Valencia, October 07, 2025 – Last Friday, October 3rd, we celebrated in Valencia the Empower Forum, an Aftercare meeting focused on attracting, training, and retaining talent as a key factor for the city’s competitiveness.
The event, promoted by the Invest in Valencia team, brought together representatives from universities, technology clusters, and human resources companies to analyze how to better connect higher education with real labour market needs.
Education as the foundation of talent
The first round table, titled “Talent with Recognized Excellence”, featured Inmaculada Badenes, Career Advisor and Job Manager at the Integrated Employment Service of the Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV); Stine Glismand, Director of International and Career Relations at Berklee College of Music; Nadia Ávila, Postdoctoral Researcher at the LegalTech Lab of the Universitat de València; and Carlos G. Triviño, Secretary General of Valencia Silicon Cluster.
Speakers agreed on the importance of fostering multidisciplinary projects and globally oriented degrees that prepare students for an ever-changing professional environment.
The UPV highlighted its more than 10,000 internships per year and 1,500 job offers managed in collaboration with companies. Berklee and the Universitat de València emphasized creativity and innovation as cross-cutting competencies. While the Valencia Silicon Cluster underlined the need for international-minded professionals capable of integrating into technological ecosystems.
A labour market in transformation
The second round table, “The Labour Market – Recruiting for the Best Fit”, brought together Paula García Andreu, Human Capital Consultant at BO Growth; Joaquín Pérez de los Cobos Cerdà, Associate Executive Manager at Michael Page; Javier Martínez Olleta, Leader at Claire Joster; and Adrián Villanueva, Head of Strategic Partnerships at the Center for Digital Technology and Management (CDTM).
Experts agreed that the labour market is evolving towards a model where technical skills must be complemented by human competencies such as communication, adaptability, and teamwork.
Among the most valued skills by companies were autonomy, motivation, and the ability to contribute to the communitya.
They also pointed out the main gaps observed in candidates. Lack of practical experience and understanding of the business environment—highlighting the importance of strengthening collaboration between educational institutions and companies to improve employability.
Creativity to rethink work
The session concluded with an activity by Entropía, led by Kelsie Ann Kerwin, titled “Creative Methodologies”. This activity promotes creative methodologies applied to organizational development, leadership, and innovation.
Through a participatory exercise, each attendee chose a photograph and used it as a starting point to express what work represents to them. Resulting in an engaging and collaborative reflection exercise.
Valencia, city of talent and innovation
With Empower Forum 2025, we reinforce our commitment to building an international, innovative, and connected talent ecosystem. Where universities, companies, and institutions work together to consolidate Valencia as one of Europe’s most attractive cities to live, work, and invest in.
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