The Replay-Vet project is about improving the employment prospects of people with low qualifications

The Erasmus+ report is in its first phase and will design strategies to help these people benefit from jobs that will become vacant as people retire. The ageing of the population is a key element in improving youth employment figures. The vacancies that will be available in the job market when current workers retire may become new opportunities for one of the most vulnerable groups.

This is the conclusion of the first phase of the Replay Vet project, a research project funded by the European Union through the Erasmus+ programme. The purpose of this report is to improve the chances of finding jobs for people with low qualifications and that find it difficult to access the labour market. Therefore, the project identifies and studies various training strategies that will allow them to acquire the professional skills they need to take advantage of any job opportunities that may arise when other people retire.

In the first phase of the project, the seven participating European regions have identified the industries and jobs where most job opportunities will arise. Seven European organisations dedicated to occupational training and employment, including Lanbide – the Basque employment service – are preparing the Replay Vet report. The other partners come from England, Scotland, Germany, Italy, the Czech Republic, and France.

In the case of the Basque Country, the project has focused on the sector dedicated to caring for the elderly. This field is currently generating many jobs and, given the ageing of the population and other factors, it will continue to grow. According to Replay-Vet data, up to 360,000 jobs will be created in the Basque Country by 2030, of which three-quarters will correspond to the replacement of workforces due to ageing.

The other countries involved in this programme focus on other activities, such as metallurgy, construction, manufacturing, transport, logistics, and child care. The results of the project will be published in late 2018 in the form of an online toolkit with recommendations and strategies that will help people with low qualifications to acquire new skills.