Vocational education and training - VET

The 2020 update was developed before the coronavirus pandemic. The short-term economic impact of the lockdown in many countries is uncertain; the current short-term forecast is therefore likely to be over-optimistic. However, the key long-term factors (such as the ageing population, increasing use of automation/artificial intelligence, globalisation, resource scarcity and move towards a carbon neutral economy) will still hold as the EU Member States put plans into place to deal with the virus, and their economies move forward. The trends in the longer-term forecast are therefore also likely to hold.

Five years from now, over one third of skills that are important in todays’ workplace will have changed, which means crucial competencies will have changed as well. In 2020 the top skills are projected to be complex problem solving, critical thinking, and creativity. Current top skills, like quality control and active listening don’t even crack the top ten in 2020. So what competencies will become the most important?

As the market for legal cannabis grows rapidly, training opportunities for workers in this budding industry struggle to keep pace.