Re:Skills Textile & Fashion The textile and fashion industries are under severe pressure as a result of cirus restrictions all over the world. Peoples lives are disrupted; both work and everyday life. The biggest challenges during and after the virus are within fashion retail and sales, with closed stores and termination of employment. Also suppliers, manufacturers and other parts of the value change are highly impacted and it is hard to esteem the consequences both here and abroad. The Swedish fashion brands are largely export dependent, as their largest revenue is found abroad. The lion’s share of exports are to countries where society, and retail, has been completely shut down. During the period of March 12-31, clothing sales in Sweden fell by 49 percent, and shoe sales by a full 57 percent. The fashion industry was under pressure before the pandemic, but since the beginning of the year bankruptcies are staggering and 4-5000 employees in Sweden will be affected from layoffs, notices and dismissals. The National Institute of Economic Research's, KI, barometer for April was something of a horror story. The barometer summarized responses from both companies and households, that fell sharply and deeper than during the financial crisis 2008. The fall in April is larger than anything previously observed. Given the urgent situation in the world for health, climate and the overall economy, it would be an excellent opportunity for an affected industry to solve a need for new, more skilled workforce while helping companies achieve the UN's global sustainability goals. With this as a background, the industry has come together and see opportunities that the coming rise in unemployment within the sector can be solved, at the same time as we quickly move forward to a more sustainable trade, production and consumption. The fashion industry is facing a major shift towards being more sustainable and circular. This is something that several actors throughout the industry has been working towards, including the government assignment “Textile & Fashion 2030". The current crisis means that we are reviewing production methods and places and that national medical stockpiles of textile products and the possibility of having parts of production at least closer than today. This means that the assessment is that the workforce will be maintained or increase within the coming five years. This could mean that locally produced textile parts and material will be critical for future crisis management. The idea is to educate the employees are affected by one of the measures layoff, notice and dismissal in the fashion retail to become attractive labor force and to fill vacant positions mainly in the new sustainable trade or the producing textile industry, but also in the textile e-commerce. It can be in positions that are currently very difficult to recruit with a clear need such as salespeople with sustainability skills, textile process operators, industrial seamstresses, seamstresses, directors, second-hand textile graders, B2B technical salespeople or purchasing assistants. The textile industry has large retirements in the coming future, with up to 2000 people. So, there are places to fill where dismissed from the fashion store after further education and improvement of skills would be a very welcome addition. We also think that several new professions will be added, that will require new skills for example, re-making of clothes, repair of clothes and additional companies in the form of more innovative second-hand stores than the ones we know today. We also see that those who return to store work in the sustainable retailers of the future when the market has picked up need new skills, such as sustainability and fashion advice and textile materials knowledge to help the consumer to a more sustainable consumption. We also have an upcoming producer responsibility that places new demands on the industry and creates additional jobs.