2025 was a pivotal year for Generation Europe. Across the continent, we strengthened our impact, expanded our partnerships, and deepened our contribution to Europe’s Union of Skills agenda at a moment when the continent faces profound labour market challenges. With the digital and green transitions accelerating, demographic and geopolitical pressures mounting, and employers struggling to find qualified talent, our mission has never been more essential.

Last year, Generation graduated 3,658 learners in Europe, out of which 77% were placed into jobs 6 months post-graduation. Over 41% of our graduates were women and 89% were unemployed before Generation. We not only delivered strong outcomes for learners and employers, but also helped shape the broader conversation on how Europe can build a more inclusive, competitive, and resilient workforce. 

Launching the Europe Impact Report 2024–2025

On May 9th, Europe Day, we released the Generation Europe Impact Report 2024–2025, an overview of our work across France, Ireland, Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom. The report highlights the scale of our programmes, the strength of our employer relationships, and the long‑term outcomes achieved by our graduates. It also showcases our growing contribution to green and digital skills, our expansion into new regions and cities, and the durability of our impact, years after learners complete their programmes.

Advancing Public–Private–Philanthropic Partnerships (4Ps)

A major theme of 2025 was the growing recognition that Europe’s skills challenges cannot be solved by any single actor alone. To advance this conversation, Generation Europe convened two high‑level roundtables in Brussels, bringing together senior policymakers from the European Parliament and Commission, corporate leaders, philanthropic funders, and VET associations. Together, these actors explored how cross‑sector collaboration can mobilise resources, de‑risk innovation, and support people at the margins of the labour market.

Our first roundtable in June took place shortly after the European Commission presented the Union of Skills, outlining Europe’s priorities around quality jobs, talent development, and lifelong learning. Against the backdrop of 75% of companies struggling to hire and tens of millions of Europeans unemployed or inactive, participants examined how 4Ps can help translate these priorities into concrete action. The discussion focused on real examples of partnerships that already bridge public, private, and nonprofit capabilities to equip people with the needed skills.

The second roundtable in December built directly on the foundations laid in June, shifting the focus from agenda‑setting to how 4Ps can be scaled and institutionalised. Participants explored how cross‑sector partnerships can support people at the margins of the labour market to (re)enter employment, especially as Europe’s working‑age population shrinks and skills shortages intensify. The conversation highlighted the unique value each sector brings – public scale, private speed, and nonprofit depth – and emphasised the need for shared accountability, blended financing, and de-risking mechanisms to unlock wider impact.

During this second roundtable, we launched our new report, Public‑Private‑Philanthropic Partnerships for Workforce Development in Europe. The publication presents five case studies from France, Ireland, Italy, Spain, and the UK, illustrating how blended financing, shared governance, and employer‑driven design can transform training ecosystems. It also offers a practical roadmap for scaling 4Ps across Europe to meet urgent skills needs for the green and digital transitions.

Strengthening Inter‑Regional Learning and Internal Capabilities

2025 was also a year of deep organisational learning. In June, our European CEOs and Curriculum & Instruction Leads travelled to India for an inter‑regional offsite focused on scaling strategies and collaboration with training service providers (TSPs). The visit offered valuable insights into how Generation India operates at scale, builds strong TSP partnerships, and delivers consistently high‑quality outcomes – lessons that will inform our European growth in the years ahead.

In December, we brought together our Business Development and Placement teams in Brussels for a dedicated workshop. The gathering allowed teams from across Europe to exchange best practices, align on employer engagement strategies, and hear from external speakers from Brussels‑based NGOs and public employment institutions. These sessions strengthened our internal capabilities and reinforced our commitment to continuous improvement.

Recognition for Excellence

In October, Generation Europe was honoured once again with the 3rd Prize Trainer of the Year Awards from the EIT Deep Tech Talent Initiative during the Deep Tech Skills Days in Brussels. This recognition reflects our commitment to delivering high‑quality, industry‑aligned training that prepares learners for the jobs of the future. We are also grateful to EVTA for the Driving Policy Change Award and to SolarPower Europe for the Gold Solar Diversity Champion Award granted to Generation Spain.

Leading the Way on Impact Measurement and Innovation

2025 was also a breakthrough year for our work on data and evidence. In October, Generation Europe was selected as a finalist to present our data framework for driving decisions and proving long‑term impact at the Social Innovation Forum in Brussels. Our case study – now published in the Social Innovation Match database – demonstrates how we track learner outcomes over time, measure return on investment, and use data to continuously improve programme design.

This recognition positions Generation at the forefront of advancing rigorous, transparent, and actionable impact measurement in Europe. It reinforces our belief that durable employment outcomes – not just short‑term placements – must be at the centre of workforce development policy.

In parallel, we continued to engage with the emerging challenges and opportunities posed by AI in workforce development, exploring how our training approaches, curricula, and employer engagement must evolve to ensure that learners – especially those furthest from the labour market – can benefit from, rather than be displaced by, AI‑driven change.

Looking Ahead to 2026

As we enter 2026, we are committed to deepening our impact and strengthening our role as a system‑level actor in Europe’s skills ecosystem. A key focus will be our work with the Durability Collective, where we will continue to refine our approach to long‑term impact measurement and explore new ways to assess the durability of outcomes. We will also expand our 4Ps collaborations, scale successful models and continue advocating for policies that place inclusion, data-backed evidence, and employer needs at the heart of Europe’s skills agenda.