A recent PES Network event highlighted increasing expectations across Europe for Public Employment Services (PES) to provide upskilling and reskilling programmes and services to employees and their employers. The aim? To prevent (prolonged) unemployment for those likely to be affected by the Covid crisis and underlying trends of automation and robotisation.

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The Thematic Review Workshop on ‘upskilling, reskilling and prevention in times of crisis’ saw presentations and discussions around multiple PES practices focused on three main issues: how to plan for up-/reskilling programmes, how to implement them, and regional approaches to implementation.

The European Commission introduced the event, emphasising the importance of the theme given the impact of the COVID-19 crisis and noting it was among the priority actions of the 2020-2025 European Skills Agenda. A background paper highlighted the risks presented by technological change to workers with low to medium levels of education and low digital skills.

Participants reported that the presentations provided very positive examples of the potential roles of PES in providing skills training opportunities to employees whose jobs are at risk, including ways of reaching the most vulnerable groups. At the same time, the event revealed that there are considerable differences in PES approaches to upskilling programmes.

A key and evolving point of difference was that some PES mandates are still restricted to services for unemployed workers. However, the need for PES to work with employees (and not only job seekers) has been accepted in more and more countries and this trend has only been reinforced by the impact of COVID-19.

Supplying training opportunities to employees whose jobs were already at risk due to automation is seen as even more crucial now, and PES can play a central role in supporting rapid re-training to facilitate transitions towards jobs in demand.

In addition, for upskilling and reskilling programmes and services to achieve the best possible outcomes, participants noted the importance of working in partnership with a range of stakeholders, notably at the regional level, as well as the value of individual counselling.