The automotive industry is a strategic sector and has long been key to the creation of jobs across Europe. Today, the sector is experiencing a profound transition, driven by the shift to zero emission cars, automated and connected driving and new mobility patterns. The changes have an impact also on the workforce and are leading to significant skills gaps is the sector. Workers will need to acquire new and more advanced technical and soft skills.

The European Commission is launching the conference in the context of The Blueprint for sectoral cooperation on skills in Automotive Sector and its running initiatives, COSME - Towards a common vision on addressing SMEs skills needs in the automotive sector: strengthening the development of upskilling and reskilling strategies and ERASMUS+ Skills Alliance The Development and Research on Innovative Vocational Educational Skills (DRIVES) project .

The conference will be an opportunity to discuss the ongoing challenges for skills in the sector, reflect on the future and hear experiences about solutions and best practices for updating skills. The event will bring together policymakers at national and supranational levels, experts in the field, training providers, automotive industry value-chain, such as OEMs, large enterprises and SMEs.

Additional information:

The European Commission has launched a series of flagship initiatives in this sector, with a view towards addressing the challenges faced by automotive firms. These include the “New Skills Agenda for Europe”, adopted by the European Commission in June 2016. It calls on EU Member States and stakeholders to improve the quality of skills and their relevance for the labour market.

As one of the actions under the New Skills Agenda, the Blueprint for sectoral cooperation on skills was launched in order to improve skills intelligence and address skills shortages in specific economic sectors. The Blueprint is a new framework for strategic cooperation between key stakeholders in a given economic sector. Its strategic nature is deeply linked with industrial policies. Six pilot sectors were selected, including the automotive sector automotive.

Two projects have been launched within the purview of this initiative in Automotive sector:

• The ”Development and Research on Innovative Vocational Educational Skills”(DRIVES) project, launched by means of an Erasmus+ initiative. It aims at delivering human capital solutions through the establishment of an Automotive Sector Skills Alliance, covering all levels of the value chain. Project results available at: https://www.project-drives.eu/en/results

• The project “Towards a common vision on addressing SMEs skills needs in the automotive sector: strengthening the development of upskilling and reskilling strategies” by means of the COSME Programme.