This position paper argues that Europe’s ambitions for strategic autonomy, resilient raw materials supply chains, and industrial competitiveness depend on developing a strong and future-ready workforce. It highlights growing skills shortages caused by demographic change, declining STEM participation, and increasing competition for talent, warning that these gaps could hinder implementation of the Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA). The paper calls for a long-term, systemic approach to skills development, combining vocational training, engineering education, lifelong learning, reskilling, and regional innovation ecosystems. It emphasizes that skilled technicians, operators, and engineering professionals are as important as technological innovation for Europe’s competitiveness and resilience, and positions the raw materials workforce as strategic infrastructure essential to achieving Europe’s industrial and sustainability goals.