Identifying Competency Gaps to Support the Sustainable Transition of the European Copper Industry

Copper is a strategic raw material for the European economy, while the sector’s ongoing green and digital transformation is creating new competency requirements and intensifying workforce development challenges. The objective of this study was to identify and analyse competency gaps among selected occupational groups considered strategic for the sustainable development of the copper sector, with a specific focus on European countries covered by the Regional Innovation Scheme (RIS). A mixed-methods research design was applied, combining desk research, a computer-assisted web interview (CAWI) survey and focus group interviews (FGIs). Six strategic occupational profiles covering EQF levels 3–7 were identified through desk research and expert input from industrial partners. The quantitative survey comprised 250 complete responses from employees and managers of copper-sector companies in Poland, Greece and Bulgaria, while the qualitative stage involved focus group interviews with employees representing different organisational and occupational groups in the same three countries. The findings indicate that the analysed occupational profiles require a combination of specialised STEM knowledge and skills with competencies related to modern automation and digitalisation, including VR/AR/XR and artificial intelligence. The identified competency gaps concerned both professional skills, including the use of digital technologies, information processing and technical documentation, and transversal skills, particularly problem solving, adaptability, communication, teamwork and analytical thinking. The findings provide an empirical basis for identifying priority areas for upskilling and reskilling and for developing targeted lifelong learning solutions for the occupational profiles and industrial contexts examined in the study.