Future Skills & Work-life

We firmly believe in the right to continuing professional development for everyone. This ensures a workforce that can acquire and maintain the skills they need to stay on the job market. 

A healthy work-life balance is as crucial as competencies. It helps keep the workforce motivated and productive, laying the foundation for sustainable success.  

The role of engineers and STEM professionals

The green and digital transition in the Nordic region hinges on upskilling our existing workforce. With the number of engineers already in employment far exceeding the output of new students, investing in the reskilling of the existing workforce will have an immediate and significant impact.  

Engineers and STEM professionals can now work practically anywhere and at any time. This increased flexibility creates new opportunities for work-life balance, but it also poses challenges and risks to the well-being and health of employees, that require actions from employers, unions, and legislators. 

ANE’s approach  

We are actively engaged in policy influencing at both the Nordic and EU levels. Our future-focused priorities include:  

• Establishing a Nordic Forum to identify and address the STEM skills gap and promote cross-border collaboration.  
• Enhancing the education system to produce more specialists in STEM fields. 
• Boosting STEM education in primary and secondary schools to make it more appealing to younger generations.  
• Supporting and incentivizing lifelong learning opportunities. We advocate for the removal of legislative barriers that hinder the development of flexible and agile lifelong learning offerings. 
• Mitigating the risks associated with limitless work by shifting the responsibility from employees to employers, unions and legislators.  

Any work that ANE undertakes will always consider the impact on equality, diversity, and sustainability. We have a special focus on creating better conditions for women and young people to succeed in STEM careers.

Latest reports

Beyond STEM: A New North Star for European Competitiveness

This paper challenges the traditional STEM narrative and urges policy makers to rethink how we develop technical talent in Europe. It highlights the need for a capability-centred approach—aligning education, industrial policy, and lifelong learning to build the specific skills needed for strategic sectors.

Reclaiming Europe’s Edge: Competitiveness through STEM Talent

ANE presents a detailed analysis of the STEM skills shortage and its impact on Europe’s global standing. This is the first time such an in-depth examination of the role of STEM talent in enhancing Europe’s competitiveness has been conducted.

Competences for a Sustainable Future

This report provides an overview of the future need for STEM and engineering skills in the transition to and during a circular economy. The benefits of transitioning to a circular economy outweigh the disadvantages. However, more efforts are needed to move from conceptualisation to implementation. 

Boosting the digital transition through lifelong learning

Ensuring relevant lifelong learning provision is a hard nut to crack, but now more than ever, it is seen as the key to adapt to restructuring and changing our societies.

This paper outlines different initiatives that support lifelong learning based on strategic partnership, namely different types of cooperation, engagement and communication with target groups, provision modes, as well as pedagogical and financial models. 

Download paper