EfVET is pleased to be present at WorldSkills Shanghai 2026 and the WorldSkills Conference 2026, joining the international TVET community for one of the most important global gatherings dedicated to skills, excellence and vocational education and training.
The scale itself is remarkable: around 1,400 young Competitors from more than 70 countries and regions, while the WorldSkills Conference brings together more than 2,000 delegates. But beyond the numbers, several messages are emerging strongly from Shanghai.
- Skills are about much more than getting a job. One particularly significant message coming from the Chinese approach is the recognition of skills as a fundamental part of people’s liveability, personal development and capacity to participate in society. This goes hand in hand with a strong emphasis on lifelong learning: skills development cannot stop with initial education, but must accompany people throughout their professional and personal lives.
- The relationship between enterprises and TVET providers must become deeper and more structural. Cooperation should not concern training alone. Employers and VET institutions increasingly need to work together on skills identification, assessment, recognition and portability, including across borders. WorldSkills itself demonstrates how a common language around occupational excellence can support this international dimension.
- We need to look beyond AI when discussing the skills of the present and future. Artificial intelligence and robotics are transforming economies, but other strategic areas deserve equal attention: semiconductors, advanced transport, maritime industries and water management, and construction. These “future sectors” already require major investment in skills, trainers, infrastructure and cooperation with industry.
- Several initiatives deserve close attention in the coming months and years. Among them are the proposed Global Skills Innovation Centre, announced by the Chinese Government; the coming launch of OECD PISA-VET, which aims to strengthen international understanding and assessment of vocational and employability skills; and new approaches to using AI and labour-market data to support evidence-based, data-driven management of TVET systems.
Yet, above all, WorldSkills is about young people.
Walking through the Competition means seeing the concentration, commitment, emotion and pride of thousands of young people who are demonstrating what vocational excellence really means. They are not a side element of the debate about the future of skills. They are its protagonists.
For EfVET, being here together with members and partners, while sharing our own experience in many of these areas of VET development, means bringing back to our community new connections, fresh ideas and a renewed sense of inspiration.
A sincere thank you and congratulations to WorldSkills International, CEO David Hoey, and the whole WorldSkills community for welcoming EfVET to Shanghai, as well as to our partner WorldSkills Europe.
We leave Shanghai proud of this experience — and with our eyes already looking towards the next opportunities for the skills community, including EuroSkills and Abilympics in 2027.