Welcome to the inaugural Sedefob podcast.

We've been thinking of starting a podcast for some time to discuss all matters SEDEFOP,

our research findings, our events, anything of interest

related to vocational education and training, skills and qualifications for the ever-changing

labor market. The time has finally come. And what better guess to launch this series

than the person responsible for the European Union's policy on all these matters,

the European Commissioner for Jobs and Social Rights, Nicholas Schmidt.

Mr. Schmidt, welcome to Sedefup and thank you for being our first podcast guest.

It's a pleasure.

You have finally had the chance to visit SEDEF for following the problems in travel

created by the coronavirus pandemic.

And I know you wanted to do that for a while now.

So how important is it to have this face-to-face interaction with the management and staff of one of the

agencies in your portfolio? Well, I think this commission is very much focused on education,

skills, vocational training, and therefore the agency is of great importance for our work.

And because we are in a period also of tremendous changes in the economy, in the labor market, in society.

And certainly we know that the solutions for people to this transformation, to improve their conditions in this transformation,

is learning, is improving their skills, being reskilled, being upskilled,

lifelong learning, all these issues are at the heart of our work.

And you mentioned my title, jobs.

This is the way to good jobs, quality jobs, but it is also a right of people to be trained.

And this is principle number one of the social pillar, by the way.

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