In memoriam — Jos de Goey

On Friday, 21 February the President and Chair of WorldSkills International, Jos de Goey, suddenly passed away at the age of 56. We are all deeply shocked and are lost for words.

The loss of Jos at such a young age is devastating for his family, friends, and all of us at WorldSkills. We are particularly saddened that he had such a short time as the President of our movement. Our thoughts will always be with his wife Anouschka, and their children Charlotte and Torsten.

Jos was also the CEO of WorldSkills Netherlands – the team and country have lost a charismatic, passionate, and highly committed CEO. Jos de Goey was instrumental in the creation of WorldSkills Netherlands and put skills competitions on the map in the country.

His vision was defined by his ambition to give young people a chance to hone their skills and develop their talents. He continued this cause in Europe, through the establishment of WorldSkills Europe and the EuroSkills Competition. Jos became a Board member of WorldSkills International in 2010, and became President and Chair when he was elected (in August last year).

In honour of Jos’ contributions to WorldSkills Europe they have named the Best of Europe Award to now be the Jos de Goey Award (The Best of Europe Award is awarded to the highest scoring Competitor at the biennial EuroSkills Competition).

Jos’ contribution to the development and promotion of skills and skills excellence in the Netherlands, Europe, and the across the world was huge. Jos will be dearly missed by us all but we are committed to continue his work and to fulfil his ambitions.