The circular economy represents an opportunity to address labor market imbalances and threats. Circular economy policies are expected to help reduce environmental impacts while generating higher levels of employment. Moving towards a more circular economy, GDP in the EU is projected to increase by almost 0.5% by 2030. According to the Cambridge Econometrics, Trinomics, and ICF (2018) report, the net increase in estimated occupations will be approximately 700,000.
In the coming years, the sectors that produce and process raw materials will decrease in size, while the sectors of waste management, recycling and repair will experience additional growth.
If a sustainable circular economy is to be implemented, the quality of such work is paramount to its success, improving that quality by improving workers’ skills, including environmental and health, and safety skills.
