“Looking at the statistics – what is the shortage of labor and what are the available jobs – for example, in the Vilnius region there are only nine vacancies per unemployed person, while in other regions it is completely different. So, we need an investment policy that would help create more jobs in smaller regions,” said Rene Leon Solano, the World Bank’s chief economist for social protection and labor, at last week’s discussion in Šeduva titled “Regional labor market: challenges, possible policy measures, the role of regions.”
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He also added that future risks are unevenly distributed – automation in Lithuania could affect about 8–10% of jobs. This is less than the OECD average, but it is precisely in Central and Western Lithuania where more jobs may disappear or be automated.
Contributing to this, he said, are weak basic adult skills – according to literacy, numeracy, and adaptive problem-solving indicators, Lithuania ranks among the lowest-rated OECD countries.
Why qualifications and jobs do not match
According to Tomas Stončius, advisor to the President of the Republic of Lithuania, some municipalities and regions, due to geographic location or other reasons, do not have advantages that would naturally attract investments, and consequently, high value-added jobs do not emerge. Therefore, in his view, it is necessary to move from thinking about individual municipalities to thinking on a regional scale.
“For one municipality, especially a smaller one, it is really difficult to attract both business and specialists. But if we start turning the question towards cooperation <…>, then cooperation, looking at economic development not through municipalities but through the region, can yield results,” said T. Stončius.
Vilnius University (VU) Faculty of Philosophy associate professor Dr. Rūta Brazienė, in turn, pointed out that a high education level does not yet guarantee results: some young people who have even obtained higher education neither work nor study and become recipients of social assistance. According to her, the number of Employment Service clients along with available jobs in the regions shows that the match simply does not happen.
“Here is the classic path: what I want, what I can do, and what is needed. The question of ‘what is needed’ is not always answered. And what is needed? What does society need, what does the market need, what does the region need?” pondered R. Brazienė.
According to the VU associate professor, today there is a lack of fundamental knowledge about the portfolio of competencies in individual regions and what they actually lack.
The situation is not improved by entrenched attitudes. One of them – distrust of vocational training, as named by Dr. Vytautas Petkūnas, director of the Visaginas Engineering and Technology Training Center.
“In Lithuania, there is still a lack of trust in vocational training – both from the business side and from our clients, people, students. And the stigma we have carried for many years does not actually correspond to reality,” said V. Petkūnas.
As he noted, universities and colleges attract the majority of those who want to study, so vocational training often remains for those who find it harder to work in skilled jobs in engineering or manufacturing – where a large part of the country’s GDP is created.
Regions better see the local labor market situation
How the issue of qualifications turns into a governance issue was demonstrated by Nerijus Cesiulis, mayor of Alytus city municipality. According to him, the Alytus region, which unites five municipalities, recently received a letter from the ministry stating that due to a declining population, admissions to vocational schools will be reduced.
“I understand that the woman or man working in the ministry, who collects reports, sees data from two years ago, sees the declining number of people and says: ‘We will reduce it for you.’ What does this mean? We will not be able to offer the labor market people who have qualifications,” said N. Cesiulis.
The region responded with other data – how many people return and how many investment contracts have been signed, under which specialists will soon be needed. According to N. Cesiulis, the previous decision was canceled, and the result is already visible this September: 20% more students at the vocational training center, 35% more students at the Alytus faculty of Kaunas College.
In turn, T. Stončius said that a region where business, educational institution leaders, and mayors sit at the same table best sees its vision and refined specialization, so it should also have the tools to implement it.
“Such decisions should not be made in Vilnius, because probably the same region, assessing its labor market, seeing statistics, seeing employment data, could and should not just advise or send a recommendation to the ministry, but directly have the ability to influence it,” commented T. Stončius.
However, in his view, this does not mean that the state withdraws: central strategic projects, such as Rail Baltica, and strategic policy directions remain its responsibility, while there are solutions in the field of qualifications, retraining, and apprenticeships that belong to the local level.
“The state must set standards, draw up strategies, accredit programs, but it should not determine how many learning places are needed in a specific region. <…> The state does its work, municipalities and regions do theirs, but to do that work, they need to have tools, rights, and opportunities,” said T. Stončius.
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Untapped potential: those already here and those who could return
A separate thread of the discussion was people who are already in the labor market or could be, but remain on the sidelines. R. L. Solano reminded that without basic skills, it is difficult for a person not only to find a job but also to climb the career ladder, so these skills need to be developed not only for children but also for adults.
Meanwhile, R. Brazienė emphasized that as society ages, the use of untapped potential becomes increasingly important, and older people leave the labor market too early – choosing early retirement or other alternatives.
“It is important to include those people, perhaps by giving them a second chance, more favorable retraining opportunities, or simply partnerships with business,” said R. Brazienė.
According to her, it is worth looking at the practices of other countries where a person does not necessarily work a standard eight-hour day or a full workweek. Such solutions would especially strengthen regions where aging is more pronounced than in big cities.
V. Petkūnas also spoke about openness: in his view, vocational training institutions must be accessible to as wide a range of people as possible – both in terms of age and education level. More than a tenth of the students at his center already have a university engineering degree and come to learn how equipment works in practice.
Moreover, he emphasized, it is important to cooperate with companies for which vocational institutions can prepare the necessary specialists. As an example, he cited cooperation with “Intersurgical,” a manufacturer of respiratory care medical devices operating in Pabradė.
“We started a friendship with this company, and over four successful years we have trained over 200 people – specifically technicians, automated production specialists, mechatronics specialists just for this company. After four years, the company decided and built a new factory in Visaginas. Today, this means 1,500 future jobs. Imagine what such a dramatic positive change means for a region and a city with 25,000 inhabitants,” said V. Petkūnas.
R. L. Solano responded similarly, emphasizing the importance of cooperation with the private sector.
“<…> It would be possible to check what capacities are needed, what skills are needed. Especially if we work with small and medium-sized enterprises – to see if there is an available budget that would help people improve and increase those qualifications,” he said.
Another source of labor, mentioned by N. Cesiulis, is emigrants. According to him, ten companies building factories in Alytus will need more than 2,000 employees, so the municipality went to talk to compatriots directly at a diaspora event in the United Kingdom.
“People who have left said: ‘I have been abroad for 20 years, but no one has asked me to come back home.’ We really worked with them, and, for example, now we have a ratio: one leaves, three return,” said N. Cesiulis.
The mayor believes that a person does not return where it is worse or where the salary is lower. According to him, people return where their family, parents, and roots are. Therefore, said the head of Alytus city, by offering a safe environment and work, people return and start families – this is also seen in schools, where children who did not attend kindergartens here appear in the first grades.
At the same time, N. Cesiulis warned that return does not happen by itself – the ground must be prepared: return and integration programs, Lithuanian language learning, vocational training, studies in foreign languages for those who no longer speak Lithuanian.
The participants did not formulate a single answer as to how many decisions should remain centralized and how many should go to the regions. However, they agreed on the direction: standards and strategy – for the state, and specific decisions about training places and retraining – for those who see the local labor market up close. In turn, when asked what he would wish for Lithuania, R. L. Solano emphasized not new measures but their coherence.
“I would wish that national and regional policies be coordinated, that stakeholders have capacities, that the necessary systems exist and that programs can be implemented at the regional level. And, of course, I would wish for fewer disparities and that people could return and get suitable jobs here,” he said.
“The Regional Policy Forum 2026” took place on September 3, organized by the Ministry of the Interior together with the Public Institution “Central Project Management Agency” (CPVA).
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