London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Sunday, Aug 10, 2025

Job retention schemes are keeping millions in work, what happens once they end?

Job retention schemes are keeping millions in work, what happens once they end?

With the pandemic, lockdowns, climate change and the digital transition, employment in Europe has rarely been so precarious. Job retention schemes are keeping millions in work, but what happens once they end?

In this episode of Real Economy we ask what happens when job retention schemes come to an end in Europe? Job retention schemes have kept millions of people in work during the pandemic and lockdowns. As these emergency measures are gradually phased out, how does Europe ensure there are enough jobs and that people have the right skills for the jobs of the future?



The European Union’s goal emerging from the Pandemic is a ‘strong social Europe’. Its Pillar of Social Rights Action Plan sets out three targets to be achieved by 2030.

At least 78% of adults should be in employment and another 60% should participate in training every year. Also, the number of people at risk of poverty or social exclusion should be reduced by at least 15 million.



European Commissioner for Jobs and Social Rights, Nicolas Schmit, says that companies play a key role in training. "It's up to the companies to retrain, to reskill, to upskill a lot of their staff.

He adds that companies must "reskill those with the lowest level of skill because their jobs are also changing. There is now this idea that 90% of all jobs have some kind of digital component. If you are working in construction, for instance, you have to have some competencies in digital, how to manage when you are in the building area."

Euronews journalist, Naomi Lloyd talking to European Commissioner for Jobs and Social Rights, Nicolas Schmit

Schmit underlined that "the Commission wants to support these strategies at the level of the companies, at the level of regions together with public employment services"

The financial aid behind training and transitioning


The European Commission’s EASE (Providing Effective Active Support to Employment) recommends that countries create new jobs by supporting entrepreneurs and training people in new skills to get jobs in growing sectors such as green and digital.

To help finance this, there is money available from the Recovery Fund and the European Social Fund Plus.

"This is part of the withdrawal of the furlough schemes" says Schmit, adding "we need a new kind or very active labour market policy, and that's the sense of EASE. And we need it for these new transitions, which is also the green transition and the digital one.'

The Pin Project


In Italy's Puglia region, two young entrepreneurs with innovative ideas have been given the chance to start a business with the help of the PIN project which is co-financed by the European Social Fund.

State-of-the-art prosthetic hand


Giovanni is a mechanical engineer. He is just about to launch Adam’s Hand, a mobile bionic hand with an integrated AI system. He received 30 000€ and business support to create this high-tech start-up. He tells us that "the PIN project was fundamental" to his business because it allowed him to obtain the initial funds to purchase his first machines. It's what helped him create the first Adam’s Hand prototypes.

BionIT Labs' Adam's Hand


As well as financial and infrastructural support, the PIN project helped him bring back some qualified workers to the south. That, he says, is "a great source of satisfaction" to him and the team.

Nicolas Schmit believes that giving companies the opportunity to take on new employees, like Giovanni did, is also part of EASE's role when furlough schemes eventually come to an end. According to Schmit, it will help people "to take advantage of the transitions, to support them by skilling, but also in a way, by giving hiring subsidies, if needed, to encourage new companies or other companies just to hire people".

For now, Giovanni employs 20 people and has to keep ahead in a very competitive environment. His sights are also set on the international market which means it may grow in the near future and create further employment.

Eco-packaging


A fairer and more accessible labour market is one of the goals of the European Pillar of Social Rights, which also supports the green transition. This transition and the green sector, in general, are full of opportunities for Laura and her business partners. The three freelance architects returned to their Italian region to bring together agriculture and design.

The PIN project helped them create a company that designs ecological and reusable packaging. They were given help with management skills and the latest ways of working. Laura tells us that it's thanks to the PIN project and thanks to the new tools that it has allowed them to develop, they have been able to immediately talk to customers. This has helped them achieve many goals.

Laura and Business partner working on their eco-packaging


Today they have clients all over Italy.

With a total budget of around 17 million euros, the PIN project has funded more than 500 innovative projects like Giovanni’s and Laura's.

Training for a new era


Every year, the European Social Fund supports 10 million people like Giovanni and Laura.

According to economist Andrea Garnero, upskilling is key to this support. He says that "the kind of skills that will be required from workers and companies will change". They will need to rely more on technologies as working from home becomes more common. "Member states have played a key role in accompanying companies and workers in these transitions, and they need training, reskilling opportunities", he adds.

Andrea Garnero


The EU Social Summit


Europe’s commitment to Social Rights are at the forefront right now with the Social Summit being held in Porto in Portugal starting on the 7th of May. The two-day event will bring together EU leaders, institutions and social partners to discuss some of Europe's biggest challenges, like climate change and the digital transition. These two challenges in turn also affect business opportunities, job creations and training.


Nicolas Schmit says that the summit is coming at a time when "people are anxious, people fear that there will be cuts, there will be a big restructuring". According to him, the summit in itself is a message that the crisis will "not be a crisis of cuts in the social services and the social infrastructures". "We need economic development, but at the same time, we also need social dimensions and cohesion in our societies".

As job retention schemes come to an end, the hope is that Europe with its social initiatives and support will step up to the challenge and keep people in work.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Street justice isn’t pretty but how else do you deal with this kind of insanity? Sometimes someone needs to standup and say something
Armenia and Azerbaijan sign U.S.-brokered accord at White House outlining transit link via southern Armenia
Barcelona Resolves Captaincy Issue with Marc-André ter Stegen
US Justice Department Seeks Release of Epstein and Maxwell Grand Jury Exhibits Amid Legal and Victim Challenges
Trump Urges Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan to Resign Over Alleged Chinese Business Ties
Scotland’s First Minister Meets Trump Amid Visit Highlighting Whisky Tariffs, Gaza Crisis and Heritage Links
Trump Administration Increases Reward for Arrest of Venezuelan President Maduro to Fifty Million Dollars
Armenia and Azerbaijan to Sign US-Brokered Framework Agreement for Nakhchivan Corridor
British Labour Government Utilizes Counter-Terrorism Tools for Social Media Monitoring Against Legitimate Critics
OpenAI Launches GPT‑5, Its Most Advanced AI Model Yet
Embarrassment in Britain: Homelessness Minister Evicted Tenants and Forced to Resign
President Trump nominated Stephen Miran, his top economic adviser and a critic of the Federal Reserve, to temporarily fill an open Fed seat
The AI-Powered Education Revolution: Market Potential and Transformative Impact
Chikungunya Virus Outbreak in Southern China: Over 7,000 Hospitalized
French wine makers have seen catastrophic damage to vines that were almost ready to be harvested after the worst fires in more than 70 years burned through the south of the country
US Lawmaker Probes Intel CEO’s China Ties Amid National Security Concerns
Brazilian President Lula says he’ll contact the leaders of BRICS states to propose a unified response to U.S. tariffs
Trump Open to Meeting Putin as Soon as Next Week, with Possible Trilateral Summit Including Zelenskiy
Katy Perry and Justin Trudeau spark dating rumors, joining high stakes world of celeb-politician romances
US envoy Steve Witkoff arrived in Moscow to seek a breakthrough in the Ukraine war ahead of President Trump’s peace deadline
WhatsApp Deletes 6.8 Million Scam Accounts Amid Rising Global Fraud
Nine people have been hospitalized and dozens of salmonella cases have been reported after an outbreak of infections linked to certain brands of pistachios and pistachio-containing products, according to the Public Health Agency of Canada
Karol Nawrocki Inaugurated as Poland’s President, Setting Stage for Clash with Tusk Government
Trump Signals JD Vance as ‘Most Likely’ MAGA Successor for 2028
US Charges Two Chinese Nationals for Illegal Nvidia AI Chip Exports
Texas Residents Face Water Restrictions While AI Data Centers Consume Millions of Gallons
U.S. Tariff Policy Triggers Market Volatility Amid Growing Global Trade Tensions
Tariffs, AI, and the Shifting U.S. Macro Landscape: Navigating a New Economic Regime
Representative Greene Urges H-1B Visa Cuts Amid U.S.-India Trade Tensions
U.S. House Committee Subpoenas Clintons and Senior Officials in Epstein Investigation
Sydney Sweeney Registered as Republican as Controversial American Eagle Ad Sparks Debate
Trump Accuses Major Banks of Politically Motivated Account Denials and Prepares Executive Order
TikTok Removes Huda Kattan Video Over Anti-Israel Conspiracy Claims
Trump Threatens Tariffs on India Over Russian Oil Imports
German Finance Minister Criticizes Trump’s Attacks on Institutions
U.S. Proposes Visa Bond of Up to $15,000 for Some Applicants
U.S. Farmers Increase Lobbying Amid Immigration Crackdown
Elon Musk Receives $23.7 Billion Tesla Stock Award
Texas House Paralyzed After Democrats Walk Out Over Redistricting
Mexican Cartels Complicate Sheinbaum’s U.S. Security Talks
Mark Zuckerberg Declares War on the iPhone
India Rejects U.S. Tariff Threat, Defends Russian Oil Purchases
United States Establishes Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and Digital Asset Stockpile
Thousands of Private ChatGPT Conversations Accidentally Indexed by Google
China Tightens Mineral Controls, Curtailing Critical Inputs for Western Defence Contractors
OpenAI’s Bold Bet: Teaching AI to Think, Not Just Chat
Tesla Seeks Shareholder Approval for $29 Billion Compensation Package for Elon Musk
Nvidia is cutting prices on its RTX 50-series graphics cards after sales slowed and inventories piled up
Ghislaine Maxwell Transferred to Minimum-Security Prison Amid Ongoing DOJ Discussions
U.S. Tariffs Surge to Highest Levels in Nearly a Century Under Second Trump Term
×