Leiden, Netherlands, 5 February 2026 – More than 30 researchers, policymakers, and industry representatives participated in a webinar organised by Vassil Kirov (Bulgarian Academy of Sciences) and Mina Kostova (Bulgarian Academy of Sciences) as part of the SkiLMeeT project. The event focused on the challenges posed by the green and digital transitions for skills demand.
The second stakeholder webinar that was also moderated by Vassil Kirov, “The Future of Skills in the Context of the Twin Transition – Academic and Practitioner Insights,” took place on February 2, 2026, and opened with a presentation by SkiLMeeT researcher Ronald Bachmann (RWI), who drew on the project’s recent policy brief explaining why job-to-job transitions matter for Europe’s labour market. He showed that occupational mobility remains relatively low at a time when such transitions are needed most to help workers adapt to the green and digital shift. While job-to-job mobility can support reallocation of labour from declining to growing occupations, he warned that mobility also carries risks, especially for women, older employees, and low-skilled workers. Bachmann added that voluntary occupational changes tend to improve wage prospects, while involuntary occupational moves are far more often linked to wage declines. He argued that policy needs to expand training opportunities and make them genuinely useful for workers, while improving information on job tasks, qualification requirements, pay and working conditions, including strong implementation of the EU Pay Directive.
Monia El Faziki (SEA Europe) presented findings from the LeaderSHIP project on skills needs and gaps in the European shipbuilding and maritime technology ecosystem – one of Europe’s strategic industries, spanning hundreds of shipyards and a large supply chain. She outlined how the Shipbuilding Pact for Skills aims to attract, train, and retain talent, including ambitions to upskill and reskill 200,000 workers and attract 230,000 new talent, supported by €1bn in public-private investment. El Faziki highlighted three key forces reshaping skills demand: digitalisation, decarbonisation and an ageing workforce. Alongside urgent shortages in core technical roles, the LeaderSHIP training plan identifies new skill needs driven by green and digital change and includes 35 pilot training courses.
Both presentations sparked discussion on the demand for skills, training challenges, and employment prospects for young workers.
