Bridging the Skills Gap in European Retail: Insights from the Skills4Retail Deloitte Interview

As the retail sector undergoes rapid digital and structural transformation, the need for adaptable, future-ready skills has never been greater. To explore how these challenges can be addressed, representatives from the Skills4Retail project recently took part in an interview with Deloitte for the “Social Prerogative and Specific Competencies Line (SOCPL): Access to Skills Study”, a research project conducted by BusinessEurope in collaboration with Deloitte. The study aims to understand how employers across Europe access skills and the sector-specific barriers they face.

Skills4Retail, which is currently developing a new retail curriculum for Europe, was invited to share insights from the Blueprint for Sectoral Cooperation on Skills , with a particular focus on identifying skill needs, shaping training responses, and ensuring that both training delivery and certification remain relevant to the changing expectations of employers and learners.

Representing Skills4Retail in the interview were:

• Jens Liebelt (WIFI International) – WP2 Lead on Skills Intelligence, Needs Analysis & Retail Skills Strategy for Europe
• Donal Grimes (Skillnet Ireland) – WP3 Lead on Developing the VET Training Curriculum, Content & Certifications
• Teta Karampini (JA Europe) – WP4 Lead on Piloting VET Training to meet urgent and long-term retail skills needs
• Valeryia Despaihne (EuroCommerce) – Associated partner

Understanding Skills Needs in Retail

The discussion focused first on how skills gaps in retail are currently being identified. Jens Liebelt highlighted that retail is in the midst of rapid digital and structural transformation. “We are seeing rising demand for digital literacy, e-commerce management, customer experience design, and sustainability knowledge,” he noted. The WP2 team have drawn on a blend of labour market projections, employer surveys, and sectoral consultations to build a clear picture of emerging needs. This intelligence was then translated into detailed skills profiles aligned with European frameworks such as ESCO and EQF.

Designing the Right Training Response

Donal Grimes addressed how Skills4Retail is responding to these needs. “The goal is to create a flexible, modular curriculum that can be adapted across countries and contexts while ensuring a common European foundation,” he noted. The training content is being shaped through strong partnerships with both academia and industry. Special emphasis is placed on work-based learning models, which are seen as most effective for retail’s fast-changing skills requirements.

Donal also stressed the importance of micro-credentials. These allow learners to build skills step-by-step, making training more accessible for workers already in the sector. “Micro-credentials should be designed to be interoperable across borders and industries, so they truly support labour mobility within the EU,” he said.

Piloting Training for Urgent and Emerging Skills Needs

From a practical perspective, Teta Karampini highlighted that Skills4Retail has already delivered training to address the sector’s most urgent skills needs, helping retailers respond to immediate labour market pressures. Building on this, the consortium is preparing a second wave of pilot programmes for Autumn 2025, focused on emerging and future-facing skills such as digital innovation, customer experience and sustainability.

“These pilots are crucial for testing how well our curriculum supports retailers in adapting to change while also preparing the workforce for the challenges ahead,”  Teta explained.

Bridging the Skills Gap in European Retail: Looking Ahead

The Deloitte study offered a valuable platform to reflect not only on the progress of Skills4Retail but also on the broader policy landscape. As Europe looks to the future of work, Skills4Retail demonstrates how collaborative, data-driven and flexible training models can help the retail sector remain a vital, innovative and inclusive employer.

Follow Skills4Retail on LinkedIn for updates on our pilot programmes and outcomes.