The world of work is facing profound changes caused by the digital transformation of society. Automation and Industry 4.0 are gradually transforming traditional production processes into more modern and intelligent ones, bringing opportunities and risks for businesses and their workers. Therefore, employers associated with the National Union of Employers (NUE) have joined forces with social partners from Romania and other international organizations. As part of the international project "Challenges from the time of the pandemic: lifelong learning in Slovakia and Romania," - AdultLearningROSK helps businesses and their employees learn from the pandemic experience and thus better prepare for the future.

The project aims to strengthen the capacity of individual social partners to address changing skills requirements, which have accelerated significantly under the impact of the COVID-19 crisis. According to data from the World Economic Forum, up to 90% of jobs already require some IT skills. Artificial intelligence and robotics alone will create nearly sixty million new jobs worldwide in the next five years, many of which will be changed or lost. For this reason, it will be necessary to promote and develop the field of lifelong learning (LLL). Still, Slovakia and Romania have long been among the countries with the lowest participation of employees in the LLL among the European Union (EU) countries. However, they can be assisted by best practice examples from partners who are part of the AdultLearningROSK project, namely employers associations from Austria and Ireland – countries already achieving outstanding results in lifelong learning.

Therefore, employers and other social partners will analyze and evaluate specific risks, challenges, and opportunities for job change in sectors where Industry 4.0 has played a role over almost two years. The NUE-led project aims to draw the attention of both businesses and their employees to the fact that the coming years and the progress in LLL in both countries will play a key role in transforming the labor market. Cooperation with universities aims to bring innovative tools to address the challenges related to digital transformation.