recycling

Article
Identifying Future Skill Requirements of the Job Profiles for a
Sustainable European Manufacturing Industry 4.0
Tugce Akyazi , Patricia del Val † , Aitor Goti *,† and Aitor Oyarbide

Department of Mechanics, Design and Organization, University of Deusto, 48007 Bilbao, Bizkaia, Spain;
tugceakyazi@deusto.es (T.A.); patricia.delval@opendeusto.es (P.d.V.); aitor.oyarbide@deusto.es (A.O.)
* Correspondence: aitor.goti@deusto.es; Tel.: +34-944-139-000
† These authors contributed equally to this work.

Abstract: The exponential growth of digitalisation and the continuous increase in sustainability
needs are currently reshaping the European manufacturing industry through its entire value chain.
Industrial sectors have undergone significant changes globally in recent years, and they will continue
to face this deep transformation. The manufacturing sectors, more specifically, companies, need
to develop a relevant strategy that can support their organisation to handle the upcoming future
technological developments and sustainability requirements properly. In order to implement the
strategy effectively and achieve an adequate digital and green transformation, their main focus
should be the development of a multi-skilled workforce. This competent workforce can only be built
by foreseeing the changes in the needed skills for the manufacturing industry and then updating the
skills of the current workforce accordingly. As an answer to this need, we developed an automated
skill database for the manufacturing industry, particularly transversal occupations of this sector
related to the industrial symbiosis (IS) and energy efficiency (EE). Differently from the conventional
ones, the generated database incorporated not only the current but also the future skill needs for
each profile. During the development of the future skills for each occupation in the database, we
identified the foreseen skill needs for the manufacturing industry through detailed desk research.
Citation: Akyazi, T.; del Val, P.; Goti,
Therefore, this paper presents a valuable perspective on the subject. Our work aimed to fill the gap
A.; Oyarbide, A. Identifying Future
Skill Requirements of the Job Profiles
for a database specifically developed for the manufacturing industry, which provides the end-users
for a Sustainable European with data about the new skills requirements resulting from industrial changes and sustainability
Manufacturing Industry 4.0. needs. We believe that companies, education and training institutions and policymakers can make
Recycling 2022, 7, 32. https:// use of the generated database as a complementary tool for developing their training programmes or
doi.org/10.3390/recycling7030032 strategy roadmaps to cover the emerging changes in each individual industrial sector.
Academic Editor: Elena Rada
Keywords: skills; sustainability; manufacturing; digitalisation; Industry 4.0; recycling
Received: 2 May 2022
Accepted: 24 May 2022
Published: 26 May 2022

Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral 1. Introduction

with regard to jurisdictional claims in The manufacturing industry is the key sector in many countries, especially in Europe.
published maps and institutional affil- It forms the basis of many national economies [1,2]. The manufacturing industry is a
iations. vital component of the European economy, producing 24 percent of GDP (Gross Domestic
Product) and employing almost 50 million people, contributing to one out of every five
jobs in the EU [2]. The manufacturing industry is defined by the OECD (Organisation
for Economic Co-operation and Development) as a cyclical sector due to its sensitivity to
Copyright: © 2022 by the authors.
many external and internal factors and the cyclical changes caused by these factors [2]. It
Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
is critical for any country to understand the cyclical relationship between manufacturing
This article is an open access article
industry indicators, particularly in terms of the industry’s most essential variables, such as
distributed under the terms and
sales, salaries, and employment [2]. Among some of the most important manufacturing
conditions of the Creative Commons
Attribution (CC BY) license (https://
industries are those that include steel, chemicals, engineering, minerals, ceramics, water,
creativecommons.org/licenses/by/
etc. They all obtain products from different types of raw materials by the use of manual
4.0/). labour or machinery [3]. Industrial companies, who have a great impact on not only the

Recycling 2022, 7, 32. https://doi.org/10.3390/recycling7030032 https://www.mdpi.com/journal/recycling

Recycling 2022, 7, 32 2 of 20

European but also the global economy, are currently seeking to develop new strategies that
can help their growth in a sustainable way, both technologically and economically [1,3,4].
The industry’s competitiveness is constantly improving in EU countries, particularly with
the support of European initiatives [2].
Commerce and worldwide competition, the access to raw materials that enable manu-
facturing processes and, more pertinently nowadays, energy and guidelines for their more
efficient use, the skill framework of the labour force, technology and innovations, etc., all
influence the condition and evolution of the manufacturing sectors [2]. Moreover, processes
of globalisation and, what is crucial nowadays, technological developments generate new
kinds of business models, services and goods [2].
For the performance of industrial companies, the interaction between the industry
and the environment is crucial [3,5,6]. Environmental consequences have intensified the
pressure on industrial enterprises because manufacturing sectors have a considerable
impact on every component of sustainable development (social, environmental, economic
and institutional) [7].
Furthermore, upcoming consumer societies and the exceptional growth of industrial
activity have led to increasing environmental emissions, solid waste generation and land-
fills [1]. The demand for exponential economic and demographic growth cannot be realised
since resources are limited [1,7,8].
In these circumstances, the threat of environmental contamination is becoming more
severe, in addition to the worldwide scarcity of resources [5,9]. The European Commission
(EUCOM) has reaffirmed its goal of being at the forefront of the battle against climate change
and achieving a greenhouse-neutral continent by 2050 as a key step toward resolving
environmental issues [1,2,6]. To fulfil the commitments made in the Paris Agreement,
EU members have made an exemplary shift from an adaptive reduction to a proactive
promotion of a climate-neutral economy [9].
In terms of making the shift to a more sustainable industry in a softer and easier
manner, recently, the management of the manufacturing companies has been focused on,
particularly, the digitalisation of the sector and its development in the direction of zero
emissions (decarbonisation) and sustainable development [9,10].
The manufacturing industry is also working towards the implementation of solutions
that are innovative in the field of renewable energy sources and the transformation of the
activities of companies to ensure that they operate with respect to energy efficiency [11].
The increasing use of renewable energy sources and energy-efficient technologies is one
of the climate transition and sustainable development trends observed in the industrial
sector [12].
As a result, in addition to its daily operations, the manufacturing industry must deal
with the pressures of environmental regulations, the obstacles of resource price volatility
and resource supply threats [1]. The development and deployment of digital technologies
in manufacturing is a critical factor in overcoming obstacles and speeding up the transition
to a more sustainable and energy-efficient European industry [11,13].
The ongoing demand for effective methods, procedures and measurements that allow
flexibility for constantly changing circumstances drives the current digitalisation of the
manufacturing industry [14–17].
The digitalisation of the industry, often known as Industry 4.0, is acknowledged as
new production processes that are partially or completely managed by technology and
tools that interact autonomously across the value chain [18,19]. Hence, it is primarily depen-
dent on intelligent computational systems, electrical machinery and current information
technologies (ITs) that enable process optimisation and growth in productivity [16]. As a
result, digitalisation has become a critical component of the current industrial revolution,
which is resulting in a smart manufacturing revolution in conventional industries [17].
Three major technologies that have initiated this revolution are Big Data analytics, the
Internet of Things (IoT) and cyber-physical systems [18,19].
Recycling 2022, 7, 32 3 of 20

Other digital technologies, such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Blockchain, allow for
improvements in renewable resources and even the establishment of smart grids and new
modes of energy transfer, all of which contribute to the manufacturing sector’s long-term
sustainability [1,20]. Technological solutions such as the newest versions of sensors, Artifi-
cial Intelligence (AI), the Internet of Services (IoS), advanced robotics, machine learning, the
Internet of Things (IoT), cloud computing, cyber-physical systems, Machine-to-Machine In-
teraction (M2M) and others are continuing to evolve manufacturing concepts [13,16,20,21].
These vital technologies are assisting in shaping the future of automation, leading to
more efficient and innovative goods, methodologies and services in the manufacturing
sectors [4,13,22]. They can be used in either new and existing plants, transforming con-
ventional manufacturing operations into smart manufacturing systems known as “smart
factories” [23]. This notion involves the integration of communication, manufacturing,
computational and control processes into digitalised, automated and context-aware manu-
facturing systems in order to optimise business models [16,23,24]. This improvement will
have a significant impact on the business model, allowing for higher-quality output in less
time and at a lower cost [11,16,25].
Because of the disruptive changes throughout the evolving digitalisation, the working
environment within many manufacturing sectors will radically change over the next twenty
years [26].
Taking everything into account, the manufacturing sectors urgently require a plan to
guide them through the development of a more sustainable, symbiotic, energy-efficient
and digitalised industry.
Therefore, in order to promote the growth of the European manufacturing industry
and maintain its competitiveness during the digital and green transformation, the industry
is in need of preparing the workforce for the future. Additionally, it is possible through
upgrading its qualifications [3,11,25,27].
Continuously upgrading qualifications, skills and knowledge is the only way to
build a highly trained and multi-skilled workforce that can cope with all technological
and green changes and can adapt to the new manufacturing processes, the majority of
which are related to sustainability, energy efficiency, industrial symbiosis and computer
science [14,17,28].
Updating the skills of the current workforce is only possible by determining the current
skill needs and foreseeing the skill changes in the manufacturing industry [3,21,24,25,29–32].
In order to respond to this need, we created an automated skill database for the manufactur-
ing industry. This database was generated to incorporate not only current skill requirements
but also future ones in order to provide a capable tool for establishing the skill gaps for
each job profile.
During the development of the database, first of all, we carefully analysed the transver-
sal occupations related to IS and EE in the sector and selected the most relevant ones.
Afterwards, we determined their current skills needs. The main source used to identify
and select not only the manufacturing-industry-related occupations but also their current
needed skills was ESCO’s database (European Skills, Competences, Qualifications and
Occupations) [33]. Then, we created an automated database that incorporates the definition
of the job profiles as well as their skill requirements in the excel format. Then, in order to
develop the future skills of the selected profiles, we carried out detailed desktop research to
identify the anticipated skill needs of the manufacturing industry (presented in Section 2:
Identifying the Future Skills Requirements for the Manufacturing Industries). This chapter
provides deep and particularised insight into the subject. After completing the literature
review, we analysed each of the chosen occupations individually and evaluated how they
would be influenced by the industrial demands resulting from IS, EE and digitalisation.
Finally, we identified the skills they would require in the future. Consequently, we incorpo-
rated all the information into our database and finalised the development process of the
automated database.
Recycling 2022, 7, 32 4 of 20

The fundamental distinction of our database from conventional ones, such as ESCO,
is that ours incorporates the foreseen skill requirements for each selected job profile. The
ESCO database is a very useful and broad source for classifying the skills, competences,
qualifications and occupations. Therefore, for the development of the current skills of our
selected profiles, we used it efficiently. Nevertheless, it needs to be enriched regarding
future skills due to the ongoing evolution of occupations. Therefore, in this work, we
aimed to fill that gap and create a specific database for the manufacturing industry that
provides the users with data about the new skills needed as a result of not only general
but also sector-specific industrial changes, sustainability needs and innovations. This
paper demonstrates not only the methodology of the development of the database but also
provides insight into and a detailed analysis of the future skill needs of the manufacturing
industry due to the ongoing technological changes and sustainability needs. We believe that
this database will be a critical tool for the manufacturing industry, guiding the companies,
universities, training centres and policymakers who are responsible for offering training
programmes that deliver the needed qualifications to the manufacturing workforce and
building the upskilled workforce that is really needed.

2. Identifying the Future Skill Requirements for the Manufacturing Industry

In this chapter, we focused on determining the manufacturing workforce’s future
skill requirements. For this aim, firstly, we needed to identify the skill trends influencing
the manufacturing sectors. To this end, we conducted extensive desk research, analysing
related scientific papers, reports, sectorial and cross-sectorial guidelines and projects,
previous studies of our research team [17,18,25,27,31] and, lastly, the work carried out by
the experts of the SPIRE-SAIS project [32] (a team of experienced academics and industrial
practitioners of at least 7 countries). Section 2.1 presents the general skill trends for the
industry, and Section 2.2 tackles the future skill needs of its workforce. We used the captured
findings in the development of the automated database, as presented in Section 3.2. Results
and Discussion.

2.1. General Skill Trends for Manufacturing Sectors

The most crucial factor for determining the expected evolution of skill requirements is
to have a broad picture of the future manufacturing sectors.
We can accomplish this by exploring the industrial developments brought on by
Industry 4.0 and the sectorial requirements caused by sustainability, energy efficiency and
environmental measures.
Industry 4.0 is a key factor for energy efficiency and industrial symbiosis. If the aim
of Industry 4.0 is understood precisely and the current technological developments can
be implemented accurately, these technologies can be utilised as an effective solution for
the achievement of a circular economy, sustainability, industrial symbiosis and energy
efficiency [27].
According to the complex scenarios related to Industry 4.0, in the near future, operators
will be able to make more smart choices in less time thanks to real-time data from intelligent
and automated production environments. Cooperative robotic systems will take over
simple and monotonous tasks as workers perform highly skilled tasks and make critical
decisions as a result of cutting-edge robotic technology [28]. Automated technologies will
also enhance employee safety by allowing them to stay far away from machines [22].
Furthermore, with technological advances, upskilling the workforce will be necessary
for concepts such as AI, human–robot collaboration, cybersecurity, digital twin, intelligent
material and IoT [4,14,15,18,29,30,33].
Industrial businesses will adopt a more team-oriented strategy as artificial intelligence
tools are integrated, and old top-down hierarchical systems will lose their strength. Collab-
oration between co-workers will become more important, as will collaboration between
employees and support systems [34]. Job profiles will be expected to carry out jobs with a
Recycling 2022, 7, 32 5 of 20

significantly greater range of responsibilities. As a result, individuals will be expected to

have a broad range of knowledge and experience in a variety of fields [28].
The major perceived consequence of the changes in technology is the rapidly grow-
ing demand for technological skills [18,35]. These technological skills include basic and
advanced digital skills, such as programming [11]. As a result of the increasing demand,
security and data protection knowledge will become more crucial [30]. ICT skills will be
required for lower-skilled occupations, such as technicians, to replace previously dangerous
occupations and contribute to risk mitigation.
The quick rise in demand for social and emotional skills (something that machines are
still far from learning) as a result of greater technology use is a crucial element to consider
because the demand for these talents will rise [18]. Creativity, critical thinking, lifelong
learning and other higher cognitive abilities, such as teamwork, problem-solving and
decision-making, will be essential [16,18,29,36]. Regarding social skills, entrepreneurship,
business and consumer awareness, as well as financial and legal skills, will additionally be
necessary for occupations such as managers or engineers [37–40]. As previously stated, as
industrial processes become increasingly automated and digitised, the workforce will be
asked to carry out more complex tasks. Strong reading, numeracy, information and commu-
nication abilities, problem solving and certain soft skills, such as teamwork, coordination
and autonomy, will be required to complete these tasks [35,40,41].
The demand for cognitive abilities will shift primarily from basic to higher cogni-
tive skills as machines become more automated, reducing the number of tasks requiring
fundamental thinking abilities (such as basic data processing) [38].
In addition, to achieve a simplified depiction of the larger picture, the workforce of
the future will require abilities such as complexity management, complicated information
processing and abstraction [35].
Moreover, the demand for management, communication and organisational abilities
will rise dramatically [28]. Physical and manual abilities required for job profiles will be
reshaped in response to the variety of automated work activities. These abilities will be in
high demand for the foreseeable future, even though they will remain the most essential
category of labour abilities [16,18].
Because of the impact of Industry 4.0, it is expected that in the near future, the work-
force will demand more pronounced social, emotional, advanced cognitive and technologi-
cal abilities than previously required basic cognitive, physical and mechanical skills [38,42].
The general trend also indicates that technological skills are in higher demand than
administrative and technical abilities [16].
Apart from the transformation caused by Industry 4.0, as previously stated in Section 1,
Europe’s goal to remain a competitive force in the industrial manufacturing sectors requires
the construction of green skills as a way of boosting the focus on environmental concerns,
sustainability and energy efficiency. Green skills will be highly critical for the future
manufacturing sectors, and the workers will be expected to dominate skills related to Energy
Efficiency (EE) and Industrial Symbiosis (IS) [43]. Concepts such as material reutilisation,
waste reduction and management, recycling and reducing, and circular business models
will be key skills for the upcoming future job profiles [3,6,8,15,20,42]. A master’s degree
will be required in the European manufacturing business [6].
In general, workers from traditional manufacturing industries, such as chemicals,
ceramics, cement, nonferrous metals, ceramics, minerals, steel, water, etc., will be continu-
ously upgrading their skills to meet these skill trends [32].

2.2. Determination of Future Skill Requirements of the Sector

After determining the general skill trends and the manufacturing sector’s future
scenario in the previous chapter, we can define the future skill requirements taking into
account the changes brought on by digitalisation, as well as the concepts of sustainability,
energy efficiency and industrial symbiosis.
Recycling 2022, 7, 32 6 of 20

The findings from all prior studies have been analysed and categorised into three
groups: technological, green and social skills. Then, they were compiled into a database
that covers future skill requirements for professional profiles in the manufacturing industry
(presented in Section 3.2 Results and Discussion). The database will eventually act as a
guide for occupations and competencies in the industrial industries.
After defining all future skills, the skills gaps among present and future industry
demands are identified, and the final stage will be to recruit a highly competent labour
force that can meet the expectations of the industrial sector. By supporting appropriate
talent acquisition and recruitment, the sector will be able to include experts who are
well-suited to the problems that digitalisation brings.

3. Development of the Sectorial Skills Database

This section presents the establishment of a database for the professional profiles of
the manufacturing industry, incorporating both their present and future skill requirements.
This database was created to be utilised as a guide for the subsequent creation of educational
and training courses. This section discusses the methodology’s development and the
findings of the conducted research.

3.1. Materials and Methods

During the creation of the database, to identify the transversal, IS- and EE-related occu-
pations in the manufacturing industries and also define their current skills needs, we used
one main reference: the ESCO database (European Classification of Skills, Competences,
Qualifications and Occupations, developed by the European Commission).
The ESCO database allows the user to search by occupation, skill, competence or
qualification that are considered relevant for the European Union labour market. The ESCO
database involves 3008 occupations and 13,890 skills [43]. In our study, ESCO was the
primary source for locating and selecting job profiles and their current skill requirements.
For the selection of IS- and EE-related, transversal job profiles in the manufacturing sectors,
a set of keywords was determined by the research group shown in Table 1. The defined key-
words to identify the profiles that are directly related to IS and EE were “environment/al”,
“waste”, “water”, “energy”, “recycling”, “contamination”, “renewable”, “pollution” and
“energy efficiency”. In addition, “trainer” and “teacher” keywords were defined to include
the trainer profiles. To find out the manufacturing-related profiles that would be directly
affected by IS and EE, “maintenance” and “industrial production” keywords were used.
These keywords were searched in the title of the profiles in the ESCO database. After
analysing the job profiles with the aforementioned keywords, only the most relevant and
representative job profiles at managerial and operational levels (manager, supervisor, tech-
nician and engineer) were selected in order to keep the number of the profiles low and
increase the quality of our work.
Once we selected the most representative profiles, we used the ESCO database to define
their present skill demands. The ESCO occupational profiles were then integrated into an
Excel spreadsheet, along with their descriptions and current skills needs. Since the skill
needs of each profile have two categories in the ESCO database—essential and optional—
this categorisation was kept the same way in the new spreadsheet. After incorporating all
the data in the spreadsheet, the second and key step in building the automated database
for the selected job profiles of the manufacturing industry was applying Excel’s automated
VBA (Visual Basic for Applications) method to the document.
Then, as mentioned above, we had to determine future competence needs of the
selected profiles in order to create a database with the data of the future skill needs of the
industry. For this aim, we conducted detailed desk research—presented in Section 2—in
order to analyse and identify the future skill requirements of the manufacturing sectors.
This study, which is basically a thorough literature review about the subject, has been
our main source during the development of the future skill requirements. Another major
reference for the development of future competences was the work carried out by our
Recycling 2022, 7, 32 7 of 20

research team [17,18,21,25,27]. Therefore, after analysing these sources, we identified the
general foreseen skill needs for the manufacturing sectors due to the ongoing technological
changes and sustainability, IS and EE needs. After, we categorised them as technical, green
and social skills in order to simplify them. The next step was to analyse how each selected
job profile would transform in the future as a result of the industrial requirements related
to sustainability, energy efficiency and industrial symbiosis and digitalisation concepts.
After, we examined and determined which future skills were demanded by each profile.
Whenever we detected a future skill need for an occupation, we evaluated if it is an essential
or optional demand for the same occupation in the future and categorised it accordingly.
After the analysis, the future skill needs for each job profile were entered manually into the
created database and the process for the development of the automated sectorial database
was completed.

Table 1. The keywords to identify IS- and EE-related transversal job profiles in the manufacturing
industry in the ESCO database.

Defined Keywords for IS- and EE-Related Occupations

Environment/al
Energy
Energy efficiency
Recycling
Waste
Water
Contamination
Pollution
Renewable
Trainer
Teacher
Maintenance
Industrial production

In this work, we assumed that the current skill needs will be maintained in the future,
even though we are aware of the fact that in some cases, the required level of mastery for
each skill may evolve in time. Although new occupations in the manufacturing industry
may appear in the future, this research has not considered the inclusion of possible future
jobs. It has, therefore, been assumed that the selected profiles, with the established future
competences, will be able to meet the skill needs of the manufacturing sectors.
Additionally, in the case of some of the occupations in our database, we detected
that several current skill needs that had been categorised as “optional” by ESCO could
be “essential” in the future for the same occupation. For this reason, this kind of current
competences (in the optional category) was highlighted in red and introduced again in the
future essential skills category, as they will gain importance in the near future.
Furthermore, in order to simplify and improve the quality of the developed database
and make the future skills as compatible as possible with the ESCO database, whenever we
identified a new future skill needed for the job profile, before introducing it to our database,
we verified whether a similar competence had already been defined by the ESCO in their
database. In the positive case, we replaced the identified future skill with its ESCO version
and avoided repetitions.
In Table 2, the initial definition of the skills we identified and the definition of the
same skills suggested by the ESCO database are presented as examples.

3.2. Results and Discussion

The purpose of our research was to create and automate a database of present and
future skill requirements for transversal IS- and EE-related job profiles in the manufactur-
ing industry.
Recycling 2022, 7, 32 8 of 20

Table 2. Identified skills and their ESCO version.

Identified Skills Same Skills Defined by ESCO

Quality assurance Quality assurance methodologies
Collaborative/Autonomous Robotics Human–robot collaboration
Health and safety training Health and safety in the workplace
Cloud computing Cloud technologies
Supply chain Supply chain principles/management
ERP Business ICT systems

In order to identify the transversal job profiles of the manufacturing industry that
are related with IS and EE, we introduced the IS- and EE-related keywords presented in
the Methodology section (in Table 1) into the ESCO database. We gathered more than
70 occupations using these keywords. Through a detailed analysis applying the criteria
demonstrated in the Methodology section, we selected 17 sector-related occupations among
the first results. They were tagged as “technician”, “operator”, “manager” or “engineer”.
Figure 1 summarises the methodology and results of the process of identifying
Recycling 2022, 7, x FOR PEER REVIEW 9 of 21
the most
representative IS-, EE- and sustainability-related job profiles in the manufacturing industry.

Figure 1. The process of selecting the relevant IS- and EE-related job profiles of the manufacturing
1. The and
Figureindustry process of 17
the final selecting the relevant
ESCO profiles IS-the
selected after and EE-related
analysis job profiles of the manufacturing
(on the right).
industry and the final 17 ESCO profiles selected after the analysis (on the right).
We used ESCO’s research as the major source to identify current job profiles relevant
to the manufacturing industry and the competencies required for each profile, as indicated
in the Methodology Section. Therefore, profile descriptions and the current skill needs of
each selected profile (presented in Figure 1) were taken directly from ESCO and incorpo-
rated into the created database. Table 3 provides us with a view of the database, showing
the profile description, weblink, alternative labels and ISCO number of four selected oc-
Recycling 2022, 7, 32 9 of 20

We used ESCO’s research as the major source to identify current job profiles relevant
to the manufacturing industry and the competencies required for each profile, as indicated
in the Methodology Section. Therefore, profile descriptions and the current skill needs of each
selected profile (presented in Figure 1) were taken directly from ESCO and incorporated into
the created database. Table 3 provides us with a view of the database, showing the profile
description, weblink, alternative labels and ISCO number of four selected occupations in the
manufacturing industry. In addition, Table 4 presents another view of the created database:
the current skill needs of these profiles. Additionally, in Table 4, the (optional) current skills
highlighted in red are the ones that will become more important in the future and appear
in the essential future skills category in Table 6. The full versions of Tables 3 and 4 (with
the selected job profiles) can be found in the Supplementary Materials.

Table 3. An overview of the generated database: name of the job profile, weblink for ESCO, alternative
labels for the profile, profile description and ISCO code.

Corporate Training Environmental Environmental

Job Profile Environmental Engineer
Manager Technician Programme Coordinator
http://data.europa.eu/ http://data.europa.eu/ http://data.europa.eu/
http://data.europa.eu/esco/
esco/occupation/a14e9 esco/occupation/e846 esco/occupation/598836
occupation/ac1fc6a9-70d2-4
ESCO URL 6a7-6c4d-4d69-8c6f- 1d2e-3d75-477c-93a2-ea8 30-45f9-40e7-9732-9e5ff9
75c-8fa0-82ef83830968
7ccadf77bac5 (accessed d342bb55b (accessed on 8 758d2b (accessed on 8
(accessed on 8 April 2022).
on 8 April 2022). April 2022). April 2022).
air protection environmental
engineer/environmental
Environmental health
engineering expert/
officer/environment
environment engineer/
programme coordinator/
industrial environmental
environment compliance
Environmental engineer/water pollution
Education and training manager/environmental
technician/environmental engineer/environmental
manager/manager of officer/programme
protection technician/ engineering adviser/
corporate training/ coordinator environment/
pollution prevention chemical environmental
Alternative staff development environmental assessment
technician/pollution engineer/environmental
labels director/talent coordinator/environmental
control technician/ engineering specialist/
development impact assessor/
groundwater protection environmental engineering
coordinator/learning environmental auditor/
technician/environmental consultant/sanitary
programmes manager/etc. environmental manager/
conservation technician engineer/pollution
environmental consultant/
engineer/environmental
sustainability consultant/
analyst/environmental
programme coordinator
specialist for water
environment
management/agricultural
conservation engineer
Environmental programme
Environmental engineers
coordinators develop
integrate environmental and
Environmental technicians programmes for the
Corporate training sustainable measures in the
investigate sources of improvement of
managers coordinate all development of projects of
pollution and aid in the environmental
the training activities and various natures. They seek
development of pollution sustainability and efficiency
development programmes to preserve natural resources
prevention and within an organisation or
in a company. They also and natural sites. They work
environment protection institution. They inspect
Description design and develop new together with engineers
plans. They take samples sites in order to monitor an
training modules and from other fields to envision
of soil, water or other organisation’s or an
supervise all the activities all the implications that
materials and perform institution’s compliance
related to the planning projects might have in order
tests to analyse the with environmental
and delivery of these to design ways to conserve
pollution level and legislation. They also
programmes. natural reserves, prevent
identify its source. ensure education for the
pollution and deploy
public on environmental
sanitary measures.
concerns.
ISCO number 1321.2 3111.2 2133.6 2143.1
Recycling 2022, 7, 32 10 of 20

Table 4. An overview of the generated database: current skills needs of the selected job profiles,
categorised as essential and optional.

Corporate Training Environmental Environmental Environmental

Job Profile
Manager Technician Programme Coordinator Engineer
Current
adapt training to conduct environmental analyse abide by regulations on
essential
labour market site assessments environmental data banned materials
skills
advise on soil and assess environmental address public
apply company policies
water protection impact health issues
advise on environmental carry out environmental adjust engineering
apply strategic thinking
risk management systems audits designs
advise on environmental conduct environmental advise on environmental
build business relationships
remediation surveys remediation
comply with legal test samples for develop environmental analyse environmental
regulations pollutants policies data
coordinate operational analyse experimental ensure compliance with approve engineering
activities laboratory data environmental legislation design
implement
develop corporate training collect samples for carry out environmental
environmental action
programmes analysis audits
plans
implement
develop employee retention conduct environmental
perform laboratory tests environmental protection
programmes surveys
measures
develop training analyse environmental perform environmental develop environmental
programmes data investigations remediation strategies
evaluate the performance of document analysis promote environmental ensure compliance with
organisational collaborators results awareness safety legislation
provide training in
assess environmental sustainable tourism perform scientific
evaluate training
impact development and research
management
process customer requests
report on environmental report on environmental
give constructive feedback based on the REACH
issues issues
Regulation 1907 2006
identify necessary human use technical
resources drawing software
identify with the
company’s goals
liaise with managers
manage budgets
manage corporate training
programmes
manage payroll
monitor company policies
monitor developments in
their field of expertise
negotiate employment
agreements
negotiate with
employment agencies
organise staff assessment
promote gender equality
in business contexts
provide training in sustainable
tourism development
and management
supervise staff
track key performance
indicators
Recycling 2022, 7, 32 11 of 20

Table 4. Cont.

Corporate Training Environmental Environmental Environmental

Job Profile
Manager Technician Programme Coordinator Engineer
Current
apply technical monitor legislation carry out training in advise on mining
optional
communication skills developments environmental matters environmental issues
skills
conduct educational advise on pollution
coach employees secure working area
activities prevention
promote environmental conduct environmental advise on waste
deliver online training
awareness site assessments management procedures
develop professional communicate with conduct public assess the life cycle of
network external laboratories presentations resources
plan medium to long wear appropriate develop educational collect samples
term objectives protective gear resources for analysis
remove contaminated develop professional
promote education course conduct field work
materials network
provide information on perform environmental conduct quality control
issue licences
study programmes remediation analysis
implement
liaise with local design strategies for
teach corporate skills environmental
authorities nuclear emergencies
action plans
maintain relationships
work with virtual develop scientific develop hazardous waste
with government
learning environments research protocols management strategies
agencies
develop non-hazardous
develop environmental manage government
waste management
remediation strategies policy implementation
strategies
investigate monitor legislation ensure material
contamination developments compliance
inspect compliance with
apply statistical
write inspection reports hazardous waste
analysis techniques
regulations
inspect industrial
assess contamination
equipment
advise on pollution investigate
prevention contamination
ensure compliance with
manage air quality
environmental legislation
report pollution incidents perform laboratory tests
perform project
avoid contamination
management
investigate pollution

The ESCO database is a very efficient and broad data source for classifying the skills,
competences, qualifications and occupations. That is the main reason why we could use
it effectively for the development of the current skill needs of the selected manufacturing
industry occupations. However, ESCO could not provide us with predicted skill require-
ments for the same occupations, and we needed these data in order to generate our sectorial
database. Therefore, the focus of our study has been to identify the future skill needs of the
sector in general and of each specific occupation to complete the database. As mentioned
in the methodology, through detailed research, we determined the new skill needs of the
manufacturing industry caused by both general and sector-specific technological changes
as well as environmental and sustainability requirements.
The identified future skills were divided into three categories: technological, green
and personal. These categories and some skills that are part of each one can be seen in
the following table (Table 5). The main contribution of our study to the database and the
outcome of this research is the identified future skills. Only after having them identified
could we analyse which future skills were demanded by each profile, evaluate if it is
Recycling 2022, 7, 32 12 of 20

essential or optional and integrate them into the database. We finalised the generation of
the database by this last step. Table 6 shows the identified future skill needs of the job
profiles, both essential and optional, which were chosen from Table 5. The full versions of
Table 6 (with the selected job profiles) can be found in the Supplementary Materials.
In addition, the results of our work, the automated database and all the related data,
were validated by the partners of the SPIRE-SAIS project.

Table 5. List of the identified future skills for the manufacturing industry.

Technical Skills Social Skills Green Skills

Machine learning Problem solving Material reutilisation
Artificial Intelligence Autonomy Resource efficiency
Electrical engineering Critical thinking Environmental awareness
Electronics Coordination Waste reduction
Use of drones Process analysis Waste management
Human–robot collaboration Continuous learning Energy conservation and energy efficiency
Sustainable resource
Digital twin Teamwork
management
Cyber-physical systems (CPS) Adaptability to change 3Rs, reuse, recycle, reduce
Renewable energy and
Preventive and predictive maintenance Entrepreneurship skills
advanced energy storage
Quality assurance Understanding environmental
Business awareness
methodologies management
Remote control and smart
Customer awareness Circular business models
sensoring
Supply chain Self-management
Monitoring systems of energy consumption Legal literacy
Virtual reality and augmented reality Languages
Smart grid technology knowledge Advanced communication skills
IoT Leadership skills
Cloud technologies Social responsibility
Cybersecurity Ethical responsibility
Smart factory and intelligent
Planning and scheduling
factory Internet of Services
Human machine interfaces Decision-making
ROVs remotely operated
People management
vehicles
Smart grid technology knowledge
Coordinating
(smart grid systems)
Advanced simulation Negotiation
VAM realities Marketing skills
Business ICT systems Production planning
Health and safety in the
E-commerce
workplace
Building Information Modelling (BIM) Opportunity assessment
3d laser scanning Common good
Component printing Psychological and mental flexibility
Circular business models Cultural empathy
Big data analytics Cross-functional process know-how
AR
Robotic construction
Intelligent materials
Recycling 2022, 7, 32 13 of 20

Table 6. An overview of the generated database: identified future skill needs of the selected job
profiles, categorised as essential and optional.

Corporate Training Environmental Environmental

Job Profile Environmental Engineer
Manager Technician Programme Coordinator
Future
IoT IoT Big Data IoT
essential skills
Knowledge and
understanding of quality
cybersecurity Big Data Big Data
procedures related to
digital transformation
Use of digital
Business ICT systems Artificial Intelligence Artificial Intelligence (AI)
communication tools
Virtual reality and Adaptability and adapt
BI Augmented Reality
augmented reality to change
Complex information
Human–robot Environmental
Decision making processing and
collaboration awareness
interpretation
Human machine
Marketing skills Energy efficiency Sensors Technology
interfaces
Platforms for energy
energy conservation and Online inspection
management of Machine Learning
energy efficiency and monitoring
equipment and plants
Quality assurance Preventive and Monitoring systems of
Cloud technologies
methodologies predictive maintenance energy consumption
Waste reduction and
Entrepreneurship skills Continuous learning Digital twin
waste management
Cyber-physical Sustainable resource Waste reduction and
Business awareness
systems (CPS) management waste management
Basic data input
Customer awareness Water conservation Traceability
and processing
Use of digital Advanced IT skills
Finance skills Circular economy
communication tools and programming
Basic numeracy and Advanced data analysis
Economics skills Legal literacy
communication and modelisation
Quality assurance 3Rs, reuse, Data management-
Team working
methodologies recycle, reduce safe storage
Advanced
Environmental awareness Cybersecurity
communication skills
Resource efficiency and Use of digital
Adaptability to change
energy efficiency communication tools
Platforms for energy
Leadership skills management of Opportunity assessment
equipment and plants
Adaptability and adapting
Decision-making Use of drones
to change
Monitoring systems of Critical thinking and
People management
energy consumption decision making
Remote control (remote
Cross-functional process
Coordinating monitoring systems) and
know-how
smart sensoring
Interdisciplinary thinking
Critical thinking Problem solving
and acting
IT abilities Solid literacy Advanced literacy
Quantitative and
Languages Machine learning
statistical skills
Complex information
Production planning processing and Appropriate linguistic skills
interpretation
Recycling 2022, 7, 32 14 of 20

Table 6. Cont.

Corporate Training Environmental Environmental

Job Profile Environmental Engineer
Manager Technician Programme Coordinator
Scheduling Electrical engineering Problem solving
Electronics Environmental awareness
Sustainable resource
Energy efficiency
management
Platforms for energy
3Rs, reuse,
management of
recycle, reduce
equipment and plants
Smart factory and
Legal literacy
intelligent factory
Monitoring systems of
Internet of Services
energy consumption
Waste reduction and Entrepreneurship and
waste management initiative taking
Water conservation Continuous learning
Sustainable resource
management
Water conservation
Circular economy
Risk management
Product life cycle
impact assessment
Future Health and safety in
Teamwork Work autonomously Business Intelligence (BI)
optional skills the workplace
E-commerce Active listening Conflict resolution Financial literacy
Appropriate Interpersonal skills and Advanced communication
Opportunity assessment
linguistic skills empathy skills
Environmental Data management-safe Cross-functional process
Negotiation skills
awareness storage know-how
Waste reduction Critical thinking Active listening Ethical skills
Appropriate linguistic
Waste management Coordination Active listening
skills
Sustainable resource Teaching and training Teaching and training
Teamwork skills
management others others
ROVs remotely
Adaptability to change Ethical skills Conflict resolution
operated vehicles
3Rs, reuse, Leadership and Leadership and
Adaptability to change
recycle, reduce managing others managing others
Supply chain Cross-functional Agile human–machine
principles/management process know-how interfaces (HM)
Cyber-physical
Resource efficiency Autonomy
systems (CBS)
Continuous learning Cross-functional thinking Creativity
Energy conservation and
Cloud technologies Resource reuse/recycling
energy efficiency
Teaching and training Interpersonal skills
Cybersecurity
others and empathy
Supply chain Teaching and training
principles/management others
Work autonomously
Conflict resolution
Interpersonal skills and
empathy

Table 7 shows an example data sheet from the created database. In this table, we can
see the “Maintenance and repair engineer” job profile as an example. The initial five rows in
the table show the hierarchical order of the ESCO occupation groups that the “Maintenance
and repair engineer” job profile belongs to; the first row, “professionals”, includes the
Recycling 2022, 7, 32 15 of 20

second row, “the biggest”, and the fourth row, “engineering professionals”, and so on. The
table also incorporates a direct link to ESCO’s webpage, where all the data in the table
related to the job profile are available. In addition, we can find alternative names for the job
profile. The ISCO number of the occupation, which can be defined as an international code,
is provided by the database. Furthermore, the table shows the current skill requirements
of the “Maintenance and repair engineer” profile (extracted from the database of ESCO),
where the skills highlighted in red are the ones that will gain importance and be considered
essential in the future. Finally, the table incorporates the future skill needs defined by
this work.

Table 7. The view of an example sheet from the database: “Maintenance and repair engineer”.

Professionals
Science and engineering professionals
Engineering professionals (excluding electrotechnology)
Industrial and production engineers
Maintenance and repair engineer
ESCO URL: http://data.europa.eu/esco/occupation/615920c5-4f63-4eb3-8b60-afaaed3ab1ff (accessed on 8 April 2022)
Machine engineer/mechanical engineer/production engineer/plant repair engineer/site superintendent/manufacturing engineer/repair
engineer/maintenance engineer/manufacturing systems engineer/maintenance and repair superintendent/maintenance and repair
manager/equipment engineer/plant maintenance engineer/engineering manager/plant engineer
Maintenance and repair engineers focus on the optimisation of equipment, procedures, types of machinery and infrastructure. They
ensure their maximum availability at minimum costs.
2141.8
Current essential skills
advise on efficiency improvements
conduct quality control analysis
conduct routine machinery checks
create solutions to problems
inspect industrial equipment
inspect machinery
maintain equipment
maintain machinery
manage budgets
perform machine maintenance
perform test run
resolve equipment malfunctions
troubleshoot
use testing equipment
work safely with machines
write technical reports
Current optional skills
analyse big data
analyse test data
apply technical communication skills
assemble mechatronic units
assemble sensors
collaborate with designers
coordinate communication within a team
design automation components
develop strategies to solve problems
Recycling 2022, 7, 32 16 of 20

Table 7. Cont.

estimate restoration costs

execute software tests
install automation components
install hydraulic systems
install mechatronic equipment
lead process optimisation
maintain hydraulic systems
maintain nuclear reactors
maintain power plants
maintain robotic equipment
maintain sensor equipment
operate battery test equipment
operate hydraulic machinery controls
operate hydraulic pumps
operate hydrogen extraction equipment
optimise production
optimise production processes parameters
perform data analysis
perform data mining
perform maintenance on installed equipment
perform risk analysis
provide customer information related to repairs
provide technical documentation
read standard blueprints
record test data
repair battery components
research ocean energy projects
simulate mechatronic design concepts
solve technical problems
test mechatronic units
test sensors
use computerised maintenance management systems
use remote control equipment
use specific data analysis software
utilise machine learning
write records for repairs
Future essential skills
Preventive and predictive maintenance
Quality assurance methodologies
Remote control and smart sensoring
Digital literacy
Solid literacy
Supply chain principles/management
Machine learning
Artificial Intelligence
Material reutilisation
Resource efficiency
Electrical engineering
Electronics
Use of drones
Human–robot collaboration
Digital twin
Cyber-physical systems (CPS)
Monitoring systems of energy consumption
Process analysis
Continuous learning
Virtual reality and augmented reality
Smart grid technology knowledge
Recycling 2022, 7, 32 17 of 20

Table 7. Cont.

IoT
Cloud technologies
Cybersecurity
Smart factory and intelligent factory Internet of Services
Energy conservation and energy efficiency
Future optional skills
Problem solving
Autonomy
Critical thinking
Coordination
Environmental awareness
Waste reduction
Waste management
Cross-functional thinking
Human machine interfaces
ROVs remotely operated vehicles
Online inspection and monitoring
Sustainable resource management
Teamwork
Adaptability to change
3Rs, reuse, recycle, reduce

If we change the “Maintenance and repair engineer” occupation to another job profile,
all the aforementioned data related to the new job profile will show up on the table
automatically, replacing the previous information about the “Maintenance and repair
engineer”. Thus, we call it a smart table, and the automation of the database makes this
technology possible. This method makes the database a much more helpful and user-
friendly tool since it allows the user to perform an instant search and achieve the result
with only a short statement in a short period of time. Therefore, the database can be used
very efficiently by companies, training developers, education centres and policymakers.
We also believe that the generated database with future skills could support the
evolution and upgrades of the current ESCO database.

4. Conclusions
Over the last few years, emerging digitalisation and transformations towards a more
sustainable and energy-efficient industry has profoundly affected the manufacturing sectors.
These sectors’ processes are undergoing considerable changes from the implementation
of smart technologies and newly introduced environmental regulations. Therefore, the
industry needs a multi-skilled labour force that handles the challenges arising from the
industry’s digital and green transformation and converts them into opportunities. This
competent workforce can be generated by foreseeing the skill changes in the manufacturing
industry and upskilling and reskilling the current labour force correspondingly.
In order to deal with this need, we developed an automated skill database for the
most representative IS- and EE-related occupations in the manufacturing sectors. This
database was created to incorporate not only current skill needs but also future ones in
order to be an efficient tool for identifying the skill gaps for each profile. To determine
the current skill needs and descriptions of the selected occupation, we used the ESCO
database. However, we did not have any concrete database for future skill needs. Therefore,
we needed to develop future skills in the database. For this aim, we performed detailed
desktop research to identify foreseen skill requirements (presented in Section 2). After
analysing the information, we incorporated it into the database. Therefore, our main
contribution to the generated database is the development of future skills.
The main difference between our database and conventional ones, such as ESCO,
is that ours includes the foreseen skill needs for each job profile. ESCO is a very well-
Recycling 2022, 7, 32 18 of 20

developed and efficient database; however, it needs to be enhanced with respect to future
skills due to the continuous evolution of job profiles. Our work aimed to fill that gap,
and we generated a specific database for the manufacturing sectors that provides the end-
users with information about the new skill requirements resulting from industrial changes
and sustainability needs. In addition, the validation of the results was performed by the
partners of the SPIRE-SAIS project.
The developed database can be used as a fundamental tool for manufacturing sectors,
training and education programmes, universities or policymakers. It can be a guide for
training programmes and, by applying the right training, for the sector. It will help to
bridge the skill gap between what is expected of the industry and what currently exists.
The results of the research are able to contribute to the continuous improvement of ESCO
since the outcomes are compatible with the ESCO structure.
This study can also serve as a blueprint for future research on this subject.

Supplementary Materials: The following supporting information can be downloaded at: https://www.
mdpi.com/article/10.3390/recycling7030032/s1, Table S1: An overview of the generated database:
name of the job profile, weblink for ESCO, alternative labels for the profile, profile description and
ISCO code; Table S2: An overview of the generated database: current skill needs of the selected job
profiles, categorised as essential and optional; Table S3: An overview of the generated database:
identified future skill needs of the selected job profiles, categorised as essential and optional.
Author Contributions: T.A., P.d.V. and A.G. took part in the writing, conceptualisation, methodology
and investigation stages; A.O. took part in the conceptualisation and investigation stages. All authors
have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.
Funding: The research described in the present paper was developed within the projects entitled
“Skills and Competences Needed for the Maximization of Energy Efficiency and Industrial Symbiosis
(S4SYMB)” and “Blueprint “New Skills Agenda Steel”: Industry-driven sustainable European Steel
Skills Agenda and Strategy (ESSA)”. The S4SYMB project is funded by the Euskampus foundation
and Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy, whereas the ESSA project is funded by the Erasmus Plus
Programme of the European Union, Grant Agreement No 2018-3019/001-001, Project No. 600886-
1-2018-1-DE-EPPKA2-SSA-B. The sole responsibility for the issues treated in the present paper lies
with the authors; the Commission is not responsible for any use that may be made of the information
contained therein.
Institutional Review Board Statement: Not applicable.
Data Availability Statement: All data generated in this research have been publicly posted as
Supplementary Material.
Acknowledgments: The authors gratefully acknowledge the European Union for the opportunity
granted, which has made the development of the present work possible. The authors also wish to
thank all partners of the project for their support and the fruitful discussion that led to the successful
completion of the present work.
Conflicts of Interest: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

References
1. Lieder, M.; Rashid, A. Towards Circular Economy Implementation: A Comprehensive Review in Context of Manufacturing
Industry. J. Clean. Prod. 2016, 115, 36–51. [CrossRef]
2. Behun, M.; Gavurova, B.; Tkacova, A.; Kotaskova, A. The Impact of the Manufacturing Industry on the Economic Cycle of
European Union Countries. J. Compet. 2018, 10, 23–39. [CrossRef]
3. European Commission. SETIS Magazine Digitalisation of the Energy Sector Looking Back 10 Years of Forward Thinking Set Plan Funding
Low-Carbon Technologies Energy Systems Modelling Low-Carbon Heating and Cooling the Relevance of the Water-Energy Nexus for EU
Policies Digitalis; European Commission: Brussels, Belgium, 2016.
4. Bongomin, O.; Ocen, G.G.; Nganyi, E.O.; Musinguzi, A.; Omara, T. Exponential Disruptive Technologies and the Required Skills
of Industry 4.0. J. Eng. 2020, 2020, 4280156. [CrossRef]
5. International Renewable Energy Agency. Innovation Landscape for a Renewable-Powered Future: Solutions to Integrate Variable
Renewables; IRENA: Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, 2019.
Recycling 2022, 7, 32 19 of 20

6. International Labour Organization. Skills for a Greener Future: A Global View Based on 32 Country Studies; International Labour
Organization: Geneva, Switzerland, 2019.
7. Ciliberto, C.; Szopik-Depczyńska, K.; Tarczyńska-Łuniewska, M.; Ruggieri, A.; Ioppolo, G. Enabling the Circular Economy
Transition: A Sustainable Lean Manufacturing Recipe for Industry 4.0. Bus. Strategy Environ. 2021, 30, 3255–3272. [CrossRef]
8. International Renewable Energy Agency. World Energy Transitions Outlook 1.5 ◦ C Pathway; IRENA: Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, 2021.
9. Eirini, S.; Nikos, R.; Konstantinos, K. Environmental Productivity Growth and Convergence of European Manufacturing Industries. Are
They under Pressure?; MPRA: Munich, Germany, 2022.
10. Kueppers, M.; Pineda, S.N.P.; Metzger, M.; Huber, M.; Paulus, S.; Heger, H.J.; Niessen, S. Decarbonization Pathways of Worldwide
Energy Systems—Definition and Modeling of Archetypes. Appl. Energy 2021, 285, 116438. [CrossRef]
11. Borowski, P.F. Digitization, Digital Twins, Blockchain, and Industry 4.0 as Elements of Management Process in Enterprises in the
Energy Sector. Energies 2021, 14, 1885. [CrossRef]
12. Forum Energii. Energy Boost for Poland over Pln 580 Bn (Eur 132.2 Bn) and 240 000 New Jobs Will Lift Poland from the Recession,
Modernise Its Economy, and Increase the Welfare of Poles; Forum Energii: Warsaw, Poland, 2020.
13. Freddi, D. Digitalisation and Employment in Manufacturing Pace of the Digitalisation Process and Impact on Employment in
Advanced Italian Manufacturing Companies. AI Soc. 2017, 33, 393–403. [CrossRef]
14. Ghobakhloo, M. The Future of Manufacturing Industry: A Strategic Roadmap toward Industry 4.0. J. Manuf. Technol. Manag.
2018, 29, 910–936. [CrossRef]
15. Akyazi, T.; Goti, A.; Oyarbide, A.; Alberdi, E.; Bayon, F. A Guide for the Food Industry to Meet the Future Skills Requirements
Emerging with Industry 4.0. Foods 2020, 9, 492. [CrossRef] [PubMed]
16. Akyazi, T.; Goti, A.; Oyarbide-Zubillaga, A.; Alberdi, E.; Carballedo, R.; Ibeas, R.; Garcia-Bringas, P. Skills Requirements for the
European Machine Tool Sector Emerging from Its Digitalization. Metals 2020, 10, 1665. [CrossRef]
17. European Commission. Economic and Social Committee, the Committee of the Regions and the European Investment Bank Investing in a
Smart, Innovative and Sustainable Industry a Renewed EU Industrial Policy Strategy; European Commission: Brussels, Belgium, 2017.
18. Jacques, B.; Eric, H.; Susan, L.; Peter, D.; Anna, W.; Subramaniam, A. Automation and the Workforce of the Future; McKinsey:
New York, NY, USA, 2018.
19. Hernandez, D.M.; Peralta, G.; Manero, L.; Gomez, R.; Bilbao, J.; Zubia, C. Energy and Coverage Study of LPWAN Schemes for
Industry 4.0. In Proceedings of the 2017 IEEE International Workshop of Electronics, Control, Measurement, Signals and Their
Application to Mechatronics (ECMSM), Donostia, Spain, 24–26 May 2017. [CrossRef]
20. Arcelay, I.; Goti, A.; Oyarbide-Zubillaga, A.; Akyazi, T.; Alberdi, E.; Garcia-Bringas, P. Definition of the Future Skills Needs of Job
Profiles in the Renewable Energy Sector. Energies 2021, 14, 2609. [CrossRef]
21. Faheem, M.; Shah, S.B.H.; Butt, R.A.; Raza, B.; Anwar, M.; Ashraf, M.W.; Ngadi, M.A.; Gungor, V.C. Smart Grid Communication and
Information Technologies in the Perspective of Industry 4.0: Opportunities and Challenges. Comput. Sci. Rev. 2018, 30, 1–30. [CrossRef]
22. Market Prospects the History of Industry 4.0 and How to Changing Machine Tools|Market Prospects. Available online:
https://www.market-prospects.com/articles/industry-4-0-how-to-changing-machine-tools (accessed on 5 April 2022).
23. Chen, B.; Wan, J.; Shu, L.; Li, P.; Mukherjee, M.; Yin, B. Smart Factory of Industry 4.0: Key Technologies, Application Case, and
Challenges. IEEE Access 2018, 6, 6505–6519. [CrossRef]
24. Rafael, L.D.; Jaione, G.E.; Cristina, L.; Ibon, S.L. An Industry 4.0 Maturity Model for Machine Tool Companies. Technol. Forecast.
Soc. Chang. 2020, 159, 120203. [CrossRef]
25. Akyazi, T.; Oyarbide, A.; Goti, A.; Gaviria, J.; Bayon, F. Creating a Roadmap for Professional Skills in Industry 4.0. Hydrocarb.
Process. 2020, 99, 50–51.
26. Hecklau, F.; Orth, R.; Kidschun, F.; Orth, R.; Kohl, H. Human Resources Management: Meta-Study-Analysis of Future Compe-
tences in Industry 4.0. In Proceedings of the 3th European Conference on Management, Leadership and Governance, London,
UK, 11–12 December 2017.
27. Vella, K.; Reines, R.; Gontarz, A.; Group, C.T.M. The European Machine Tool Sector and the Circular Economy; CECIMO: Brussels,
Belgium, 2019.
28. European Commission. European Commission; European Commission: Brussels, Belgium, 2019.
29. Czako, V. Employment in the Energy Sector Status Report 2020; Publications Office of the European Union: Luxembourg, 2020. [CrossRef]
30. Del Castillo Vera, E.P.P.P.; Jens Geier, S.S. BRIEFING EU Legislation in Progress Proposal for a Regulation Establishing the European
Cybersecurity Industrial, Technology and Research Competence Centre and the Network of National Coordination Centres; EPRS European
Parliamentary Research Service: Brussels, Belgium, 2021.
31. Akyazi, T.; Alvarez, I.; Alberdi, E.; Oyarbide-Zubillaga, A.; Goti, A.; Bayon, F. Skills Needs of the Civil Engineering Sector in the
European Union Countries: Current Situation and Future Trends. Appl. Sci. 2020, 10, 7226. [CrossRef]
32. Spire-Sais Skills Alliance for Industrial Symbiosis—A Cross-Sectoral Blueprint for a Sustainable Process Industry|SPIRE. Available
online: https://www.aspire2050.eu/sais (accessed on 14 April 2022).
33. Accenture Building Greater Cyber Resilience in Renewables|Accenture. 2020. Available online: https://www.accenture.com/
_acnmedia/PDF-125/Accenture-Cybersecurity-Renewables-Services.pdf#zoom=50 (accessed on 16 April 2022).
34. Lindzon, J. How AI Is Changing the Way Companies Are Organized. Available online: https://www.fastcompany.com/3068492/
how-ai-is-changing-the-way-companies-are-organized (accessed on 4 April 2022).
Recycling 2022, 7, 32 20 of 20

35. Deming, D.J.; Barrera-Osorio, F.; Chandra, A.; Khwaja, A.; Manning, A.; Michaels, G.; Miratrix, L.; Muralid-haran, K.; Pager, D.;
Rogers, T.; et al. The Growing Importance of Social Skills in the Labor Market. Q. J. Econ. 2017, 132, 1593–1640. [CrossRef]
36. ISCO. International Standard Classification of Occupations; ILO: Geneva, Switzerland, 2012.
37. Chan, S.W.; Zaman, I.; Ahmad, M.F.; Zaman, I.; Ko, W.S. Employers’ Perception on Important Employability Skills in the
Manufacturing Industry E-Procurement Technology for Sustainable Procurement View Project Supply Chain Development for
Entrepreneurship and Business View Project Employers’ Perception on Important Employability Skills in the Manufacturing
Industry. Int. J. Eng. Technol. 2018, 7, 170–175. [CrossRef]
38. Hecklau, F.; Orth, R.; Kidschun, F.; Orth, R.; Kohl, H. Human Resources Management: Meta-Study-Analysis of Future Com-
petences in Industry 4.0. In Proceedings of the International Conference on Intellectual Capital, Knowledge Management &
Organizational Learning, Hong Kong, China, 7–8 December 2017; pp. 163–174.
39. Froy, F.; Giguère, S.; Meghnagi, M. Skills for Competitiveness: A Synthesis Report; OECD: Paris, France, 2012.
40. Overton, T.; Mcgarvey, D.J. Development of Key Skills and Attributes in Chemistry. Chem. Educ. Res. Pract. 2017, 18, 401. [CrossRef]
41. Grundke, R.; Jamet, S.; Kalamova, M.; Squicciarini, M. Having the Right Mix: The Role of Skill Bundles for Comparative Advantage and
Industry Performance in GVCs; OECD: Paris, France, 2017. [CrossRef]
42. University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership (CISL). Working towards a Climate Neutral Europe: Jobs and Skills in
a Changing World; CISL: Cambridge, UK, 2020.
43. Esco. Available online: https://esco.ec.europa.eu/en/classification/occupation_main (accessed on 8 April 2022).