On 26 October 2026, the fifth Reskilling Lab was held at the Central Office of the Croatian Employment Service (CES) as part of the Erasmus+ project “Empowering Migrant Workers for a Sustainable Future: Upskilling and Reskilling for Green and Digital Jobs” (EMERALD). The meeting brought together representatives of the Institute for Development and International Relations (IRMO), Ambitio College and the Croatian Employment Service. The meeting presented the results of training programmes for third-country workers conducted in Croatia between 11 June and 22 July 2026. A total of 25 participants took part in the training, of whom 19 successfully completed the programmes. Eleven participants completed the organic vegetable production programme, while eight completed the photovoltaic system installation programme. Discussions also addressed challenges in attracting participants and the importance of adapting training programmes to the language needs of migrant workers. Particular attention was given to opportunities for learning Croatian through the CES voucher system, highlighting challenges related to programme duration and funding, as well as relatively low levels of interest among potential participants. The meeting also explored the possibility of extending active labour market policy measures to migrant workers holding residence and work permits, particularly in the areas of retraining and reskilling. Such measures could contribute to their more effective and long-term integration into the Croatian labour market. Representatives of the Croatian Employment Service also presented plans to develop new retraining programmes for occupations experiencing labour shortages and to include these programmes in the voucher system. Participants emphasised the importance of further developing accessible and tailored training programmes that would enable migrant workers to acquire new knowledge and skills and facilitate their integration into the Croatian labour market.
More information about this project is available at: https://irmo.hr/projects/empowering-migrant-workers-for-a-sustainable-future-upskilling-and-reskilling-for-green-and-digital-jobs-emerald/
