24
Oct
2024
Watch
Closing the EU skills gap: supporting people in the digital and green transitions to ensure inclusive growth and competitiveness in line with the Draghi report (debate)
Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, the ecological and digital transitions offer us an incredible opportunity, not only to create millions of jobs but also to revolutionise our productive and socio-economic paradigm towards a more just and inclusive world of work. The shortage of skilled labour is evident and it is therefore essential to close the skills gap through vocational training and retraining. This commitment, however, must not only be taken by the industry but also by us institutions, by the public. Only in this way, in fact, can we include in the world of work all the people who are systematically excluded from it. I am thinking of women, racialized people, trans people, those with disabilities and all those who suffer discrimination. I am thinking of young people and of all the difficulties in entering the world of work through unpaid internships and very low wages. It is therefore good to put European industry back at the centre of the political agenda: But to do so, we cannot make the same mistakes as in the past. Let us talk to the social partners seriously again, strengthen collective bargaining, guarantee high standards of safety in the workplace, fight anti-union practices, fraud, social exploitation and, above all, decent wages. A labour market resulting from an unequal society and an impoverished social fabric cannot be competitive.