Work is changing fast, and residents of European cities are feeling the effects directly. Across neighbourhoods, similar pressures surface again and again: parents unable to take up a job without access to childcare, workers whose wages no longer cover basic costs, young people trying to access labour markets, or older adults needing to retrain as their jobs evolve or disappear.
These realities shaped discussions at the Eurocities Social Affairs Forum 2026 in Gijón, where city leaders, EU representatives and experts came together to reflect on skills, employment and job quality across generations. The discussion comes at a decisive moment for Europe’s social agenda, with negotiations on the next Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF), the Union of Skills, the future Quality Jobs Act, the recently published anti-poverty strategy, and the implementation of the European Pillar of Social Rights.
“Quality employment and social inclusion cannot be two separate goals,” said Angela Ángela Pumariega, Vice‑Mayor of Gijón, to open the Forum. She pointed to situations cities encounter every day, highlighting how access to work is closely tied to care responsibilities, education pathways and living conditions.
For Myriam Bencharaa, Vice‑President of Lyon Metropole and Chair of the Forum, this close connection explains why cities must be central to Europe’s social agenda. “How can our cities shape a future of work where no generation and no talent is left behind; to be more inclusive, sustainable and family friendly, and to be more efficient?” As she reminded participants, “when we talk about jobs and skills, we talk about issues that affect every citizen.” Employment and skills policies, she argued, only make sense when they reflect people’s lived realities and local contexts.
“Cities are not part of the solution, they are the solution”
This strong local dimension was reinforced by Susana Solís Pérez, Member of the European Parliament, whose keynote focused on the Union of Skills and the role of local governments in delivering real change. “Skills have become a decisive factor of competitiveness,” she said.
Europe faces shortages in key sectors such as digital, energy and industry, while demographic ageing and the pace of technological change are exposing the limits of current education and training systems.But the real challenge, she argued, is implementation.
“This transformation does not happen in policies, it happens in places. In local labour markets. In companies. In communities.” Her message to cities was clear: “If we want the Union of Skills to deliver, it must be anchored at local level.”
Skills systems must be local, flexible and lifelong
While it’s clear that labour market change is playing out locally, it does not happen in an even manner. Cities have to navigate overlapping shifts, such as the impact of artificial intelligence, the green and digital transitions, an ageing workforce; all of which affect sectors, neighbourhoods and groups in different ways.
“These trends are not only happening at the same time,” explained Lukas Kleine-Rueschkamp, Head of Local Employment and Skills Unit at the OECD, “they are compounding each other.” Exposure to AI is higher in urban economies with a strong concentration of knowledge‑based jobs, while the green transition is creating opportunities in some places and pressure in others. At the same time, ageing populations are tightening local labour markets, intensifying skills shortages and increasing demand for care‑related professions. These differences make place‑based responses essential.
Cities respond by adapting training provision to actual labour demand, working closely with employers and acting earlier to support people before they fall out of the labour market
Quality jobs require more than employment policy
Definitions of job quality often focus on contracts and wages. Cities acknowledge their importance, while pointing to a broader reality: people’s ability to take up and stay in work depends on the conditions surrounding employment.
This applies especially to young people entering the labour market. “Traineeships must be a genuine stepping stone into the labour market and not a trap of precariousness,” said Alicia Homs, Member of the European Parliament. With more than three million trainees across Europe every year, she warned that “unpaid or low‑quality traineeships are not an opportunity. They are a barrier.”
Cities described how job quality is shaped through everyday systems: affordable early‑childhood education enabling parents to work, access to training letting people adapt as jobs change, and social and care services supporting transitions between education, employment and periods of care or ill‑health. Where these systems are aligned, participation in the labour market becomes more stable; where they are fragmented, people fall through gaps even when jobs exist.
Job quality also depends on joining up local systems. “Services work on one side, social services on another, and skills on the third,” highlighted Guzmán Pendás Molina, Deputy Mayor of Social Affairs, Housing and Cooperation in Gijon. “But people don’t live in separate boxes. Teams need to learn how to work together. And this should be the standard, not the exception.”
At the same time, cities can play a decisive role by requiring companies participating in public tenders to respect collective agreements and labour standards. Ignacio Doreste, Senior Advisor at the European Trade Union Confederation, stressed that job quality must also be protected in practice. “Public funding should not be used to support precarious employment,” he said, pointing to cities’ role in setting standards through public procurement. Requiring respect for collective agreements and fair working conditions remains one of the strongest levers cities have to raise job quality locally.
Cities know where exclusion happens
Cities also see inequalities that national averages often conceal. “What is applied nationally does not always match what cities face. In Flanders, one in ten children live in poverty; in Ghent, it is one in four,” explained Lieve de Bosscher, Director of Chidcare Services in Ghent.
Pockets of poverty sit alongside growth and opportunity, sometimes only a few kilometres apart. These divides affect specific groups over time: single parents, especially women, newcomers, and people far from the labour market. Barriers linked to care, housing, health, skills recognition and income security tend to overlap, and they play out locally.
Cities’ advantage lies in detailed knowledge of neighbourhoods and communities. They know where exclusion concentrates and which barriers prevent people from accessing work. This allows for approaches that link employment with health, housing, education and social support, often through trusted local services.
In practice, cities are dealing with national challenges at a higher intensity and with greater complexity. Place‑based, integrated approaches were repeatedly identified as the most effective way to address urban inequality and make inclusion visible in everyday life.
In London, the Inclusive Talent Strategy is designed to create 150,000 good jobs over the next decade while ensuring access for those furthest from the labour market. “We didn’t want it just to be those that have the skills and are close to the labour market, but also those underrepresented,” explained Ann-Marie Soyinka, Assistant Director for Skills and Employment Policy in the City of London. “We want to build pathways into the jobs we want to create.”
Employer-led sector boards, partnerships with housing associations and health services, and targeted support for NEETs (Not in Employment, Education, or Training) and homeless people are helping build more inclusive pathways into work.
A Social Europe is built in cities
Looking ahead, cities were clear about what they expect from Europe: a real voice in shaping policies, not just a delivery role once decisions are taken.
Initiatives such as the Union of Skills and the upcoming Quality Jobs Act will only succeed if they reflect how labour markets function locally, across sectors, neighbourhoods and social groups. Cities highlighted the need for flexibility, which allows responses tailored to local economies rather than one‑size‑fits‑all frameworks.
Funding is central to this message. Long‑term, predictable EU funding is essential for building integrated systems that link employment, skills, childcare and social services. Short‑term or fragmented funding undermines continuity and makes it harder to sustain trust and results.
“These challenges, such as those facing single parents with work-life balance, bringing young people into work, or the need to retrain workers whose skills are no longer enough, are not the problem of a single city,” said Pendás Molina. “These are European problems that need European solutions, European solutions that need to be built together with cities, through a common framework”. And cities are the only ones that can make sure this framework leads to real change on the ground.
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The Social Affairs Forum 2026 took place in Gijón, Spain, on 5-7 May, under the title ‘Bridging generations: Cities driving inclusive work and skills for all.’ This article summarises the plenary discussions that took place during the Forum. All pictures of the event can be found here.
