How will a future workspace affect the training process?

In the future workspace the way work is done will be different. Other skills are required from both employees and managers. Examples of these changes are:

• Changing work organisations that demand new skills
• Increasing proportion of the workforce in service sector
• Increasing knowledge intensity in products
• Role of enterprises as training providers

Creating knowledge in organisations is a dynamic process that is required for organisations to stay competitive. But also from an employee perspective, lifelong learning is becoming a prerequisite to stay attractive in the labour market. These developments should help to overcome social barriers instead of creating them.

A demographical development in Europe is that the proportion of older people is increasing. Young and skilled people are becoming a scarce source. To challenge this trend people should become more employable and entrepreneurial by encouraging them to continue learning. They should also be guided in continuous training and education during a longer and more active life-span.

Also developments in the migration flows should be taken into account. Nowadays they're more varied, and thus education and training systems has to cope with a diversified and mulitlingiual public.

New education and training systems will have to adapt to these changes. The Ministers of Education (on an European level) have set strategic objectives for the coming 10 years, to overcome these challenges. 1 Increasing the quality and effectiveness of education and training systems in the European Union 2 Facilitating the access of all the education and training systems 3 Opening up education and training systems to the wider world

To achieve these objectives the EU has set different actions.

Objective 1

• Improving education and training for teachers and trainers
• Developing skills for the knowledge society
• Ensuring access to ICTs for everyone
• Increasing the recruitment to scientific and technical studies
• Making the best use of resources

Objective 2

• Open learning environment
• Making learning more attractive
• Supporting active citizenship, equal opportunities and social cohesion

Objective 3

• Strengthening the links with working life and research, and society at large
• Developing the spirit of enterprise
• Improving foreign language learning
• Increasing mobility and exchanges
• Strengthening European co-operation

Reference:
http://europa.eu.int/comm/education/policies/2010/et_2010_en.html