A paradox in the Basque labor market. More people than ever are working, but almost eight out of ten companies are struggling to find the professional profiles they need. You can also be thirsty in an oasis, and Confebask Employment Manager Carlos Pereda explains the keys to this "mismatch" between employment supply and demand.

The Baby Boom generation is starting to retire. It covers a wide spectrum, from 1957 to 1977, and is the largest part of the population of the Basque Country. The equation of the three transitions that the economy is going through - digital, energy and health/social - makes it very difficult to achieve the unknown. Will there be enough qualified professionals to replace current and future knowledge and employment in the coming years?

The answer is not simple, but the solution to the current problem and the one coming in the medium term is through training and - barring a miracle of the birth rate - immigration. Both issues are essential for the Basque productive fabric, because the search for workers for the most in-demand jobs is precisely what creates the most headaches.

This year, as Confebaske's Employment Manager explained, "recruitment profiles for informatics and communication have created Vocational Education and university levels. And at the top of the company's demand is IT VET. They are seeking staff for software development, equipment maintenance, device-to-device communications, hardware installation, and connection security.

Secondly, companies require professionals related to industrial production also in the field of vocational training. Mechanical manufacturing, increasingly linked to digitization, is an ever-increasing employment niche and the knowledge of the environment of the workers working today, who know how to adapt from the most basic machine to remote control, is difficult to replace.

There is also a great demand in the field of Vocational Education, as well as difficulties in finding employees, in the profiles of company administration and management, also somewhat related to digitalization.