Give the economy the people it needs, Schinas urges

Stakeholders in the market and society, coordinated by the government and with the assistance of the European Union, must be mobilized in order to maximize the development of the workforce skills needed in the economy of the future, European Commission Vice President Margaritis Schinas said in a message to an Economist Conference in Athens on the topic “Europe: The new era for skills – Greece: The human dynamic in the new workplace and society.”

“All interested parties must be activated and provide the tools for shaping the future human workforce. Digital, green, scientific skills, all are needed,” said Schinas, who holds the portfolio of Promoting our European Way of Life.

He expressed satisfaction with the participation of both businesses and non-profit organizations in the conference, saying that this shows that Greece has “an ecosystem of skills that can generate the desired results.”

The commissioner stressed the urgency of developing new skills, saying that this was a time of action and that the “European year of skills cannot be a year of discussions, nor a year of Brussels for Brussels’ sake.”

He said the current Commission had placed work skills at the “heart of its priorities” by adopting the European agenda for skills, which was also reflected in the national plans of the Recovery and Resilience Facility.