The relevance of adult learning has increased in today’s world, especially in relation to the intense changes taking place in our society, such as the ageing of the population (UN DeSA, 2019; Cegolon and Jenkins, 2022), the impact of the so-called Fourth Industrial Revolution on work (see among others, Frey and Osborne, 2017; Nedelkoska, Quintini, 2018), the transition to the green economy (CEDEFOP, 2021; ILO, 2019); as well as sudden shocks such as the COVID-19 pandemic (Amankwah-Amoah et al., 2021).

These changes and the speed at which they happen increase the need for adults to participate in learning activities throughout their working lives. Indeed, Individuals’ ability to adapt and thrive in a fast-evolving world rests on their having acquired strong foundation skills, the willingness to learn and a habit of learning. These skills and attitudes are vital for them to absorb and expand the knowledge and skills required to adapt and become resilient to external shocks. This is why adult learning has also been identified as a focus topic of the European Education Area for 2021-2030.

In this perspective, given the social relevance of the aforementioned challenges, one wonders whether the continuing vocational and training (CVT) system in Italy is up to the task, that is, capable of preparing adults to navigate a rapidly changing world of work shaken by globalisation, technological and environmental changes as well as demographic changes.

To address this question, we present an overview of elements discussed in both the international and national literature. The goal is to highlight some critical aspects of the Italian CVT system. This is a theoretical/conceptual contribution to the literature on lifelong learning (LLL) participation and aims to provide some proposals for improving the Italian CVT system

This contribution delves into a comprehensive examination of the ramifications brought about by remote working, known in Italy as smart working and agile working, considering the key role of continuing training in supporting public and private organizations to open up and adapt to the increasingly rapid changes and innovation processes. The study meticulously scrutinizes the impacts on the development and adaptation of training plans, the acquisition of specialized skills, and the overarching processes of reskilling and upskilling within the private and public sectors. The in-depth analysis is a result of a qualitative research project conducted by INAPP, encompassing companies and central and local public-sector organizations throughout the period of 2022-23. To augment the understanding, this contribution synthesizes insights from a literature review, offering a dual-faceted analysis. The first facet explores the intricate interplay between the demand for technology and digital skills and the training processes within the framework of the evolving remote work paradigm. The second facet takes a prospective stance, elucidating the regulatory evolution of remote working and its consequential impact on training initiatives. Furthermore, the contribution encapsulates key findings from the INAPP survey, shedding light on the interplay between continuing training and remote working in both private and public sectors. It not only accentuates strengths observed during the research but also discerns critical aspects that warrant attention. Additionally, it contemplates potential future scenarios, providing a holistic view of the evolving dynamics in the realm of remote working and its influence on training practices. It also considers the chance to promote a new culture of training, both in the public and private sector, which would be able to assist forms of collaborative problem-solving and foster a network among all those involved.

Low-skilled adults are less likely to participate in training than adults with higher skill levels (OECD, 2021). The low-skilled condition, however, is a multidimensional status and a dynamic phenomenon that is not based solely on the level of educational attainment. A comprehensive approach to the phenomenon should take into account several dimensions including the level of digital skills, currently indispensable, and a diverse range of individuals, including those with specific skills gaps or obsolete skills.

This study presents the main findings of an analysis aimed at examining the training behaviours of low-skilled adults in Italy (aged 18-64) based on a clear delineation of the research object. The primary objective of this study was to construct a multidimensional composite indicator, one specific to the labour market and one specific to adults in general. This indicator, developed through various aggregation methods, including summation-based approaches and correction for penalization factors, considers elements such as possession of basic and digital skills, in addition to educational level. The analysis was based on 2022 Indaco Adulti data and represents an evolution and update compared to previous studies (Angotti, Di Castro, 2023).

The research findings highlight significant disparities in access to training for this specific category of individuals, disparities that risk widening due to the increasing digitalization characterizing not only all sectors of the economy and society but also the world of education. The research aims to contribute to providing solid evidence base useful for understanding this phenomenon and providing policy insights to ensure fair and effective participation in the labour market and the educational process for all individuals.

Continuing Vocational Training (CVT) seems to be at the core-attention of decision-makers in Italy after years. It is going through a season of transformations, also because of the launch of a set of new policy measures, most recently those included in the National New Skills Plan and the National Recovery and Resilience Plan.

CVT is therefore experiencing an extremely articulated situation, consisting of no less than eight national policy measures managed by different public administrations (both central and local) and many actors and stakeholders at various levels. Numbers, of participants and interventions, also show the recent increase of CVT relevance.

However, a number of issues remain unresolved: the equity of access to corporate training; the North-South areas gaps in the distribution of training supply; the resistance to change and modification of organizational models and practices; the effects of pandemic on corporate training choices and strategies.

In the development of human capital, the role played by continuing vocational training (CVT) in accompanying and supporting professional development paths becomes increasingly significant. This is connected to a process of rapid technological evolution, oriented towards the digitalisation of the companies, which determines the need to operate recurrent upskilling and reskilling processes (European Council, Recommendation of 19 December 2016). In Italy, over the last five years there has been a positive trend in the use of CVT, as recorded by several surveys (Italian Parliament, 2020; Angotti, 2017).

This scenario, already complex in the past and structurally tending towards an unsustainable fragmentation (Dordit, 2023) is becoming more complex today. We refer to the introduction of two new legislative measures from which a leap in quality is expected towards the development of a more organic system of CVT. On the one hand, the Piano Nazionale di Ripresa e Resilienza (Italian Government, 2021), identifies its points of synthesis in the processes of transition to green and digital. A convergent means is represented by the new Fondo Nuove Competenze (Law 17 July 2020, n. 77), intended as an aggregating driver in the field of CVT of employees.

On the other hand, it is noted a recent package of measures, collected under the title of Garanzia di occupabilità per i lavoratori (MLPS, Decree of 5 November 2021). In the intentions of the legislator, this is a set of measures in which interventions aimed at training the unemployed should be included, more organically than has happened in the past.

In light of what has been observed so far, the framework of policies which have as their scope CVT has today acquired crucial importance in supporting the new directions of socio-economic development of the country. In this context, we intend to propose a cross-cutting analysis, aimed at identifying a core of key issues emerging from the results of the latest INDACO-Imprese survey, conducted by INAPP (National Institute for Public Policy Analysis), addressing the whole Italian system of CVT. The main key issues can be summarized as follows: strong differences between companies on a geographical and dimensional basis; presence of a strong gender gap, age gap, qualification gap; accentuated sectoral differentiations in the use of CVT; limits in the use of public funds; still low incidence of training for the digital and ecological transition; high incidental rate of compulsory training and, finally, reduced level of coherence between company analysis of training needs and development of skills via CVT.

These aspects represent many critical issues, without taking anything away from some further positive elements, although recognised. For each theme, alongside an examination of the essential data, some insights for the policies of CVT are proposed.

The gap among professional competences and global market needs is rooted in an ever-changing market scenario and requires an organized and intentional continuous training. In the last thirty years this fundamental assumption grounded the success of the lifelong learning paradigm and spread the importance of education in relation to the national economic competitiveness. At the same time, a reductivist and linear epistemology promoted a dominant narrative based on the idea of ‘matching’ and adaptation, channelling the representation of a subcontracting relationship among educational system and economic domain. In this framework the general desire to attain ‘better skills, better jobs, better lives’ entails the risk of designing and managing instructional learning contexts aimed at acquiring skills and competences already defined by market needs. The article will propose some considerations on these aspects focusing on the changing role of doctoral training along the lifelong learning system. PhD holders are continuously facing professional transitions towards non-academic contexts and this fact interrogate their training models and, specifically, the ways through which university is fostering a generative dialogue with external social actors.