The challenges and opportunities associated with the dynamically changing world of work were discussed at an international conference on the “Future of Work” that took place in Sofia on 21 and 22 March as part of the calendar of the Bulgarian Presidency of the Council of the European Union.
During the first day of the forum, questions were discussed concerning job knowledge and skills that will be required in the coming decades, the main challenges relating to workforce aging, how to promote longer working lives and facilitate the transfer of experience and knowledge between generations. The focus of the discussion was on policies developing practical knowledge and skills from an early age.
The future of work is a topic which is put on the agenda for all countries in Europe given the challenges caused by the demographic crisis, the development of technology, the information technology sector, the shared economy, said at the opening of the conference the Deputy Minister of Labour and Social Policy, Zornitsa Rusinova.
Today, we are talking about the dynamic development of the labour market – we are talking about dynamics, different payment methods, digitisation, and work-life balance. Effective efforts are needed in this discussion to find the right solutions for making changes in education systems and labour market policies and for responding to current and future challenges, added Deputy Minister Rusinova.
The topic of the future of our children and the future of our cities is the topic of topics, said the Mayor of Sofia, Yordanka Fandakova, at the opening of the conference. To find solutions to today’s challenges, the most important is proper education. We need to answer the question of what we should do to enable all children to express themselves, to prepare for what is expecting them, she added.
We cannot and should not stop the changes. Robots and algorithms will create growth and new jobs. There will be advancement in medicine, science and technology. The future is bright, Marianne Thyssen, EU Commissioner for Employment, Social Policies, Skills and Mobility, said in her video address.
The International Labour Organisation (ILO) Director, Guy Ryder, stressed the need to understand the processes of changeso that the world of work could bring prosperity and social justice to all. Claire Harasty from the ILO drew the attention on the need in the future of professionals taking care of the ever-growing share of elderly people. The share of people over the age of 55, as a share of the total population, will increase significantly by 2050 throughout the world. In the future, there will be more elderly people in the workforce. This will require adaptation in the way we work and will require changes in the working conditions and working hours, said Harasty.
Eva Maydell, MEP, emphasized the skills that the workforce would need in the future. The most important skill is to learn how to be involved in continuous learning. Today, it is not important whether we have or do not have certain information because the access to it is easy. It is much more important how to get what we need from it, said Maydell. In a world where the most commonly used source of information is the Internet, everyone can edit freely without the need to learn facts. We need people who are able to analyse, synthesise and to separate out information; communication skills are needed, she added.
Deputy Minister of Labour and Social Policy, Rossitsa Dimitrova, highlighted the importance of policies promoting early childhood development. This is one of the priorities of the Bulgarian Presidency of the Council of the EU. Early childhood development is not only related to the provision of health, education and social services, but also to employment, work-life balance, policies for children with disabilities, protection of the rights of the child,deinstitutionalisation of childcare, Deputy Minister Dimitrova said.
Early learning is a very important element for children. If children are unable to realise their potential, this is detrimental not only to them but also to the societies they live in. We need to build competent, healthy people possessing the necessary skills. This requires investment in education and well-being of children, said Frank Oberklaid, UNICEF consultant.
