Health: JRC, “European society is aging. Labour mobility could meet the demand for healthcare workforce”. 11 million jobs by 2030

A report published today by the Joint Research Centre (JRC) of the EU Commission states that the healthcare and long-term care workforce of the European Union will have to increase by 11 million workers between 2018 and 2030, “to meet the demand of an aging society”. A large part of such demand is met by education and in-house training, “while migration and mobility within the European Union play an increasing important role”. In 2018, in the EU there were nearly two million healthcare and long-term care professionals working in a country that was not their native one. The JRC report recommends “that current labour migration channels be completed by more specific considerations for healthcare and long-term care systems, while still complying with the WHO Global Code of Practice”. This could “boost mobility flows, which would benefit origin and destination countries alike”. In addition, it would make it easier to recognise the qualifications and fully deploy the migrant workers’ skills in the European Union. The deputy president of the EU Commission, Dubravka Šuica, stated: “Europa is an aging continent and, even if a longer life expectancy and living healthier and longer are first and foremost a result, we must get ready to an increasing demand for long-term care. Our common challenge will be providing accessible, inexpensive and quality care as well as an adequate workforce”.
Valentina Bombelli