project's interactive map visualises how these trends impact workers across Europe to help guide policymaking.
- Skill mismatches are dynamic and have wider social implications. Mismatch is not static: workers move in and out of mismatch situations depending on mobility and workplace factors. Beyond suppressing wages and satisfaction, mismatches shape perceptions of fairness, inclusion and opportunity - highlighting that they are as much a social issue as an economic one.
- How skills are used at work shapes motivation to learn. Workers in jobs that underutilize their skills are less likely to participate in further training, while those facing more complex, changing tasks engage more. This varies by age, gender, education, and occupation, needing nuanced policy.
- Work-based learning and experiential learning smooths school-to-work transitions. Practical, hands-on learning - such as increased practical learning in Italian high schools - shortens the time graduates spend looking for work, , showing the value of embedding hands-on experience.
- Governance and adaptability are key to effective VET systems. A capabilities-based framework developed by the project evaluates how well VET systems balance educational, economic and social goals while supporting individuals' real opportunities to thrive. Adaptable and inclusive governance and skills strategies performed best, enabling systems to remain relevant amid rapid technological and labour market change. Governance systems need to balance responsiveness and proactiveness to avoid the pitfalls of stagnation and irrelevance on one side and volatility and fragmentation on the other.
Dr Jörg Markowitsch of 3s, said: "Previous research, forecasts, and policies on skilled labour were predominantly based on human capital theory. In simple terms, this theory assumes that investment in education leads to economic progress.
"At the same time, skilled workers are expected to adapt to the conditions of the labour market and to employers' needs. Our approach was to look at this issue from a different perspective - starting with people's own aspirations and potential."
For full reports, tools, and more information about the project, visit skills2capabilities.euLink opens in a new window
