Young people looking for jobs are constrained by a lack of skills required in a marketplace where technology, and the skills needed to use it, is in high demand. At the same time, companies and firms expanding in developing countries remain unable to find a pool of highly-skilled labour from which to hire locally, and remain committed to importing much of their labour from the industrialised world. These structural constraints prevent people from obtaining high-paying jobs while at the same time constraining business growth in productive sectors.

The traditional approach to these problems has been government- and donor-led vocational training centres, which have sought to identify particular skills-gaps, or to identify strategic growth areas, and to bridge the gaps. Often private sector actors have been brought in to provide technical expertise. This guide introduces an innovative approach to identifying and filling skills gaps is through a Public Private Development Partnership (PPDP).