ESF project No. 7.1.2.1./15/I/001 „EURES network activities in Latvia”
By 2025, approximately half of the workforce will need to retrain.* What is Latvia’s plan?
The Future of Jobs, an international online conference, will take place on February 17th from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. During the conference, 17 leading international and local employment policy creators and researchers, heads of European employment agencies, economists and business leaders will share their job market predictions, highlight the most significant employment challenges, and present scenarios aimed at reducing employment risks. A stream of the conference will be publicly available via the event website www.futureofjobs.lv and Facebook: https://ej.uz/futureofjobs.
According to the latest World Economic Forum study, "The Future of Jobs 2020", most future professions do not yet exist (65% - 2030), many existing professions will be automated (47% - 2030), and around half of the workforce will already have to retrain by 2025. “Constant learning and periodic retraining will be the only way to promote employment as well as individual and regional competitiveness,” explains Evita Simsone, Director of the Latvian State Employment Agency. “It is therefore important to acknowledge that national employment agencies have responsibility not just for providing social support mechanisms, but also for developing the skills of the workforce.”
The conference will answer questions on the in-demand skills of the future and how to gain them, how countries can grow their competitiveness by strategically planning and coordinating their human resource policies, and what role businesses play in developing employee skills, among others.
Speakers will include the President of the Republic of Latvia Egils Levits, who will open the conference, European Commissioner for Jobs and Social Rights Nicolas Schmit, Chair of the European Network of Public Employment Services (PES) Johannes Kopf and the Director of the Latvian State Employment Agency Evita Simsone, as well as Director of the Luxembourg National Employment Agency Isabelle Schlesser, Director of the Danish Agency for Labour Market and Recruitment Maria Schack Vindum and representatives from the Finnish Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment. Leading researcher from the World Economic Forum Vesselina Stefanova Ratcheva, Senior Economist at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Stijn Broecke and Senior Project Manager Dr. Piret Tõnurist, Professor of Computer Science at Stanford University John Mitchell, Head Of Brand and Reputation Marketing, Google Central & Eastern Europe Ivana Grbavac, Head of Cognizant's Center for the Future of Work Ben Pring, Board Member at the Bank of Latvia Andris Vilks, Head of Talent and Leadership at the Swedbank Group Jennifer Florido, and Associate Professor at the Stockholm School of Economics in Riga Zane Vārpiņa will share the latest research and figures. The discussion will be moderated by Daunis Auers, Associate Professor at the University of Latvia.
“I hope that, now that vaccines are available, we will see the light at the end of the health crisis tunnel. That’s why it is so important for economic and social programmes to be implemented hand in hand alongside the recovery phase,” adds European Commissioner for Jobs and Social Rights Nicolas Schmit
Meanwhile, President of Latvia Egils Levits emphasises that “we need an audit of Latvian employment policy to uncover our shortfalls and possibilities in the context of modern EU and world employment.”
The event will take place in English, and viewers can watch via the conference’s Facebook page https://ej.uz/futureofjobs, with Latvian interpreting available via the conference website www.futureofjobs.lv.
* World Economic Forum, “The Future of Jobs 2020”
More information on the conference and options for interviewing speakers:
Signe Lonerte, ERDA Communications Consultant, signe.lonerte@erda.lv, tel. 29116146
Conference supported by:
