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Rapid digital transformation and skills obsolescence have led to a professional gap, which puts some professions in Europe at risk. In this context, Iberdrola, together with other companies such as AstraZeneca, Iberdrola, Nestlé, SAP, Sonae, Telefónica and Volvo Group are co-leading the European programme Reskilling for Employment (R4E), which today launches its website with the aim of promoting training and the search for structural solutions to unemployment on the continent.

Ignacio Galán, Chairman of Iberdrola, a member of ERT and one of the main promoters of the initiative, stressed that "in less than 30 years we must move from a world still highly dependent on fossil fuels to zero net emissions. The next decade will be decisive to achieve this, and innovation and talent, two fundamental values in our company, will be necessary. In the next two years alone, Iberdrola will train 15,000 people through our green jobs retraining programmes, creating high quality jobs to achieve a cleaner and smarter energy system. We invite all organisations and companies to join this initiative, thus contributing to the transformation that will improve efficiency, create jobs and, ultimately, make this planet a better place to live".

Promoted by the European Roundtable of Industry (ERT), the R4E programme is already up and running in Portugal, Spain and Sweden and is being prepared for launch in other EU countries with additional companies, recycling providers, innovative start-ups and recruitment agencies.

This pan-European training initiative - announced at the Porto Social Summit in May 2021 - has been created to promote collaboration and partnership between training providers, companies and jobseekers with the aim of addressing skills shortages in emerging sectors, at a time when the employment landscape in Europe is undergoing significant change.

Boosting well-being beyond 2025 

McKinsey & Company, a key partner in the R4E initiative, estimates that approximately 20 million people will need to reskill for new occupations as their current jobs disappear through automation and new types of occupations emerge in the coming years. The R4E initiative ultimately aims to upgrade skills and secure new jobs for 5 million people by 2030.

This initiative offers a training ecosystem for adults, where candidates are introduced to training and employment opportunities and subsequently receive training, guidance and access to a future-ready job. 

The process requires targeted training programmes, candidate orientation and well-connected local employment ecosystems where training providers and companies can quickly connect candidates with vacancies. 
 
The R4E initiative, which is tailored to the specific needs and contexts of individual countries, has a comprehensive model and operates through four mechanisms:

1.    Technological training for retraining, including a common platform and recommendations driven by artificial intelligence;
2.    A network of selected high quality training providers and job placement companies; 
3.    The creation of employment ecosystems in cities to match labour supply and demand;
4.    Design of funding systems to align incentives for training providers, companies and candidates.

Paulo Azevedo, Chair of the ERT's Employment, Skills and Impact Committee said: "We are pleased to announce the official launch of the R4E website. The aim of R4E is simple: to help people retrain for more in-demand jobs, thus improving their quality of life. The R4E websites are at the heart of our collaborative and comprehensive approach to tackling the urgent need for new skills in Europe".

For more information, see the note sent by the ERT.
https://ert.eu/documents/r4ewebsitelaunch/