Greece to train 500,000 workers in digital, green skills by 2025

Protopsaltis said DYPA's goal was to have certified 500,000 Greeks in digital and green skills by 2025 to improve the country's low rating in European charts related to the development, activation, and matching of skills.

Of the 260,000, 68% were women, 69% chose programs with digital skillsets, 50% were high school graduates, 42% were college graduates, and 58% live outside Attica and western Macedonian regions.

An additional 36,000 citizens have completed programs certified by technology giants DYPA collaborates with, including Microsoft, Cisco, Amazon, Huawei, Coursera and Google, Protopsaltis said, adding that the Service collaborates with municipalities, cooperatives, universities, and corporations for courses.

New and upcoming actions will benefit 131,500 employed and unemployed citizens with green skills, AI training, professional driving skills, security guard skills, and advanced digital skills.

EU VP Schinas

Speaking at the DYPA event, which was titled 'Boosting Greece with Skills for a Sustainable Future', European Commission Vice-President Margaritis Schinas underlined the need to upgrade digital skills throughout Europe, "in all countries and in all sectors" because of international competition to attract talent. "Europe is facing very tough competitors, mainly the United States, Canada, and Australia, countries that have prepared for this effort to attract talents for decades. That is why we need a de-Brusselization of the effort," he said, by having skill training reach regions, islands, mountain areas and those who do not have ready access to labor unions or business owner unions.

Boosting these skills is part of the effort to build Europe's resilience and allow it to "stand on its own two feet firmly," he said.

Also speaking at the event was State Minister Akis Skertsos, who said the Greek economy's development calls for matching labor market needs with workers' skills. "I have changed 9 jobs in 25 years of professional life," Skertsos revealed, as "mobility is an element of the modern knowledge economy, and we must adapt."