Europe’s workforce crisis: Ignoring Roma is sabotaging competitiveness – POLITICO

Europe is running out of workers — and fast. Former Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta warns that aging populations, low birth rates and persistent labor shortages are putting Europe’s economic future at serious risk. According to former European Central Bank President Mario Draghi, nearly 2 million workers will vanish from the European labor market each year over the next 15 years. Even with migration, the influx isn’t enough to offset the decline — and neither Draghi nor Letta suggests that artificial intelligence alone will solve the problem.

Amid this crisis, the EU has overlooked a solution that’s right under its nose: the Roma. With around 6 million people — the size of Denmark or Finland — the Roma are Europe’s largest, youngest and fastest-growing minority. Adaptable, multilingual, resilient and entrepreneurial, the Roma bring precisely the kind of dynamism Europe needs to rejuvenate its workforce.

Locked-out potential

According to the World Bank, fully integrating Roma into the labor market could add billions to Europe’s GDP.