European Commission Official Warns EU Workforce Will Shrink by About One Million a Year by 2050

Andriana Sukova, Deputy Director-General of the Commission's Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion, made the remarks on Monday at the Y50+ Talents forum in Sofia, according to BTA, the Bulgarian News Agency.

She said the problem is not limited to Bulgaria. According to her figures, children aged 14 and under make up 14.4% of the population, while people over 64 make up around 20%. The over-64 share has risen by 2.9 percentage points over the past few years. The rise is steepest in Poland (5.5 points), followed by Slovakia (4.8) and Croatia (4.3).

The part of the workforce she focused on is people aged 55 to 64. Sukova said a significant share of them are already outside the labour market, often against their wishes. She named a lack of adequate support services and care facilities for older people as one main reason. Health problems are another. She also said pension rules and access to extra social benefits can make early retirement easier.

The gap between countries is wide. In Czechia, around one-third of people aged 55 to 64 are outside the labour market. In Slovenia, more than half are.

Sukova also pointed to age discrimination. Employers, she said, often look for people who will fit young and dynamic teams and may overlook the knowledge of older staff. She argued that younger workers' enthusiasm should be paired with older colleagues' experience and judgement, and that people who can no longer carry the same workload should not be pushed out of working life.

On policy, she said about 2.3 million people have received support for continuing education in the 2021–2027 programming period. Measures have included adapting workplaces to employees' needs and subsidies that encourage employers to keep their staff. Drawing on assessments of European Social Fund projects from the previous period, she described mentoring schemes that pair older and younger employees as among the most effective approaches. She said they matter most in technical occupations, where practical knowledge is passed on directly.

For employers and investors, the implication is a tighter labour supply, though the source does not quantify any economic effect. Sukova framed the issue as one of competitiveness, saying a key EU aim is to make full use of its human capital. Her comments suggest that retention, workplace adaptation and mentoring could become more central to workforce planning. Whether they can offset a decline of this size is not addressed in the source.

Earlier at the forum, Bulgaria's Labour and Social Policy Minister Nataliya Efremova said the government recognises the potential of people over 50 and is committed to supporting their participation in the labour market.

What to watch next

Whether national governments change pension rules, care services and antidiscrimination measures to keep more people aged 55 to 64 in work, and how the EU directs its next round of social funding.