Greece - Strategy for Labour Force Upskilling and Connection to the Labour Market

The Labour Force Upskilling and Connection to the Labour Market (National Skills Strategy) was adopted by the Public Employment Service (DYPA) in September 2023. The strategic document takes into account recent developments in the fields of knowledge, competence and skills and the labour market.

In order for the labour force to acquire or upgrade its skills so that it can directly and successfully connect to the labour market, main objectives defined in the National Skills Strategy are:

• to diagnose the labour market needs in terms of skills;

• to forecast these needs in the near and medium-term future; and

• to utilise and adapt the actions of continuing vocational training.

A sub-objective of the National Skills Strategyfor 2023 is to emphasise the provision of opportunities to develop skills that relate to the needs of the trainees, society and the economy.

In support of the National Skills Strategy, empirical surveys have also been carried out in the framework of the Strategy for Labour Force Upskilling and Connection to the Labour Market to investigate the digital and green skills proficiency of businesses. The selection of digital skills was based on the Digital Competence Framework for Citizens (DigComp) 2.2. 

Priorities for the digital competencies development

It first identifies the content of digital knowledge and skills and recognises that the higher the digital proficiency of the workforce it forms and the company’s digital smart, the better its way forward. For this reason, it sees the upgrading of digital smart workforce as a means of enhancing innovation and business resilience. Protecting ICT devices, Managing data, information and digital content, Solving technical problems and Managing digital identity were identified as the most important digital skills for all sectors.

Specific objectives of the National Skills Strategy are the following:

• to effectively match labour supply and demand in terms of the required skills,

• to identify and monitor the current vocational trends and skills that meet the demands of the national labour market with particular emphasis on the digital and green development,

• to support the access of all interested parties, without discriminations and exclusions, to the continuing vocational training and reskilling programmes,

• to promote the social partners' active participation in the design and implementation of continuing vocational training programmes,

• to systematically measure and evaluate the results of the continuing vocational training,

• to ensure the quality control of the providers of continuing vocational training and the offered programmes aiming to improve the beneficiaries’ employability and to better connect them with the labour market needs in terms of skills,

• to evaluate and improve the funding models of the continuing vocational training by linking the fees of the providers of vocational training with their performance in terms of the beneficiaries’ employability aiming to optimise the effective resource management and the efficiency of the relevant interventions, while achieving transparency and simplifying procedures,

• to evaluate the National Skills Strategy governance model and to upgrade it via its simplification and the improved coordination and cooperation between all involved parties.

The National Labour force Skills Council cooperates with market representatives, social partners and social partners’ institutes, chambers, foundations, international organisations and agencies, the National Alliance for Digital Skills and Employment and other public and private sector bodies.