The aim of this toolkit is to provide insights on how to accompany the labour market transition in coal and carbon-intensive regions, focusing on: providing short-term support for workers affected by labour market transition; providing medium- and longer-term actions that support employment and job- creation through regional diversification.
European coal regions have been facing the challenge of declining jobs in both coal mining and in coal-fired power plants over the last decades. Upcoming closures of mines and power plants put 160,000 jobs at risk (JRC 2018). This is a challenge to the economy for those regions, which strongly depend on coal.
Focus Areas
This toolkit gives practical guidance on how to accompany labour market transition in coal and carbon-intensive regions, and focuses on:
- providing short-term support for workers;
- providing medium- and longer-term actions for employment and job creation.
Approaches
This toolkit is based on a four-pillar approach:
- SKILLS
- Anticipating skills needs
- Skills audits
- Transferability to other sectors
- Linking labour supply and demand
- COOPERATION
- Key actors
- Cooperation processes and social dialogues
- SUPPORT FOR WORKERS
- Information and consultation
- Tailored support for workers, with their involvement
- Specific requirements
- Welfare support
- ECONOMIC DIVERSIFICATIONS AND TRANSFORMATION
- Promotion of new job opportunities
- Jobs in renewable energy and energy efficiency
- Regional structural change
KEY MESSAGES
- Labour market transition is a complex and often difficult process. Policy coherence is vital. Involvement of all relevant stakeholders, including employees and those supporting them – in particular trade unions – as early as possible is key.
- Anticipation and planning is vital, as this will help to form a coordinated and relevant response to events. If the focus and extent of change, in addition to the timeline, is known, this will aid planning.
- Supporting individual workers requires both short term actions focused on upskilling and redeployment, and longer-term actions focused on reconversion and attracting investment from alternative industries.
- Options should be suited to workers’ individual circumstances in order to ensure a just transition.
- Engagement with employers and trade unions, through schemes such as worker transfer or on-the-job training, is likely to be more effective in supporting individuals to find employment, especially as compared to stand-alone training programmes.
- All policy measures should be adequately funded.
Who is this Toolkit for?
- Representatives of local and regional government.
- Social partners (representatives of employers and trade unions).
- Partner organisations in worker support services.
You can download this free toolkit from here.
