(24)In many Member States, public and private investments in reskilling and upskilling are insufficient. Many employers, in particular SMEs, do not provide or fund training for their staff, and individuals in atypical work have less or no access to employer-sponsored training. Such inequalities may undermine individuals’ welfare and health, reduce economic competitiveness, result in missed opportunities and barriers to innovation, and risk leaving people behind in the green and digital transitions to more sustainable economic activities. Dedicating resources in order to ensure that employees are able to work with the latest technologies is important for the competitiveness of undertakings. An enabling framework unlocking and incentivising employers’ financial investments in skills and giving visibility to the economic value of reskilling and upskilling is needed. For example, the SME Relief Package aims to facilitate access to finance and skills. Moreover, Directive (EU) 2019/1152 of the European Parliament and of the Councilnote provides that Member States are to ensure that where an employer is required by Union or national law or by collective agreements to provide training to enable workers to carry out the work for which they are employed, such training is to be provided to workers free of cost, to count as working time and, where possible, to take place during working hours.
Source: EUR-Lex, © European Union, 1998-2026. Reuse authorised under Decision 2011/833/EU.