The second Regional Conference on "Establishing an European Network for Anticipating Skill Needs in the Commerce Sector" was held in Helsinki June 15.

30 participants from the social partners, retail companies, ministries and experts took part in this hearing with focus on the Nordic countries and SMEs in retail.

Hasse Karlsson, President at ITM Worldwide Foundation made a presentation on "How to attaract talents to SMEs in retail". The retail sector has an image problem and difficulties to attract talents and the knowledge gap between universities and companies calls for vocational training  to bridge the gap. "There is a need for an international vocational training in combination with a company trainee program and an experienced business coach to implement the new knowledge", says Hasse Karlsson. The question is - who will provide this training, who will pay and how do you get an European transparancy to encourage mobility among content providers and participants.