Today, the European Commission has launched a new scheme – the Skills Guarantee – to support workers and businesses and tackle labour shortages in strategic and growing sectors. A flagship initiative under the Union of Skills, the Skills Guarantee will reinforce strategic sectors in line with the future European Competitiveness Fund. Ιt will enable workers to transition into strategic industries, secure new jobs, and develop additional skills.

As a first step, today the Commission has launched a Skills Guarantee Pilot – with a budget of €14.5 million. It will focus on workers from the automotive industry and its supply chain, who are at risk of unemployment. This pilot will test how to accelerate and improve the transition of workers from these strategic sectors to jobs in companies in growing or emerging strategic sectors, providing targeted upskilling and reskilling programmes. The pilot will support workers with on-the-job training and support to learn new skills, while companies in sectors with increased demand will be able to recruit the talent they need more quickly, helping them be competitive.