Today we are holding a virtual workshop on the applicability of the ESCO tool in different sectors and productive areas. ESCO is the multilingual European classification of skills, competences, qualifications and occupations that works as a dictionary that identifies, describes, classifies and relates all these elements to improve the functioning of the labour market in the European Union.

This activity is part of the EdeNE 2023/2024 project, promoted by CEOE and has been designed and developed in collaboration with ILO/Cinterfor, in the framework of the 2023 cooperation agreement that Cinterfor has with the SENA of Colombia to promote the participation of its staff.

The first part of the workshop was aimed at presenting ESCO, what it is, why it is necessary, how it can be used, how updates are carried out, among other aspects.

ESCO currently provides descriptions of 3,008 occupations and 13,890 skills and competences in 27 official languages; its virtuality is to support labour mobility at European level to build a more integrated and efficient labour market by providing a "common language" on occupations, competences and qualifications that can be used by different operators in employment, education and training. It can be seen as a European response to the challenges of a labour market that requires people to change jobs and employers more frequently than in the past, to adapt to new occupations and qualifications and to the need for increased geographical and occupational mobility. Companies and education and training providers need clear and up-to-date information on skills and qualifications to better manage talent and address skills gaps in the labour market with more appropriate education and training programmes. ESCO also enables adaptation to online talent platforms, the use of job boards and social networking sites that are transforming the way job search and recruitment is conducted by employers. Employers and jobseekers are increasingly using digital tools to post and apply for job vacancies or to search for and offer training opportunities. The use of ESCO can also facilitate the transition to this ever-growing digital labour market by providing a common "language" on occupations, skills, education and training resources that makes digital tools communicate and deliver better results, using concepts and terminology adapted for electronic systems.

Subsequently, several practical experiences of implementation were shared: ESCO in the Public Employment Services; the ESSA Project and partnerships for sectoral competences in the steel sector; the improvement of public services to enterprises from a pilot project in the energy sector and the analysis of competence needs in the metal sector in Spain.

Finally, Fernando Vargas from ILO/Cinterfor presented the relevance of ESCO as a reference for training at regional level.

The workshop was attended by more than 150 people from Spain and from several training and certification institutions in Latin America, members of the ILO/Cinterfor network, who expressed their interest in further deepening and learning about this tool.