The European Year of Skills will be celebrated with the European Skills Festival, taking place on Europe Day 9 May. The Year is all about promoting investment in training and upskilling and enabling people to stay in their jobs – or find new ones that match their aspirations and skill sets. The ESF+ makes the largest investment towards raising the skills of people across Europe.

One-third of the ESF+ total budget is dedicated to education and skills over the 2021-2027 funding period – nearly €43 billion – with over €15 billion earmarked to support adult learning and skills. The fund invests in skills and training programmes across all EU Member States, anticipating the future needs of employers. The ESF+ also works to update training systems that do not reflect the requirements of today’s labour market, and matches people’s aspirations and skill sets with job opportunities.

Activities throughout the Year will emphasise the importance of a skilled workforce for in-demand jobs, ensuring a competitive, just and fair economy that is ready for the green and digital transition. Skilled workers are vital for Europe’s sustainable and inclusive growth, innovation and economic competitiveness.

Skills are a major ESF+ priority

ESF+ programmes focus on equipping people with the right skills, regardless of age or socioeconomic background. The fund will help modernise Member States’ employment services, improve and expand digital training, develop new learning management approaches and ensure education and training systems are resilient in the face of an aging population and a changing labour market.

The improved quality, inclusiveness, effectiveness and labour-market relevance of education and training will facilitate the acquisition of key competences in basic skills, necessary for personal fulfilment and development, employment, social inclusion, and active citizenship. ESF+ programmes have a particular focus on helping people with additional needs, such as young people and other people furthest away from the labour market and society for socio-economic reasons, ensuring everyone will benefit from ESF+ support for adult learning and skills.

Green Skills and Skills for the Future

The ESF+ also invests nearly €10 billion for achieving a greener, low-carbon Europe by adapting training systems for new skills and qualifications to meet increasing demand. Around half of Member States’ programmes envisage dedicated measures for enhancing green skills, including new forms of skills acquisition through individual learning accounts and voucher schemes. This also includes training in soft skills for adapting to future work and the training of pedagogical staff.

The ESF+ promotes flexible opportunities for both unemployed and employed people and for entrepreneurs to upgrade their skills and acquire new and different skills, in particular skills for the green economy.

ESF+ programmes in all Member States aim to ensure no one is left behind – focusing on women, young people, people with disabilities, older people and other disadvantaged groups. Fifteen Member States foresee the implementation of the Aim, Learn, Master, Achieve (ALMA) initiative, enabling international mobilities to help young people access the labour market. Most ESF+ programmes include measures to guarantee that everyone acquires basic school skills, with digital skills being a priority.

Strategic Approach

Reforms supported by the ESF+ programmes cover a broad range of key policy areas to strengthen Europe’s human capital. They include developing new strategies to enhance lifelong learning, strengthening active labour market policies linked to the twin green and digital transitions, increasing employers’ and individuals’ incentives to participate in adult learning, supporting teachers and trainers and further training for public sector employees.

Through their ESF+ programmes Member States are also enhancing the recognition and validation of skills, focusing also on migrants and third country-nationals, which is another priority of the European Year of Skills.

Building on ESF success

For decades, the European Social Fund (ESF) has been helping people across Europe to build the skills they need to succeed.  Some examples:

• Denmark’s ‘Digital Leadership Culture’ programme aims to strengthen the digital competences of managers and key employees in 420 Danish Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs). With this new expertise, businesses are better able to safeguard their long-term survival. The system enables senior management and owners in small businesses to upskill in digital technology and marketing.

• In Sardinia, Italy, thousands of jobseekers have been taking training courses designed to help them find work in Europe's green and blue economy. Training is provided by accredited vocational education and training (VET) professionals, with a huge choice in terms of curricula.

• In Slovakia, the ‘Basic Skills Development in Slovakia’ (BLUESS) project supported the development of a national strategy to equip low-skilled adults with basic skills. The project also developed techniques to assess people’s basic skills, and ‘trained the trainers' to deliver these tools and methodologies through group sessions and study visits.  BLUESS has helped to transform basic skills development in Slovakia, securing higher-skilled and better paying jobs for people across the country.