What are the main outcomes of the Strategic Issue Paper?

An analysis of data from international and European institutions and those provided by WEC members shows that these shortages are primarily related to the imbalance between supply and demand: inactivity, labour revaluation, cross-border labour mobility, and the long-term impact of the COVID-19 pandemic are the main drivers behind the current labour shortages.

How can the problem be addressed?

According to the Paper, a large share of the current skills and labour shortages faced by European companies and labour markets can be addressed by fostering labour market reforms building on four interconnected pillars:

Where can private employment services contribute more?

It can be part of the process, through its agency work and career management segments, in each of these fundamental pillars:

• Diverse forms of work to broaden labour market access
• Innovative solutions to increase access to training
• Career support to enable faster and more resilient transitions
• A collaborative approach to foster cooperation with other labour market stakeholders.

Which policy recommendations should enable the private employment services sector to improve European labour markets?

• Review and lift unjustified restrictions on the temporary agencywork industry to unlock the potential of the private employment services industry.
• Enhance and foster labour market transitions to let people to moving into new jobs and professions.
• Create an enabling policy framework at the national level to capitalise on initiatives led by the private sector to invest in training and skills.
• Facilitate access to funding for social partners and companies to reinforce, sustain and develop training and skills enhancement policies aiming to face labour market shortages and mismatches.
• Create an enabling policy framework at European and national levels to capitalise on the role of private career management services, ensuring work transitions and avoiding unemployment while supporting organisations in their workforce planning process.
• Foster dialogue, cooperation and exchange between public authorities, public employment services and the career management industry in the EU context.
• Strengthen the cooperation and collaboration between public and private employment services to speed up matching job seekers and vacancies on the European labour market.
• Foster sectoral social dialogue at the European and national levels to strengthen collaboration between labour market stakeholders and develop innovative solutions for more inclusive and resilient labour markets.