The concept of ‘resilience’ is increasingly being used in policy statements and documents, in the light of ongoing challenges for countries in the field of education, social policies and the current digital and energy transformation. At system level, the concept often takes a functional approach: how do social systems function and adapt when a certain external shock occurs. In this chapter we present an empirical study of resilience in human capital development systems of education and labour markets, with particular attention to teachers and students in VET in Moldova and Serbia. We analyse three levels of resilience in human capital development systems. At individual level, resilience refers to abilities, opportunities and resources to pro-actively adapt to changing external conditions during the life-course at school or at work. When individuals are supported by families, communities, schools, companies and governments they are likely more resilient i.e. they respond better to potentially high-risk factors brought about by external changes and societal shocks. At the institutional level, schools and companies will withstand externalities and adapt to long-term changes to ensure continuity of services; whereas states are responsible for the coherence and interplay between policy domains. When states, by effect of governance strategies, provide resources and social support in a fair and distributive manner, we can talk of inclusive education systems and human resource policies, that take the interest of the low-educated and marginal workers into account. VET-education often serves as a bridge for groups exposed to adversity towards training and a decent labour market position. We present empirical evidence on two countries, Moldova and Serbia, with relative political stability but different socio-economic contexts and VET systems, both facing challenges in the social and labour market indicators. Our analysis, funded by the European Training Foundation (ETF), involved literature research, comparative country analysis, two international workshops in 2022–23 and subsequent interviews with country representatives. In Moldova we conducted interviews in 5 VET-schools and with civil society organizations in Winter 2024 to compose a longitudinal analysis. The Serbian case helps to understand the impact of the Covid-19 crisis from a comparative perspective. In our conclusions we identify five determinants of resilience in human capital development systems.