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Piloting a Skills Guarantee for Workers in Transition

Closing: 17 February 2026 17:00:00 CET (extended)

The European Commission and the European Competence Centre for Social Innovation launched a new transnational Call: ‘Piloting a Skills Guarantee for Workers in Transition’ under the European Social Fund+ Social Innovation+ initiative. 

The Call, which aims to pilot a Skills Guarantee, is published in the context of the European Commission’s recently launched Skills Guarantee tool to support workers and businesses and tackle labour shortages in strategic and growing sectors. A flagship initiative under the Union of Skills, the Skills Guarantee will help support strategic sectors in line with the European Competitiveness Fund.  

This Call will pilot a job-to-job transition scheme that supports smoother and more effective job transitions for workers in the automotive sector and related supply chains who are at risk of unemployment. It will test how to improve the transition of workers from these sectors into new employment and develop the skills needed in strategic and growing sectors. The pilot will shape a fully-fledged Skills Guarantee scheme, which is set to be implemented under the EU’s future long-term budget (2028-2034).

With an overall Call budget of EUR 14.5 million, it will fund transnational projects that test different delivery mechanisms for supporting workers in transition – especially public–private cooperation models. Projects should involve relevant local, regional, and national partners and public authorities to ensure alignment with each country’s specific strategies and context. 

Applicants are expected to demonstrate a focus on achieving the desired outcomes by specifically targeting the following areas: securing employment for a minimum period of six months through smoother and more effective job transitions of workers into strategic and growing sectors, and ensuring the sustainability of employment for the target group of workers in these sectors by equipping them with the skills required. 

The funded initiatives are expected to develop partnerships between various public and private stakeholders and to pilot one of the following three distinct delivery mechanisms for the proposed intervention:

  1. Social-partner-led or private-sector-led mechanism.
  2. Public-Employment-Service-led or other public-authority-led mechanism.
  3. Public-private partnership.

Each project may propose activities under one delivery mechanism only. Regardless of the selected mechanism, each project consortium must include at least one national or regional public authority to ensure institutional alignment, policy coherence, and sustainability of results. 

Activities that can be funded may include, but are not limited to: 

Grants will range from EUR 2,500,000 to EUR 3,000,000, covering up to 80% of eligible costs per project, with a required 20% co-funding. Projects should last up to 24 months and demonstrate the ability to achieve the desired, measurable outcomes provided in the Skills Guarantee Scheme. 

Consortia applications are required and must include at least three entities participating in the consortium. They must meet both transnational and national requirements. The transnational requirement specifies that the consortium must include a coordinator established in the European Union and at least one co-applicant from an eligible country other than that of the coordinator. The national requirement specifies that the consortium must include at least one public authority, either as applicant, co-applicant or associated partner. 

Eligibility extends to a broad spectrum of entities, including national, regional, and local public authorities – such as relevant ministries  – public employment services (PES), job centres, and private employment agencies; companies; social partners and representative bodies linked to the labour market; education and training (VET) institutions; bodies responsible for skills validation; lifelong learning and research centres or associations; service providers linked to lifelong learning; local community centres and hubs; non-governmental organisations; as well as public and private funders. 

The Social Innovation Match (SIM) is a platform where you can explore inspirational examples of successful social innovation initiatives and connect with future partners. For those seeking potential transnational partners, SIM offers the opportunity to identify organisations whose work can inspire and contribute to collaborative efforts across the European Union. 

The Call opens on 27 November 2025 and closes at 5.00 PM CET on 29 January 2026.

An online training session for applicants will be held on 16 December 2025. 

For further details and application materials, visit the official call page here.