CEA and CaixaBank Dualiza, together with the CEOE Foundation, analyse the professional profiles of the future in a conference on vocational training

• The future will require hybrid profiles with broader generic knowledge, more specialization and greater responsibility when it comes to making decisions.
• The production model will change due to the impact of Digitalization and the development of Sustainability.
• According to the observatory fp.com, more than 144,000 job opportunities will be generated this year in Andalusia, of which more than 33,000 will be for VET learners.
• In Andalusia, the percentage of students enrolled in Dual VET over the total number of VET students exceeds the national average.

The Confederation of Employers of Andalusia (CEA) and CaixaBank Dualiza recently organized the conference “Changes in professional profiles and training needs in Andalusia. Perspective 2030”, during which there were discussions on the evolution that some of the main sectors of the region’s economy will undergo and how this will affect workers in the market now or joining in the coming years. According to www.observatoriofp.com, 144,113 job opportunities will be created this year in Andalusia alone, of which 33,595 will be for vocational training graduates.

As for the Dual Vocational Training (VET) model, which will be the prevailing one in the coming years, in Andalusia the percentage of students enrolled in Dual VET over the total number of VET students is 5.1%, 1.3 points higher than the national average, which stands at 3.8%, according to the Observatory.

The conference is named after a study carried out by CaixaBank Dualiza in collaboration with Fundación CEOE. It suggests a future marked by the evolution of current professions rather than the emergence of new ones; a future in which the production model will change the relationship between people and their jobs through the impact of digitalization on how work is organized, and by the arrival of hybrid profiles, with broader generic knowledge, more specialization, greater ability to manage specialized information and greater responsibility when it comes to making decisions.

This new model will replace the previous one, an industrial model based on qualification. However, it will take time for it to become institutionalized, we are just witnessing the beginning now and it will not be fully established until the medium term.

One of its main characteristics will be a tendency to intellectualize work, meaning that more and more competencies related to mental procedures for analysis, planning and decision-making will be required; in other words,what we refer to as soft skills.

The territorial director of CaixaBank in Andalusia, Juan Ignacio Zafra, stressed the importance of this type of study focused on “looking to the future to analyselabour market trends, the types of profiles that companies will demand and how we could anticipate those needs”.

Zafra recalled that, to do so, “training and hard work will be essential, two pillars that are part of the intrinsic values that our entity, CaixaBank, fosters through its own activity and by promoting projects such as Dualiza.  We are convinced of its usefulness to improve social cohesion”.

Meanwhile, the president of CEA, Javier González de Lara, stressed “the conviction among Andalusian businessmen that Andalusia’s productivity and competitiveness begins with the training of the young people of Andalusia.  Our economy’s drive, in the long-term, begins in the classroom and in the tools with which we endow the new generations”.

In this regard, and given the 36% youth unemployment rate in Andalusia, Gonzalez de Lara said: “Our land is full of talent. Let’s train our young people for the new challenges and let’s find the formula for success, which consists of joining public and private efforts: robotics, renewable energies, Artificial Intelligence, and data analysis… These are fields in which Andalusian companies need to build new, reskilled teams”.

Likewise, the president of the CEOE Foundation, Fátima Báñez, stressed the importance for companies of studies such as the one presented today, as they allow them to understand the state of their main tool for competing: talent. “Companies are a fundamental institution in Spanish society in general, and in Andalusia in particular. They are part of the solution now and for the future: 8 out of 10 jobs originate in companies and they create 50% of social wealth each year. To take them into account is to contribute to the welfare of society”, she pointed out.

In turn, the director of CaixaBank Dualiza, Paula San Luis, stressed “the need to continue promoting knowledge in order to provide appropriate data to make decision-making easier, not only for those who have some responsibility in training fields, but also for those who are choosing their educational path right now”.

Andalusian sectors

The researcher Oriol Homs and the head of Caixabank Dualiza’s Knowledge and Innovation centre, Monica Moso, have also addressed some of the trends that will mark the most relevant industries in the Andalusian economy.

The industrial sector will be affected by the general ageing of the employed population (baby-boom generation), as well as by the need for a higher qualification of workers. The lack of intermediate-VET-qualified professionals will pose a problem for the replacement of the workforce.

Something similar will happen in the agri-food sector where, in spite of the clear progress towards a more highly qualified workforce, there is still an excessive proportion of workers who do not have any qualifications related to their professional duties. This contrasts sharply with the use of over-qualified labour in different jobs, which generates an imbalance between the different training levels entering the labour market.

In the technology sector, the challenge will be to reverse a trend marked by the male-dominated nature of its professions and a reduced presence of young people.

Challenges ahead

In order to face the challenges ahead, the study raises a series of considerations that would contribute to training a greater number of VET learners and equipping them with the skills required by the labour market. The most urgent, in fact, is to provide the market with a greater number of VET-qualified professionals, since it would be necessary to practically double the current number of VET graduatesto reach European rates. This would not require any major investment, all that would be needed would be to improve drop-out rates.

Furthermore, pending challenges such as the introduction of a digital method in all VET courses or requiring a minimum level of English as a qualification requirement should also be analysed. The new scenario will also require training in soft skills and the introduction of sustainability in curricula.

CaixaBank Dualiza

CaixaBank Dualiza is the commitment of the CaixaBank Dual Training Foundation to promote and expand Vocational Training, as well as to advocate forthe fundamental role that this type of training must play in the future of our society.

Only through more training can we achieve a more cohesive society with fewer inequalities.

To this end, CaixaBankDualiza backs the demands of teachers and schools and works with companies to train future professionals and improve their employability.

Since its inception, almost 26,000 students, 2,800 companies and 1,700 schools have benefited from its activity.

CEA, serving Andalusia through companies

CEA, the leading business association in Andalusia with more than 180,000 companies and 750 territorial and sectoral organisations represented, operates to serve the region by working with companies, SMEs and the self-employed as levers for development and job creation. Its permanent communication with society and, specifically, with the Administration, allows it to convey and defend the needs of the productive fabric and the people who do business on a daily basis. Thus, its commitment to social progress translates into actions such as the Andalusian Roundtables for Dual VET, which it is currently developing together with the Andalusian Regional Government, or the “Transformando Futuro”, a programme run in conjunction with the La Caixa Foundation and aimed at helping Andalusians over the age of 45 to re-enter the labour market.