This report presents the findings of deliverable 3.2 of the CirCLER project which examined the European Skills, Competencies and Occupations (ESCO) furniture sector occupations affected by the Circular Economy (CE) transition within the sector. The need stems from the EU furniture sector's response to the Circular Economy and an emerging occupation profile of a Circular Economy Transition Manager (CETM). Skills, Knowledge and Competency (SKCs) skills, gaps and needs of a CETM identified in CirCLER deliverable 3.1 formed the basis for the analysis of the ESCO database. 

The analysis process for this deliverable involved examining the classifications of European Skills, Competencies and Occupations (ESCO) to identify those affected by the sector CE transition. The ESCO database was first published in 2017 and may be used to describe, identify and classify 3,039 professional occupations and skills relevant to the EU labour market (European Commission, 2024). The focus was on ESCO occupations in the furniture sector that require an update of skills, knowledge, and competencies to address the circular transition of companies. 

60 profiles, to ESCO level 5, linked to the furniture industry were identified along with a description and indication of whether the occupation is least, somewhat or most affected by the circular transition of companies affected by the circular transition of companies.

Examples of occupations found to be most affected include Chief Operations Officers (ESCO code: 1120.4), Procurement Department Manager (ESCO code:1213.3), Corporate Social Responsibility Manager (ESCO code: 1219.2), Product Manager (ESCO code: 1223.2), Wood Factory Manager (ESCO code: 1219.5.5) and Industrial Designer (ESCO code: 2163.1). 

The results of this deliverable will support the development of pills that can be recommended to those identified occupational profiles to update their SKCs. Additionally, to support existing occupations working in the EU furniture sector who wish to improve their ability to transition to the CE a skills self-evaluation tool will be developed by CirCLER. It is planned that this tool will enable occupations identified in this deliverable to determine their SKC gaps and to identify suitable CirCLER pills to bridge those gaps. The proposed tool will take the form of an open online tool where professionals will be able to evaluate their level of SKC in the areas of expertise covered by the CirCLER toolkit.

To follow the progress of the project and access the project deliverables, you can subscribe to the project news alert and visit the project website https://circler-furniture.eu

 

Reference

European Commission, 2024, About ESCO, accessed 24th October 2024 from https://esco.ec.europa.eu/en/about-esco