Regional Webinar "Co-creating the future workforce: Private sector engagement in skills governance and anticipation of future skills needs in South-East Europe"

Education and training systems are under increasing pressure to adapt their programmes to equip learners with the competences needed in a rapidly transforming economy. Private sector actors — including business associations, chambers of commerce, and employers — are ever more recognised not just as end-users of the education and training system, but as co-governors of national skills development strategies, particularly in the field of skills anticipation and matching. According to the 2024 ETF Cross-Country Monitoring Report, vacancy data in most Partner Countries confirm a labour demand pattern centred around manufacturing and service job profiles requiring a medium-level qualified workforce. This evidence highlights the importance of linking skills provision with demand-side intelligence and anticipation mechanisms. In this regard, private sector active engagement particularly helps vocational education and training (VET) systems to respond to changing labour market needs and to better align qualifications with economic transformation. Employers in Southeast Europe already contribute to skills governance by co-designing curricula, proposing and revising qualifications, contributing to skills needs assessments, hosting apprentices and training programmes, advising on curriculum relevance, and leading the development of occupational standards in line with labour market trends. However, the impact of the private sector on system performance in Southeast Europe, such as employability outcomes, skills matching, and labour market responsiveness, remains difficult to quantify. Strengthening the link between skills demand and provision thus remains a core challenge for policymakers and practitioners alike. 

This webinar explored how employers and business organisations are contributing to sectoral skills councils, participating in the governance of VET schemes, and collaborating with education providers to co-design curricula. The session highlighted good practices, common challenges, and lessons from ETF partner countries in Southeast Europe, with particular attention to how mechanisms of employer engagement contribute to more effective skills anticipation and matching.

You can find the agenda, presentations  and a short summary as attachments to this page.

The webinar recording can be viewed here.