World Youth Skills Day on 15 July is a timely reminder of the need to equip everyone - including young people – with the skills they need to access and thrive in on the labour market. Both government and private sector have a key role to play in tackling the digital skills gap. As part of a holistic investment in the future of work, IBM SkillsBuild, a free education programme, is changing this status quo, by incentivising a skills-first approach and fostering diversity and inclusion. This programme has helped 1.72 million registered participants globally gain valuable new skills and access new career opportunities. Many of these participants come from some of the very populations that are underrepresented in technology today: girls, women, disadvantaged communities and refugees. Learn more about this and other stories of American companies’ commitment to the communities they interact with and the places they call home on Invested in Europe.
Invested in Europe: How IBM is bridging the digital skills gap
World Youth Skills Day on 15 July is a timely reminder of the need to equip everyone - including young people – with the skills they need to access and thrive in on the labour market. Both government and private sector have a key role to play in tackling the digital skills gap. As part of a holistic investment in the future of work, IBM SkillsBuild, a free education programme, is changing this status quo, by incentivising a skills-first approach and fostering diversity and inclusion. This programme has helped 1.72 million registered participants globally gain valuable new skills and access new career opportunities. Many of these participants come from some of the very populations that are underrepresented in technology today: girls, women, disadvantaged communities and refugees. Learn more about this and other stories of American companies’ commitment to the communities they interact with and the places they call home on Invested in Europe.
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AmCham EU joins International Women’s Day discussion on digital resilience
On 9 March, AmCham EU participated in Women of Impact 2026 – Spark the Future, an International Women’s Day event hosted by Cisco Belgium in Diegem. The event highlighted the importance of empowering women across sectors and generations while fostering dialogue on leadership, inclusion and the skills needed to navigate rapid technological change. It brought together business leaders, academics and students to exchange perspectives on how organisations can build more inclusive and resilient workplaces.
Roberta Brumana, Outreach Director, AmCham EU, joined the panel on Building your digital resilience – skills for a changing world. She highlighted that digital resilience requires organisations to anticipate and adapt to technological disruption while investing in workforce skills. The discussion also emphasised the importance of collaboration between business, policymakers and education providers to accelerate reskilling and ensure workers are equipped for the digital economy.
The panel also featured comments from Silvia Caneva, Senior Public Policy Manager, Workday; Claudia Toma, Professor of Social Psychology and Organizational Behavior, Solvay Business School; and Pastora Valero, Senior Vice-Present, Government Affairs, EMEA & APJC, Cisco. The discussion was moderated by Aurelia Takacs of Cisco.
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Closing the skills gap to restore Europe’s competitiveness
On Tuesday, 24 February, AmCham EU hosted Stefan Olsson, Deputy Director-General, Jobs, Skills and Social Policies, Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion, European Commission to discuss how closing the skills gap can strengthen Europe’s competitiveness. As shortages across sectors continue to affect productivity, investment and innovation, participants reflected on progress one year after the launch of the Union of Skills and the importance of sustained public-private cooperation. The discussion explored how Europe can build a future-ready workforce to support the green and digital transitions while addressing labour market mismatches. Aurelia Takacs (Cisco), Chair, Social Impact, Inclusion and Skills Committee, AmCham EU moderated the discussion and examined practical policy solutions to strengthen skills development, improve labour market alignment and support inclusive economic growth.
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STEMming the skills gap
By 2035, high-tech roles will make up a significant share of employment across the EU, yet many young people still lack the digital skills needed to succeed. Amazon is helping bridge this gap through initiatives in Poland and Spain. In Warsaw, the company supports STEM Kindloteka, a modern hub offering young people free, interactive workshops in coding, robotics and virtual reality. In Spain, Amazon is working with the Ministry of Education, Vocational Training and Sports to train 500,000 students in digital and technological skills by 2027. These efforts strengthen Europe’s talent pipeline and support long-term competitiveness. Learn more about Amazon’s commitment to digital skills development on Invested in Europe.
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