The future of work and skills – how to overtake or even co-create trends?

Digitalisation and other forms of technological progress are increasingly affecting our life and work. Regardless of age and life circumstances, each of us must develop new and strengthen already acquired skills, or we quickly find ourselves lagging behind the prevailing socio-economic currents. These lead to the abandonment of some professions and the emergence of new ones. Forecasting the needs for knowledge and skills as well as their governance in ever-changing circumstances are critical conditions for success – at the level of the individual as well as society.

At last year’s EAAL Forum on the Future of Work and Skills,  the efforts of the MLFSA in cooperation with Cedefop to establish a platform in Slovenia that would enable better monitoring, understanding and skills forecasting in the labour market and match those skills were presented. The platform would be, of course, closely related to lifelong learning. More information about the forum’s findings is available in the Manifesto for the Future of Work and Skills.

Cedefop offers advice to Slovenia but expects proactive, adapted and coordinated action. As part of the cooperation mentioned above, in 2021, at the first workshop, Cedefop presented guidelines for establishing such a national platform based on the examples of some EU members, e.g. Slovakia. The second meeting addressed two topics: (1) what can be expected from long-term skills forecasting and what limitations should be considered, and (2) how to ensure trust in the platform and what is the role of partners and stakeholders, points out Zvonka Pangerc Pahernik of the SIAE.

This year, on 4 July, the Slovenian MLFSA and Cedefop organised the third and last workshop. It was entitled Strengthening Skills Governance in Slovenia to Navigate Change and Manage Transitions.