Looking back at 2023: initiatives across the board to tackle the skills shortage

Several major company agreements were negotiated, focusing on employee training. Examples include Safran’s global framework agreement, Michelin’s agreement on the management of jobs and career paths (GEPP) in France and Heineken’s agreement in Italy. Some companies have also continued their initiatives in this area, such as Renault in France, which is investing in retraining employees in preparation for the phasing out of internal combustion engines, and the pharmaceutical group Sanofi, which is focusing its training efforts on digital transformation and biotechnology innovation. Finally, the La Poste group is speeding up training on data and AI through its in-house school, while Derichebourg Multiservices is using its new apprentice training centre (CFA) to boost recruitment.

A concern for governments and the EU

Germany, where the shortage of skilled workers is becoming critical, has passed a law to bolster “ongoing training” in order to better cope with the transformations in the world of work brought about by digitisation and the quest for climate neutrality. The country has also reformed its immigration legislation to support employers seeking skills and to facilitate the hiring of foreign workers. This is also the case in Luxembourg, Denmark, the Czech Republic and Iceland. Conversely, the UK recently announced a tightening of the rules for obtaining a skilled worker visa in order to reduce “cheap foreign labour”. Australia is also tightening its policy, while favouring the arrival of highly qualified workers in growth sectors such as cyber security and green technology. Finally, at European level, the European Commission has launched a skills pact for the energy sector and wants to commit all member states to taking measures to simplify procedures for recognising diplomas and validating skills acquired in third countries. The EU’s executive arm has also presented a project for a platform to facilitate international mobility. The shortage of skills represents one of its political priorities and will be on the agenda of a summit of European social partners in the first half of 2024.

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