The role of skill policies to support employability Anastasia Fetsi Agnieszka Majcher-Teleon
EU approach to skill policies: Lifelong Learning Provision of training opportunities to all; young and adults, people of any level of qualifications Learner centred approach Partnership among public authorities, training institutions, enterprises Quality of training Transparency of qualifications and qualification frameworks 2
EU approach to skill policies: Lifelong Learning The above imply that opportunities and delivery of training enhance employability This is not the case if training is not directed to the demand for skills More recently a rebalancing of focus between supply of training to the demand for skills 3
What is employability? And why is it so important? Shift from a static to a dynamic view of the labour market Job destruction-job creation : a continuous process Jobs are changing in content People have to permanently adapt their skills to be able to find or retain a job Short term and long term employability Knowing the demand for skills is important for organising education and training provision that effectively enhances employability 4
New Skills for New Jobs The European Commission Communication 2008 New Skills are a key to more and better jobs in particular in view of dealing with the post crisis economic recovery 1. Upgrading skills 2. Matching skills to labour market needs 3. Anticipating skill needs 5
New Skills for New Jobs The European Commission Communication 2008 1. Upgrading skills Overall skill level requirements are increasing due to (i) the introduction of new technologies that changes the job content (ii) expanding service sector by 2020 ¾ of jobs will be in the service sector Upgrading skills of low qualified in particular so as to (i) facilitate their access to employment and (ii) do not deprive the economies from valuable human resources How? 6
Past and future structure of jobs by education attainment level, EU-25 100% 80% 60% 40% High Medium Low 20% 0% 1996 2001 2006 2015 2020 Source: Cedefop, 2008 7
Projected employment levels in 2020, by broad categories of occupations and education attainment level, EU-25 - From CEDEFOP Low level of education attainment High level of education attainment Medium level of education attainment Elementary occupations Skilled manual occupations Skilled non-manual occupations High-skilled nonmanual occupations 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 Million jobs Source: Cedefop, 2008 8
New Skills for New Jobs The European Commission Communication 2008 2. Matching skills to labour market needs Skill mismatch: a growing concern for many Member states Unemployment exists at the same time with unfilled vacancies Imperfect info on skill demand and structural rigidities the composition of skills from the education and training systems does not match the needs of the labour market How can you bring the supply closer to the demand? 9
New Skills for New Jobs The European Commission Communication 2008 3. Anticipating skills What is the future skill demand? Anticipation not only in quantitative but also in qualitative terms Short and long term demand for skills Forecasting is about indications of general trends 10
New Skills for New Jobs The European Commission Communication 2008 It seems that new technologies and globalisation have a negative impact on middle level skills and polarise the labour market Up to 2020 17.7 million jobs will be created in high-skilled nonmanual occupations in the EU these involve skills for non routine tasks But also 5 million elementary jobs (low skilled) Medium skill routine tasks can be replaced by automation, computerisation or be outsourced 11
New Skills for New Jobs The European Commission Communication 2008 Does this mean that there will be no demand for middle level qualifications? NO High Replacement demand for middle level skills 12
Total requirement by qualification level, projected change 2006-20, in millions, EU-25 Low qualification -12,4 9,7 22 Medium qualification High qualification 13,1 21,4 19,6 41,5 40,9 54,7 Total requirement Replacement demand Expansion demand All qualifications 20,4 84,9 105,3-20 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 millions Source: Cedefop 2008 13
New Skills for New Jobs The European Commission Communication 2008 Addressing Mismatches: - Information on where the jobs are and what kind of jobs - Important role for Public Employment Services in matching jobs and skills - Vocational and career guidance - A common language for occupations and skills for transparency - On line service for citizens to provide qualitative information on occupations, skills, learning and training opportunities 14
New Skills for New Jobs The European Commission Communication 2008 Strengthening the capacity for forecasting and anticipation: Regular (every 2 years) and systematic assessment of long-term supply and demand in the EU by sectors, occupations, levels of qualifications Increase the EU methodological and analytical capacity for skills and jobs anticipation Increase capacity for assessing the employment effects of transition to low carbon economy Promote dialogue with business 15
New Skills for New Jobs The European Commission Communication 2008 Strengthening the capacity for forecasting and anticipation: Promote dialogue with business Enhance capacity and ensure business involvement in forecasting skill needs -in particular of SMEs Support partnerships for skills and employment Understand the skill needs at sectoral level : Sector Councils on employment and skills 16
Conclusions Organising education and training provision is necessary but not sufficient condition in enhancing employability There is need for having a clear picture on how demand for skills is developing Also to be able to match skill demand to skill supply HOW? 17
Questions for discussion 1. Is anticipation of skills demand feasible? 2. What infrastructure exists in the countries to capture the demand for skills and inform the provision of training? 3. What are the constraints in your countries for identification of skills mismatch and skills forecasting? 4. How to build a system for skill forecast and matching? 18