With the share of white-collar workers steadily rising across our industries, trade unions must step up efforts to organise and represent them effectively.

Isabelle Barthès, industriAll Europe Deputy General Secretary, stressed:

“We have to understand the needs of especially young white-collar workers, reach out to them early in their career and make them active members of our organisations. This is essential to uphold our power and influence and to broaden the scope and coverage of our collective agreements.”

Psychosocial risks were flagged as a top priority, with unionists pointing to widespread tech stress, cognitive overload, and the failure of many companies to address structural and organisational root causes.

Participants also expressed deep concern over the persistent gender pay gap: despite being highly skilled, women engineers and STEM professionals are still paid less than their male colleagues - for example, 9% less in Sweden. Closing this gap is not only about fairness but also key to attracting and retaining talent in Europe’s industrial workforce.

Finally, participants warned that the rapid roll-out of AI systems risks amplifying inequalities if not implemented responsibly. AI trained on biased data could worsen pay gaps and career progression barriers. Workers’ representatives must be involved in shaping AI use to ensure it supports jobs, skills development, and equal opportunities.