As European Social Partners and in the context of the European Year of Skills, EFIC, CEI-Bois and EFBWW co-signed a joint position paper addressing skills needs in the woodworking and furniture sectors. Europe’s woodworking and furniture industries employ over 2 million people in more than 300,000 businesses, the majority of which are small and medium-sized enterprises SMEs. Labour shortages is however a common challenge in both industries.
We provide recommendations to be tackled at EU level, at national and government level, as well as at company level and by training providers.
In a nutshell, we recommend:
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Developing strategies to attract more young people to careers in the woodworking and furniture sectors
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Supporting companies for skilling and upskilling, to ensure that their employees have the necessary skills to meet evolving industry demands
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Promoting and supporting Vocational Education Training considering differences in the Member States
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Eliminating barriers for the mutual recognition of qualifications
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Putting in place a system to validate formal and non-formal learning in cooperation with social partners and trade/industry associations
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Developing long term training plans
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Creating networks for an increased use of #Erasmus+