Europe’s Energy Intensive Industries
Energy-intensive industries (EIIs) encompass a range of industrial sectors characterised by high energy consumption and significant exposure to energy and carbon costs, including chemicals, steel, cement, glass, ceramics, pulp and paper, aluminium and other non-ferrous metals. These industries are of strategic importance to the European economy, providing employment for approximately 7.8 million people and generating around EUR 549 billion in value added, equivalent to 4.55% of total EU value added.[1] At the same time, EIIs account for more than half of the energy consumption of EU and their high energy dependency, combined with the carbon intensity of many of their production processes, places them at the centre of the European Union’s decarbonisation and green transition efforts.
Given the large share of the workforce employed in energy-intensive industries (EIIs), ensuring that workers are adequately equipped to navigate the green transition is a critical policy priority. The transformation of EII production processes is expected to alter existing occupational profiles, generate demand for new skills (e.g. green skills), and in some cases, lead to the restructuring or displacement of jobs. Consequently, upskilling and reskilling the existing workforce, alongside proactive job-to-job transition planning for workers whose occupations and tasks are likely to change, become increasingly important for ensuring a fair and well-managed industrial transition.
However, supporting workers through the green transition requires more than the provision of new skills and employment opportunities. The capacity of social protection and social inclusion systems to cushion the social and economic effects of labour market restructuring is equally important. The European Commission recommends that social protection and social inclusion systems be assessed and, where necessary, adapted in response to the green transition, particularly to provide income security during job-to-job transitions and ensure access to adequate social, health and care services. Particular attention should be given to territories and communities most affected by the transition in order to prevent social exclusion and address associated health and social risks.[2] The European Commission has explicitly recognised these challenges, noting that the transition to climate neutrality will create new types of jobs while transforming existing ones, thereby requiring workers to acquire skills that they do not currently possess. In the context of EIIs, the Commission has therefore emphasised the importance of reskilling and upskilling, as well as measures to support workers and communities affected by industrial transformation.[3]
What is Transition Pathways?
European Comission has identified key strategic priorities to accelerate the twin transition of European EII as those identified in the “Masterplan for a Competitive Transformation of EU Energy-intensive Industries Enabling a Climate-neutral, Circular Economy by 2050”. Transition Pathways aims to strengthen EII by integrating green and digital transformations. The Blueprint for Transition includes several components, including skills, infrastructure, research, and innovation.[4]
Furthermore, sector-specific Transition Pathways developed by the European Commission for energy-intensive industries. The Transition Pathway for the Chemical Industry[5] and the Transition Pathway for the European Metals Sectors [6] translate the objectives of the green and digital transition into concrete sectoral actions, explicitly incorporating skills and the social dimension alongside investment, innovation, infrastructure and competitiveness.
The Chemical Industry Transition Pathway includes dedicated actions on education and the reskilling and upskilling of the workforce, while also addressing the impact of the transition on workers and consumers. The Metals Transition Pathway likewise emphasises skills development, social dialogue and measures to facilitate job-to-job transitions through targeted reskilling and placement services. This sector-specific approach highlights that the transition of EIIs requires not only technological and environmental transformation, but also a people-centred approach to workforce adaptation, ensuring that workers are equipped with the skills and support needed to navigate changing occupations and employment opportunities.
Where is the Skills Gap?
Driven by the twin transition, which demand technology-enabling metals, the EU materials sector is growing, generating a net total of 1.2 million new jobs in the coming decades. This growth highlights the need to equip workers with the new and evolving skills required by the twin transition. Strengthening skills development, reskilling and upskilling will be essential to address emerging labour market needs, support job-to-job transitions and ensure that workers can adapt to changing technologies, production processes and new working methodologies. According to the transition pathway for the European metals sectors Some of the important skills are as follows:
Digitalisation and automation skills needed for the transformation of mining and metals production and equipment.
Technical and transversal (T-shaped) skills to enable workers to adapt to new technologies, requirements and working methods.
Reskilling and upskilling to support job-to-job transitions resulting from the green and digital transition.
Lifelong learning and on-the-job training to continuously update workers’ competences.
Advanced technology and digital skills, including skills related to digitalisation, automation and robotics.
VET and industry-relevant skills, requiring stronger cooperation between companies, VET providers, social partners and policymakers.
Skills for emerging needs, including sustainability, health and safety, environmental management, as well as skills required for permitting and investment decisions.
The European Commission’s Transition Pathway for the Chemical Industry identifies skills as a key building block of the sector’s transformation and highlights the need for continued reskilling and upskilling of the workforce. In particular, the sector requires stronger competences in safe and sustainable chemicals and materials, resource and energy efficiency, circular economy and alternative feedstocks, alongside digital capabilities related to artificial intelligence, cloud computing, robotics, the Internet of Things and data-driven production.
Given the broad scope of energy-intensive industries (EEIs) and their contribution to the overall economy, addressing the skills gaps in these sectors is of critical importance. Indeed, a recent study conducted by Skills4EII one of the key EU projects addressing the transformation of EEIs, highlights several important findings regarding the skills needs and challenges faced by EIIs survey:[7]
Specific training programmes are largely lacking (57% in EE, 74% in IS). Middle and high-level skills need to be updated, particularly:
Specific job-related technical/professional skills
Transversal skills (e.g. digital, green and personal skills)
Management skills
There are also difficulties in filling vacant jobs, with 72% reporting that this is (very) difficult. These findings point to the need for stronger and more structured links between education, training and industry in EEIs. Despite the high skills needs, dedicated training programmes remain limited, with existing provision often relying on non-formal or unstructured training. As EEIs undergo rapid digital and green transformation, this gap can make it difficult for workers to acquire the technical, transversal and management skills required for emerging occupations and technologies.
Closer cooperation between VET providers, companies and other sectoral stakeholders can therefore support flexible learning pathways, company-based training, structured placements, apprenticeships and industry-led practical projects, while ensuring that curricula and training provision remain responsive to changing occupational needs. Such an industry-connected skills ecosystem can help reduce skills mismatches, strengthen recruitment and upskilling, and support the digital and green transformation of EEIs.
[1] Antonius Schröder (2026), Building Skills Alliances for the Energy Intensive Industries Transformation, https://www.h4c-community.eu/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Pres_H4C_Schroder-short.pdf
[2] High-Level Expert Group on Energy-Intensive Industries. (2019). Masterplan for a competitive transformation of EU energy-intensive industries: Enabling a climate-neutral, circular economy by 2050. European Commission.
[3] European Commission. (2023). Transition pathway for the chemical industry. Directorate-General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs.
[4] European Commission, Directorate-General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs. (2025). Transition pathway for the European metals sectors. Publications Office of the European Union.
[5] European Economic and Social Committee (2024). Opinion on the European Commission communication on the transition pathway for the energy-intensive industries. Official Journal of the European Union, C/2024/1566.
[6] European Commission. (2021). Proposal for a Council Recommendation on ensuring a fair transition towards climate neutrality. COM (2021) 801 final, 2021/0421(NLE), Brussels, 14 December 2021.
[7] European Commission (2021). Commissioners Schmit and Breton hosted Pact for Skills roundtable with energy-intensive industry stakeholders, 8 June 2021.
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