Segnalazione dal CEPS

LATEST PUBLICATION
by:
Cinzia Alcidi, Sara Baiocco, Mattia Di Salvo
The skill challenges posed by Covid-19
Is Europe ready to invest in its labour force?

The impacts of lockdowns in response to the Covid-19 outbreak have been asymmetric across different economic sectors, depending on the degree of social contact needed to perform the activity but also on the use of technology.[1] The measures being taken to contain the spread of the pandemic are accelerating ongoing transformations in the economy and in labour markets, driven by digitalisation. ‘Pandemic-proof’ digital technologies are poised to take over certain jobs faster and more easily than had previously been the case.[2] Workers laid off in shrinking sectors or whose jobs are threatened by technological advancement and by the pandemic require new opportunities to succeed. Failure to manage transitions towards new sectors or new occupations effectively may lead to a significant increase in long-term unemployment, with broader social consequences.

It is against this background that up- and re-skilling policies are part of the flagship areas recommended by the Commission for national investments and reforms under the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF). These policies recognise the growing need to adapt and develop (up-skill) workers’ existing skill-sets to meet new challenges, as well as the need to retrain (re-skill) workers for jobs in rising sectors of the economy. More generally, labour market policies play a decisive role in mitigating the threat of human capital deterioration and can avoid frictional unemployment, resulting from sectoral restructuring of the economy, turning into long-term unemployment. National governments are responsible for such policies and their choices will affect employment outcomes. (...)