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12.09.2019
EU AFFAIRS

Joint Employers Statement on reducing labour shortages

CoESS officially joins BusinessEurope and 16 other European employer groups in a call to the EU to address the issue of labour shortages and skills mismatches.

Labour force shortages are an existential challenge to European businesses, including private security companies. As the joint report from UNI Europa and CoESS on “Anticipating Change” already stated in 2018, coping with demographic change and the ageing of the workforce as well as attracting and retaining younger generations into the private security industry are immediate and future employment challenges to our sector. In addition, digitalisation leads to the development of new job profiles and skills requirements, as well as the transformation of some existing jobs. Another key challenge across sectors and different work levels is the lack of basic digital skills.

To set the matter higher on the EU agenda, CoESS officially joins BusinessEurope and 16 other European employer groups today in a call to the EU, Member States and all social partners to prioritise measures designed with the purpose to reduce labour shortages by improving skills matching across Europe.

Recommendations include:

-        A reform of training and education systems;

-        Putting in place a European Strategy for Vocational Education and Training for 2030;

-        A strengthened sectoral social dialogue on all levels;

-        Fostering the attainment of so-called STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) skills;

-        Develop concrete initiatives to close the digital skill gap.

The European dimension can be helpful in supporting mutual learning between Member States and social partners. In particular, EU financial resources can play a positive role in supporting better skills and job training and matching, as well as to support education and training systems to adapt to digitalisation.

You can find the joint employers statement here. Visit BusinessEurope for more information.