Ever wondered what green skills are and why they matter?

During the Helvetas Regional Workshop held on October 4 and 5, 2022, were discussed trends that are helping to shape the labor market today. Some of them include automation, polarization of work, emergence of new jobs that did not exist before, segmentation of knowledge as well as changing employment patterns.

Very inspiring to hear from Ummuhan Bardak and Romain Boitard from the European Training Foundation (ETF) on the needs of Upskilling and Reskilling in the light of evolving labour markets and how to unpack this work in the context we operate. In addition, we had the pleasure to have a live conversation with Akustina Morni, the Senior Advisor of International Organization of Employers (IOE) in Switzerland. Drawing on their extensive experience with employers, Akustina shared the global high demand for green skills across many sectors, including corporate services, manufacturing, energy and mining, public administration and construction and the high importance of anticipating future skills.

Likewise, the Conference “Future Skills and Lifelong Learning” on December 15, 2022, gave a clear panorama on the changes in the labour market, the need for upskilling/requalification as well as the embrace of the green economy. The participants had the opportunity to interact in different groups discussing different topics such as: upskilling/qualification approaches, green transition, private sector involvement and quality assurance in VET.

As part of future skills, the ICT Sectoral Technical Committee presented the analysis of market needs in the field of ICT during the 3rd and 4th meetings. On the other hand, was also discussed the need for new qualifications as well as the revision of existing qualifications.

The world of work is transforming, and so should our efforts!