Conference Agenda

The EU's green transition has already triggered significant changes in the European economy that also affect labour markets and social outcomes. How does the shift towards more renewable energy, the electrification of road transport, the change of consumption bundles and habits, and the decarbonisation of industry (including through circular economy strategies), impact employment in the linked sectors? What kind of changes are there for the number and types of workers per sector, or in the job-content, tasks, and required skills? While previous work has focussed mostly on shrinking sectors, in recent years, labour and skill shortages in some key sectors of the transition have emerged.

Where are these shortages located and how can they be addressed? This policy session will help to answer those questions. The session will focus on the sectors under transformation (e.g. construction, electricity supply, etc.) and the associated changes and gaps in employment and skills. In the next step, the session will then discuss how the EU should use policies to best manage the transition risks for labour markets while unlocking the potential of green jobs and skills. Within the context of these policy developments, dialogue between policy-makers and researchers can help identify potential challenges and measure the effects of different policies. The session will consist of brief presentations by the panellists, followed by a roundtable discussion where policy-makers and researchers get a chance to engage.

The roundtable discussion will cover three main topics:

First, the discussion will touch upon the characteristics of the labour market in the sectors that will be most affected by the green transition. What kind of possibilities and limitations for labour mobility are there in these sectors (e.g. the geographical location of industries, workers' age, access to training, etc.)?

Secondly, the speakers will delve into the changes that may occur in these transforming sectors as well as in the larger European labour market. The green transition will cause shifts to happen in the demand for different skillsets and this will lead to new opportunities as well as challenges. Moreover, these challenges related to the green transition may also interact with the digital transition, the other transition that is currently transforming the EU economy.
When these transitions lead to labour mobility, the impact of moving will diverge across different types of workers. Hence, we also discuss the distributional consequences of labour mobility.

Thirdly, the discussion will focus on how policies can support the labour market during the green transition. Policy-makers and researchers will get a chance to exchange on which tools and research methods are available to anticipate changes in the demand for employment and skills. This discussion will elucidate the main challenges in applying these methods to analyse the impact of the energy transition on jobs. Moreover, as skills shortages might provide bottlenecks for the green transition, the session will explore how policies could address these potential shortages. Through the illustration of best practice examples, speakers will highlight the importance of comprehensive skills governance, fostering stakeholder collaboration, skills anticipation, and the role of vocational education and training (VET) in addressing current and future skill challenges. Because of the importance of ensuring that the transition towards net zero is also feasible and fair, the session will close by discussing which labour market policies can complement climate action.

Speakers:

Camille Van Der Vorst, European Commission, JRC

Stelina Chatzichristou, CEDEFOP

Linda Kunertova, European Commission, DG EMPL

Giovanni Marin, University of Urbino Carlo Bo

Toon Vandyck, OECD

Elena Verdolini, University of Brescia, CMCC EIEE

Francesco Vona, University of Milan and FEEM