Health and care workforce systems in Europe and globally are entering a new phase of structural stress and transformation. Beyond the acute shocks of the COVID-19 pandemic, countries now face entrenched shortages, accelerating demographic pressures, intensified migration dynamics, and widening gaps between population needs and workforce capacity. These challenges are unfolding alongside rapid digitalisation, fiscal constraints, geopolitical instability, climate-related health risks, and rising expectations regarding quality, safety, and equity of care.

Recent policy developments at European and global level – including renewed attention to workforce sustainability, skills transformation, and ethical international recruitment – have created momentum for innovation. At the same time, implementation gaps remain substantial. Evidence increasingly shows that technical solutions alone are insufficient without attention to governance, labour conditions, professional autonomy, social dialogue, and broader health system design.

This mid-term conference provides a platform to critically examine new evidence, policy approaches and practices that respond to current and emerging realities of the health and care workforce. It aims to connect research, policy and implementation perspectives, and to support learning across countries and sectors.

The conference aims to:

• Showcase recent research and analytical work on health and care workforce challenges and solutions.

• Foster dialogue between researchers, policymakers and practitioners on feasible and scalable policy responses.

• Reflect on implementation experiences, including unintended effects and lessons learned.

• Strengthen capacity for workforce policy analysis grounded in equity, sustainability and system performance.