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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Identifier

skpIntOrg

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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. 

Identifier

skpAFSN

Slug

anticipating-and-matching-skills-needs

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.

Type:

Blog

Language:

English

Slug

english

Identifier

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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Identifier

skpILO

Slug

ilo

Authors:

Paul Comyn

Topics:

Anticipating and matching skills needs

Thumbnail

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. 

Identifier

skpAFSN

Slug

anticipating-and-matching-skills-needs

Publication Date:

18 Oct 2021

Opinion by Paul Comyn, ILO Senior Skills Specialist

The world of work is undergoing major change, and some observers believe that current shifts are fundamentally different from historical patterns, making the current wave of technological change unique – a Fourth Industrial Revolution. One of the arguments for this is that the prevailing cycle builds on the achievements of previous waves of technological change and brings them together in an unprecedented way. Developments in previously disjointed fields such as artificial intelligence and machine learning, robotics, nanotechnology, 3D printing and genetics and biotechnology are all building on and amplifying one another like never before.

Compounding these technological developments are other trends evident in global systems of production and employment such as the growth of global value chains, new business models of distributed production and forms of work organisation that will increase the use of contractors in the ‘gig economy’. Coupled with supply side issues such as demographic trends, increasing migration and youth unemployment, labour markets of the future are going to look very different to how they are today.

Amongst these ideas, commentators seem to be divided between those that argue there will be increasing and persistent technological unemployment due to the disruptive effects of technology, and those that hold a more nuanced view that future automation is unlikely to completely destroy many jobs. This perspective argues that automation will replace some tasks that will fundamentally change the nature of jobs workers will perform, but that except for a minority of jobs, the job itself will not be at risk.

There is also recognition that whilst the direct impact of productivity enhancing process innovations will redesign and remove some jobs; these innovations also have the potential to trigger new economic activities that will create jobs. This technological spill over effect involves innovations that displace workers in one industry creating demand for workers in another industry. Given all this, it’s almost impossible to predict the exact nature of technological change nor the type and location of skills required as a result. Regardless, it’s clear that to successfully manage this transition, more investment in skills and training will be required to prepare workers for the jobs of the future.

In such a rapidly changing employment landscape, the ability of skills systems to anticipate and prepare for future skill requirements, job content and employment trends will become increasingly critical for businesses, governments and individuals. In this context, the importance of active labour market programs and community and adult education and training will need to be reinforced to complement learning opportunities that currently exist in formal education and training systems.

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

Type:

Blog

Language:

English

Slug

english

Identifier

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

Thumbnail

Identifier

skpILO

Slug

ilo

Authors:

Paul Comyn

Topics:

Anticipating and matching skills needs

Thumbnail

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. 

Identifier

skpAFSN

Slug

anticipating-and-matching-skills-needs

Publication Date:

18 Oct 2021

Opinion by Paul Comyn, ILO Senior Skills Specialist

The world of work is undergoing major change, and some observers believe that current shifts are fundamentally different from historical patterns, making the current wave of technological change unique – a Fourth Industrial Revolution. One of the arguments for this is that the prevailing cycle builds on the achievements of previous waves of technological change and brings them together in an unprecedented way. Developments in previously disjointed fields such as artificial intelligence and machine learning, robotics, nanotechnology, 3D printing and genetics and biotechnology are all building on and amplifying one another like never before.

Compounding these technological developments are other trends evident in global systems of production and employment such as the growth of global value chains, new business models of distributed production and forms of work organisation that will increase the use of contractors in the ‘gig economy’. Coupled with supply side issues such as demographic trends, increasing migration and youth unemployment, labour markets of the future are going to look very different to how they are today.

Amongst these ideas, commentators seem to be divided between those that argue there will be increasing and persistent technological unemployment due to the disruptive effects of technology, and those that hold a more nuanced view that future automation is unlikely to completely destroy many jobs. This perspective argues that automation will replace some tasks that will fundamentally change the nature of jobs workers will perform, but that except for a minority of jobs, the job itself will not be at risk.

There is also recognition that whilst the direct impact of productivity enhancing process innovations will redesign and remove some jobs; these innovations also have the potential to trigger new economic activities that will create jobs. This technological spill over effect involves innovations that displace workers in one industry creating demand for workers in another industry. Given all this, it’s almost impossible to predict the exact nature of technological change nor the type and location of skills required as a result. Regardless, it’s clear that to successfully manage this transition, more investment in skills and training will be required to prepare workers for the jobs of the future.

In such a rapidly changing employment landscape, the ability of skills systems to anticipate and prepare for future skill requirements, job content and employment trends will become increasingly critical for businesses, governments and individuals. In this context, the importance of active labour market programs and community and adult education and training will need to be reinforced to complement learning opportunities that currently exist in formal education and training systems.

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