Skilled youth, resilient Europe

Simultaneously, jobs that exist today may be automated tomorrow while entirely new roles emerge in renewable energy, artificial intelligence and sustainable manufacturing. Europe confronts a double challenge: fewer young workers entering a labour market demanding constantly evolving competencies.

Ensuring that young people become architects of this transformation is central to building a true Union of Skills — where individuals drive innovation, lead change and build tomorrow’s resilient Europe. 

Adapting training to meet digital and demographic demands

This calls for more agile and responsive education and training systems that prepare young people to navigate complexity and change. Cedefop’s research shows the importance of investing in digital skills at all levels of education and training, helping learners build both technical knowledge and adaptive capacity for evolving workplaces.

Demographic pressures intensify this urgency. As workforces age and youth cohorts shrink, ensuring smooth school-to-work transitions becomes paramount. Europe’s resilience depends on systems that anticipate the skill evolution and develop both job-specific expertise and broader competencies — including problem-solving, digital agility, and lifelong learning mindsets.

Shortages on the rise: where are the gaps?

Cedefop’s Skills Shortage Index and SkillsOVATE data point to severe shortages in STEM occupations, medical professions and health and care services. These sectors are central to the success of Europe’s green, digital and demographic transitions, but continue to face significant gaps in available talent.

The shortages extend beyond technical expertise. Employers are increasingly looking for staff with teamwork and systems thinking skills, empathy and a growth mindset — essential qualities for thriving amid constant change, particularly in green and digital contexts.

Supporting youth through skills intelligence and VET

Young people are entering a labour market shaped by rapid technological and social change and continuously evolving skills transitions. Their ability to find opportunities and to succeed in this evolving landscape will be vital to Europe’s social and economic resilience.

Cedefop’s skills intelligence and vocational education and training (VET) work supports evidence-based reforms by tracking trends and anticipating future needs, providing essential evidence for inclusive, flexible and future-ready pathways. This includes targeted research on NEETs (young people Not in Education, Employment, or Training). Such analysis focuses on analysing the barriers they face and developing policy recommendations to re-engage disconnected youth through tailored VET pathways and second-chance opportunities.

National responses shaping the path forward

Aligned with the Reinforced Youth Guarantee, countries across the EU are introducing targeted measures to help young people transition into quality employment. Cedefop tracks such measures and analyses how and why they work in their national context. Examples include:

• Preventing early leaving: Flanders launched ESF-funded projects to identify and support at-risk VET students, guiding them into training or qualification pathways before they drop out.  
• Reforms towards flexibility: Czechia introduced a new lyceum pilot that blends general and vocational education, offering students more time to choose their path and easing transitions to higher education or work
• Raising the profile of VET to inspire young talent: Poland’s SkillsPoland competitions raise the profile of VET, engaging youth through national skills tournaments and strengthening links with employers and trainers.

Empowering youth means equipping them not just for jobs, but for active citizenship and lifelong adaptability. Skills intelligence provides evidence-based insight into the jobs and skills of today and tomorrow, guiding Europe to build skills anticipation and training ecosystems that anticipate change and unlock the next generation’s potential.