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Blog

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English

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english

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skpEng

Sources:

ILO

The International Labour Organization is the tripartite U.N. agency that promotes Decent Work through employment, social security, labour standards and social dialogue. Its work on skills development is guided by the conceptual framework on Skills to improve productivity, employment growth, and development agreed in 2008 by representatives of Governments, Employers’ Associations and Workers’ Associations. Research, policy advice, and pilot projects and technical cooperation programmes to apply good practices in different circumstances across its 185 member States aims to boost the employability of workers, the productivity and competitiveness of enterprises, and the inclusiveness of economic growth. The ILO Secretariat in offices in 40 countries works with Ministries of Labour, employers’ organizations, and trade unions to integrate skills development into national and sector development strategies in order to better meet current labour market needs and to prepare for the jobs of the future; to expand access to employment-related training so that youth, persons with disabilities and other vulnerable groups are better able to acquire skills and secure productive and decent work; and to improve the ability of public employment services to provide career guidance, maintain labour exchange services, and deliver active labour market programmes.For more information regarding the ILO’s work on skills and employability go to: http://www.ilo.org/skills/lang--en/index.htm; for ILO/Cinterfor's Knowledge Management Plarform, see: http://www.oitcinterfor.org

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Information is gathered from other international organizations that promote skills development and the transition from education and training to work. The Interagency Group on Technical and Vocational Education and Training (IAG-TVET) was established in 2009 to share research findings, coordinate joint research endeavours, and improve collaboration among organizations working at the international and national levels.

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international-organizations

Authors:

Tezera, Dejene. Division Chief, Department of Agribusiness Development,United Nations Industrial Development Organization.

Topics:

Participation of employers' and workers' organizations

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The world of learning and the world of work are separate but linked. While one involves learning, the other produces goods and services. Neither can thrive without the other. Strong partnerships between government, employers and workers help ensure the relevance of training to the changing needs of enterprises and labour markets. 

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participation-of-employers-and-workers-organizations

Training quality and relevance

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Publication Date:

18 Oct 2021

Lack of adequate skills is often one of the most challenging obstacles in the labour markets of developing countries. Particular challenges arise when developing countries seek to shift from agriculture to manufacturing without a solid skills base. The type of skills required changes with structural transformation. When a low-income economy undergoes the process of structural change, moving from a primarily agrarian-based economy to one dominated by industry, a new set of skills is defined. Manufacturing requires skills that were not needed in agriculture.

Ethiopia is an example of this. The country has experienced a decade of high and sustained economic growth at around ten percent and is putting a specific focus on transforming the structure of its economy from being a primarily agrarian-based economy to becoming one dominated by industry. The changes have led to increased demand for skilled labor. The government of Ethiopia therefore increased the number of TVET institutions from 505 to 919 between 2011 and 2015. In 2015, more than 350,000 students were enrolled in TVET courses and the number of students is increasing every year. This rapid expansion of the system has increased the supply of skilled labor. At the same time, the economic changes have meant that new skills are demanded. To keep up colleges are hiring new teachers every year; many of whom are hired directly as graduates from TVET colleges or universities and therefore without longer practical experiences gained in a company.

What Ethiopia is experiencing often happens as low-income economies develop. A gap has developed between the training provided by the public institutions (supply) and the skills that are needed (demand). Due to a lack of proper participation of the business sector in creating standards for vocational training, the standards often do not match with the tasks and required skills expected for the companies’ workplace. As a result, TVET Colleges develop curricula and train TVET students not in full accordance with the required job demands and reality on the ground.

The government together with the business sector needs to focus on diminishing the gap between supply and demand of skilled labor. Policy-makers seeking to design skills policies face challenges that are specific to the country context. For them to fully understand the nature of the context and the skills needed, policy-makers need to engage with companies. Guiding principles based on good practices shed light on the factors that play a role in successful skills development policies. But the supply-demand mismatch for skills is also associated with the inability of the business sector to communicate the skills that are needed and, most importantly, the unwillingness to become directly involved in the creation of skills through training schemes. Firms complain about the lack of a qualified workforce, particularly as they move up the technology ladder.

To read the rest of this article, please click on the PDF below.

Type:

Blog

Language:

English

Slug

english

Identifier

skpEng

Sources:

Information is gathered from other international organizations that promote skills development and the transition from education and training to work. The Interagency Group on Technical and Vocational Education and Training (IAG-TVET) was established in 2009 to share research findings, coordinate joint research endeavours, and improve collaboration among organizations working at the international and national levels.

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international-organizations

Authors:

Antonio Ranieri

Topics:

Lifelong learning

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There is a critical need for a greater overall investment in education and training, particularly in developing countries. Education and training investments should be closely linked to economic and employment growth strategies and programmes. Responsibility should be shared between the government (primary responsibility), enterprises, the social partners, and the individual. To make lifelong learning for all a reality, countries will need to make major reforms of their vocational and education and training systems. School-to-work schemes for young people should integrate education with workplace learning. Training systems need to become more flexible and responsive to rapidly changing skill requirements. Reforms should also focus on how learning can be facilitated, not just on training for specific occupational categories.

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Other topic

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Publication Date:

18 Oct 2021

Opinion by Antonio Ranieri is Head of Department for Learning and Employability at Cedefop.

There are so many ways to learn. Formal education and training is only one of these, especially when it comes to acquiring knowledge, competencies, behaviours, and values necessary to perform a job properly. However, if people cannot document the “worth” of their skills, the learning acquired is often accounted as worthless in principle and also in practice by the labour market.

Validation is the process that makes learning acquired in non-formal and informal settings visible and ‘usable’ for the individual. Whatever they may call it - accreditation of prior learning, prior learning assessment – the underlying principle in validation is that all learning is valuable, irrespective of how or where it has been acquired. As learning is both a process (how it happens) and a product (the outcomes), by shifting the focus from the learning process to the learning outcomes validation makes visible and provides currency to the knowledge, skills and competences acquired out of the formal settings.

This approach has much to commend it. Today’s European labour market must confront with a continuous and accelerated process of transformation of the economy, as well as growing disparities between and within countries that have marginalised and impoverished specific groups of the population. As we know, it’s not just about young people out of the labour market, but also long-term unemployed, displaced workers, and low-skilled adults more generally.

Validation has a major role to play especially for people with low levels of formal education and training who may have acquired valuable skills and competences throughout their working life or even other experiences such as volunteer work. Identification, assessment and certification of their skills may be effective to tailor their training needs and make them more attractive to the labour market.

Since 2004, through the European Inventory Cedefop has been monitoring and analysing developments in validation of non-formal and informal occurring in EU Member States. Initially conceived as a way of opening up and making formal education and training more flexible, especially vocational education and training, validation is increasingly seen as a tool to make economies more competitive, encourage labour market participation, and combat social exclusion.

To continue reading the rest of this Blog, download the PDF found immediately below.

Type:

Blog

Language:

English

Slug

english

Identifier

skpEng

Sources:

Information is gathered from other international organizations that promote skills development and the transition from education and training to work. The Interagency Group on Technical and Vocational Education and Training (IAG-TVET) was established in 2009 to share research findings, coordinate joint research endeavours, and improve collaboration among organizations working at the international and national levels.

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international-organizations

Authors:

Katharine Mullock

Topics:

Anticipating and matching skills needs

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Anticipating and building skills for the future is essential to a rapidly changing labour market. This applies to changes in the types and levels of skills needed as well as in occupational and technical areas. Effective methods to anticipate future skills needs and avoid potential mismatches include: sustained dialogue between employers and trainers, coordination across government institutions, labour market information systems, employment services and performance reviews of training institutions. 

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Publication Date:

18 Oct 2021

Opinion by Katharine Mullock, OECD Economist.

No one likes being the sad kid not invited to the birthday party. Especially when it is a party that makes your neighbours richer and happier, while your income stagnates or declines. Between 2000 and 2010, manufacturing jobs in the United States fell by 5.7 million, eliminating a traditional pathway to a middle-class lifestyle for many workers with only a high-school education. Though the US unemployment rate is nearly back to pre-crisis levels, manufacturing jobs have not recovered, and the share of high-school educated people who are not working among the civilian population has jumped from 38 per cent to 46 per cent since 2010 (US Bureau of Labor Statistics). Technological progress and globalization, purported to be “a rising tide that lifts all boats”, has left many feeling uninvited to the party.

Declines in manufacturing jobs are not limited to the United States, but are part of a global phenomenon driven by technological progress and increasingly globalized supply chains. These forces have polarised labour markets by reducing demand for routine mid-skill jobs like manufacturing, while raising demand for non-routine jobs at the low and high ends of the skills spectrum. While globalization and technological change have the potential to boost productivity and economic growth, they come with no guarantee of inclusivity. Feeling left behind from the gains of technological progress no doubt underlies the social tension and anxiety manifested in recent political change observed in several OECD countries. Governments and policy makers are being called upon to address this social anxiety, and to create conditions for more inclusive growth.

Promoting inclusive growth depends on everyone having the right skills for an increasingly digital and globalized world. Anticipating what the right skills are, however, is not a straightforward task due to changing skill needs. While automation redesigns and makes obsolete some jobs, it also generates innovative economic activities that lead to new jobs, requiring the workforce to develop a fresh set of skills. Even among workers who keep their jobs, the types of tasks they perform are changing. According to OECD estimates, less than 10 per cent of workers are in jobs that are at risk of being replaced by machines, but 25 per cent are in jobs where a high percentage of tasks (50-70 per cent) could be automated (Arntz et al., 2016). The changing nature of jobs underlines the need for workers to develop skills that make them flexible and resilient.

To continue reading the rest of this Blog, download the PDF found immediately below.