ReSKILLING for the Journey Ahead: A Value Chain Perspective on Transport Professions in the CCAM Era

Future deployment of Connected, Cooperative, and Autonomous Mobility (CCAM) is foreseen to pose great opportunities but also challenges for the EU professionals in the mobility and transport sector. ReSKILLING contributed to the discussion at the Transport Research Arena (TRA) 2026.

One of our latest paper has explored how CCAM is rapidly transforming the transport sector and what this means for workers across Europe. By 2040, CCAM technologies are expected to be widely deployed, reshaping public transport, logistics and mobility services through smart vehicles, digital platforms and intelligent infrastructure. While these innovations promise safer, cleaner and more accessible mobility, they also bring major labour market challenges. The need for workforce adaptation is becoming increasingly urgent as automation and digitalisation change job roles across the CCAM mobility value chain.

To understand these shifts, the ReSKILLING project mapped nearly 100 CCAM-related professions and grouped them into 32 job families, covering everything from engineering and manufacturing to policy, customer services and circular-economy activities. The study shows that CCAM affects all skill levels, where some roles evolve, others disappear, and entirely new ones emerge. It also highlights that non-technical roles—such as ethics experts, policymakers and educators—are just as essential as technical ones for ensuring safe, inclusive and socially accepted deployment.

A key finding is the uneven availability of research across professions and CCAM deployment stages. High-automation scenarios are well studied, but the mid-transition phase—where organisations must adapt existing processes while integrating new technologies—remains a major knowledge gap. This contribution also stresses that digital, AI-related and cybersecurity skills are becoming fundamental across almost all roles, alongside soft skills like communication and adaptability.

Finally, the study examines how CCAM may affect different workforce groups. Young people and digitally skilled workers may benefit, while older workers, low-skilled employees and people facing social exclusion risk being left behind without targeted support. As this study puts it, the transition requires “inclusive training, equitable access, and social protection measures” to ensure that the benefits of CCAM are shared fairly.

Overall, this contribution calls for forward-looking, accessible training pathways and coordinated strategies so that Europe’s mobility workforce can navigate the transition confidently and sustainably.

The authors of the paper are Susana Val, Teresa de la Cruz, Jasper Tanis, Davide Dolente, Karoline Führer and Matina Loukea