Vocational continuing training in Spain: Contribution to the challenge of Industry 4.0 and structural unemployment

Purpose: To diagnose the situation of vocational continuing training in Spain and propose improvements to its management to reduce the structural unemployment rate, taking into account the effects of Industry 4.0 and COVID-19. Design/methodology: Study of the background and current context of vocational continuing training and Industry 4.0 in Spain based on a review of previous academic literature, legislative developments in education and training, and various reports from public and private institutions on productivity and employment. Findings: Definition of eight challenges and lines of action related to completing the implementation of Industry 4.0 and adopting coordinated policies to develop VCT, improving the governance of the FCP by the public administration, promoting training in work and vocational training and guidance for the unemployed, meeting business recruitment needs, promoting business-university relationships, and reducing unemployment. Practical implications: Adapting vocational continuing training to economic sectors where there is more demand for employment and to regions where there is more structural unemployment can contribute to the overall reduction of structural unemployment in Spain. These decreases could have immediate consequences for those who become employed and allow a quicker recovery in future economic crises. Originality/value: This study, despite the scarce empirical evidence that exists about Spanish vocational continuing training, provides a vision of the four areas in which it is developed professional training, postgraduate training, on-the-job training, and training for the unemployed to provide thirty proposals that, through education and training, promote the competitiveness of the Spanish economy and permanent employment.