Skills

In brief

Europe’s cement industry’s commitment to achieving carbon neutrality by 2050 will have a profound impact on future workforce profiles and skills.

The transformation of our industry, its attractiveness, and the resulting need for reskilling and upskilling are key priorities we are addressing. In this context, we continue to highlight the role of EU initiatives and funding in strengthening skills development across Europe.

The year 2023, designated as the EU Year of Skills, reflected both the sector’s needs and its shared ambitions. It provided an important opportunity to exchange on current employment challenges, from workforce and skills shortages to language and transport infrastructure, access to funding, and cooperation with academia, authorities, and trade unions.

Building a workforce equipped with the right skills for the sector’s transformation will drive sustainable growth, foster innovation, and enhance competitiveness, all while supporting the aspirations, involvement, and wellbeing of workers. 

EU co-funded project 2023-2025

The European Federation of Building and Woodworkers (EFBWW) and Cement Europe (then CEMBUREAU) deepened their cooperation to develop a pathway towards establishing structures that will ensure a solid social dialogue for the sector at the European level. The objective is to jointly address future challenges and design common strategies for the green and digital transition of the cement sector.

The industrial transformation to a carbon-neutral economy will reshape how cement is produced in the future. New technologies and production processes will be introduced, influencing both production capacity and employment and transforming the skills and qualifications required across the sector.

To respond to this, EFBWW and Cement Europe launched a two-year EU co-funded project on mapping skills needs for 2030–2050 in the cement sector. As part of the “Cement Skills 2030” project, EFBWW and Cement Europe commissioned the German Cement Association (VDZ) to assess the evolving skills landscape in the cement industry.

The study, presented in December 2024 in Brussels, examines how the sector’s decarbonisation pathway will transform job profiles and skills requirements by 2050. It focuses on six case study countries — Belgium, France, Germany, Greece, Poland, and Spain — with input from other Member States on a voluntary basis. Drawing from EU policy developments and technological shifts, the report provided critical insights that led to the formation of a set of joint policy recommendations, which were launched at a hybrid conference on 27 May 2025.