News
Two streams: curated daily news on work and AI in your language (opening on PegaPoll's reader, where you can vote), and official statistical releases and research news.
Statistics & research
Straight from statistical offices, EU institutions and research institutes, in the original language. Relevance comes from a keyword filter.
Skills Alliance for the Green, Digital and Social Transformation of the Energy-intensive Industries (Skills4EII)
The Skills Alliance for the Green, Digital and Social Transformation of the Energy Intensive Industries (Skills4EII) will uptake the results of the European Steel Skills Alliance (ESSA) and the Skills Alliance for Industrial Symbiosis (SPIRE-SAIS) and further develop them. The project will be aligned with the Large-Scale Partnership Energy Intensive Industries (LSP EII) under the Pact for Skills. An essential part is to identify additional cross-sectoral and sector specific skill gaps and address them within (cross-)sectoral contexts and national-regional skills and training ecosystems. Skills4EII creates a common framework integrating specificities of all relevant industries to continuously and proactively adjust the skill needs of
RESkill4NetZero: Reskilling and Upskilling the workforce to thrive in a net-zero emissions future
RESkill4NetZero is a co-funded Erasmus+ Blueprint project addressing workforce shortages in Europe’s renewable energy sector. It aims to identify key occupational profiles, skills needs and develop modular training programmes and certification pathways for high-demand roles. Status On-going Duration November 2024 - November 2028 Sector Renewable Energy Industries (NACE codes relevant to the project include C.33.20 – Installation of industrial machinery and equipment, D.35.11 – Production of electricity, P.85.59 – Other education n.e.c., M.72.19 – Other research and experimental development on natural sciences and engineering. Countries Belgium Germany Ireland Italy Luxembourg Netherlands Romania Sweden Scope of the project RESkill4NetZero aims to d
Vocational education and training in Ireland | Spotlight series
Video Vocational education and training in Ireland | Spotlight series Cedefop, 2026 Discover how Ireland supports lifelong learning and skills development through its vocational education and training (VET) system! This video offers an overview of how VET works in Ireland through the Further Education and Training (FET) system, from upper secondary pathways and apprenticeships to higher VET and adult learning. In this spotlight video, you will learn about: Ireland’s flexible and inclusive Further Education and Training system and how it is delivered nationwide;new vocational learning opportunities through the revised Transition Year programme; apprenticeships combining workplace learning and training across EQF levels 4 to 8, with 82 programmes currently available;higher vocational pathways, adult learning, and opportunities to upskill, reskill and gain new qualifications;participation i
Italy and Czechia step up skills anticipation for the age of AI
Italy and Czechia step up skills anticipation for the age of AI A new EU-funded project will help both countries turn skills intelligence into policy action A new EU-funded cooperation under the Technical Support Instrument (TSI) will support Italy and Czechia in understanding how artificial intelligence (AI) and automation are reshaping jobs, identifying emerging skills needs, and strengthening the governance systems needed to turn skills intelligence into policy action. Launched in Rome on 22 September, the new two-year project WORK.FUTURE: “AI, Skills Anticipation and Governance Reform: Supporting Italy and Czechia in building a Future-Ready Workforce” brings together Cedef
Europe’s skills ambitions need a regional lens
Skills challenges are not evenly distributed in the EU. National averages often conceal major differences within countries, leading policies to sometimes overlook regional realities. To support focused actions, investment and cooperation, Cedefop has launched the Regional Skills Ecosystems Index.
Women: a key to the future of construction sector?
Skills and labour shortages are a challenge for the construction industry in the EU. The solution could be to tear down the barriers that prevent women from entering the sector.
Shaping Skills Beyond Borders
Ahead of the Torino Global Skills Summit 2026, on 23-25 November, Pilvi Torsti, Director of the European Training Foundation (ETF), reflects on the role of international cooperation in addressing today's skills challenges and why skills policy can no longer be tackled country by country.
Europe’s skills ambitions need a regional lens
Europe’s skills ambitions need a regional lens Cedefop launches RESET, the new REgional Skills EcosysTems index Skills shortages, demographic change, the green and digital transitions, and the race for competitiveness are reshaping Europe’s economy and labour markets. But these pressures do not affect all territories in the same way. They play out in regions, where labour markets, education and training systems, business and innovation capacity intersect. This was the starting point for Cedefop’s event Europe’s skills revolution
Kommentar zu Apples Privacy-Versprechen: Zweifache Rolle rückwärts
Offensiv Trainingsdaten für Siri AI verlangen und Lauschfunktionen in der Apple Watch: Bei Apple scheint im Hinblick auf Datenschutz ein neuer Wind zu wehen.
Tell us: have you been monitored or assessed by AI at work?
We’d like to hear from people who have been monitored or assessed by AI at work and what they thought about the experience Firms are increasingly using AI to monitor or assess their employees, leading to concerns about workplace surveillance. Instructors at tech training company Multiverse recently blew the whistle at their “remorseless” and “unnerving” AI monitoring system, while The Co-Op has used automated listening technology that rates every phone call some of them make to customers.
From Risk to Resilience
From Risk to Resilience Advancing equity, inclusion and wellbeing in education and training How can education and training systems better identify learners at risk, prevent early leaving and create learning environments where everyone feels included, supported and able to succeed? This webinar will bring together Cedefop and the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Education, Youth, Culture and Sport (DG EAC) to explore how policy and practice can move from responding to disengagement towards building more inclusive, equitable and resilient education and training systems. Cedefop will launch its new policy
Poland: new Sectoral Training School model to boost vocational teaching
Poland: new Sectoral Training School model to boost vocational teaching Poland is developing a national model for Sectoral Training Schools (Branżowa Szkoła Ćwiczeń, BSĆ) to strengthen the pedagogical and practical skills of vocational teachers and trainers. The project runs from July 2025 to May 2029 and is co-financed by the European Union under the European Funds for Social Development (FERS. Comprehensive framework for vocational support Poland is launching a national initiative to modernise vocational education and training by developing Sectoral Training Schools. The project, 'Development and testing of the Sectoral Training School model', is led by the Foundation for the Development of the Educat
heise-Angebot: iX-Webinar: AI Act kompakt – Kennzeichnung, KI-Kompetenz, Hochrisiko-KI
Erfahren Sie, wie Sie die neuen Anforderungen des AI Acts an Kennzeichnung, KI-Kompetenz und Hochrisiko-KI in Ihrem Unternehmen praktisch umsetzen können.
Training novices to think in the age of large language models
Whether teaching a cognitive skill remains valuable in this era of AI is a crucial question in education and for firms. This column reports on an experiment in which around 1,000 undergraduates in Italy received either (1) causal-reasoning training, (2) access to ChatGPT, (3) both, or (4) neither. While students with ChatGPT scored better in an assignment to write a 180-word recommendation on a real-world problem, only those who had received causal-reasoning training produced unique ideas. The findings highlight the benefits of combining training in first-principles thinking with large language models.
How minimum wages reshape firms and their productivity from within
How far can minimum wages rise without damaging jobs and output? This column uses evidence from France to show that firms respond not only by employing fewer workers, but also by increasing training and flattening management hierarchies. A quantitative model suggests that this reorganisation cushions the impact of moderate increases. Higher revenue productivity, however, is not a free efficiency gain, and the adjustment becomes less effective as wage floors rise.
How Labour could solve the youth jobs crisis | Letters
Readers respond to an editorial on creating opportunities for today’s young people to build future careers Your youth unemployment editorial (18 September) sees the crisis clearly, but reaches for the wrong tools. Placements, apprenticeships and work coaches cannot conjure jobs that do not exist. We need macro solutions to macro problems. Youth unemployment is not a crisis of skills or geography. It is insufficient government deficit spending. There is not enough money circulating to employ everyone who wants to work and that is a policy choice, not an accident. Macroeconomists divide the economy into three sectors: government, households and businesses, and the rest of the world. One sector’s spending is another sector’s income. Put simply, government spending is income for the non-government sectors.
11th annual EAfA-ETF Seminar
Join us in Brussels, Belgium, on 9 and 10 December 2026 for the 11th joint seminar organised by the European Commission and the European Training Foundation (ETF) in the framework of the European Alliance for Apprenticeships (EAfA).
Share your insights: participate in the 2025-2026 EAfA Members’ Survey!
The 2026 European Alliance for Apprenticeships (EAfA) Members’ Survey is now open, and all EAfA members are invited to take part.
European Commission’s new Skills Guarantee: all six pilot projects launched to support workers at risk of unemployment
Six pilot projects were selected and launched under the new Skills Guarantee. The pilot has a budget of €14.5 million and will support almost 1,000 European workers at risk of unemployment in the car industry by offering them on-the-job training and new jobs in growing sectors.
Sources: Eurostat – news releases · Cedefop · European Commission – DG EMPL · ONS – labour market · Destatis · IAB – Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung · VoxEU (CEPR) · Indeed Hiring Lab · Bruegel · One Useful Thing (Ethan Mollick) · MIT Technology Review – AI · The Guardian – Work & careers · Rest of World · heise – Künstliche Intelligenz · tagesschau – Wirtschaft · SRF – Wirtschaft · NZZ – Wirtschaft · Portfolio