THE OECD SKILLS STRATEGYBetter Skills, Better Jobs, Better Lives
2012 LLAKES ConferenceLifelong Learning, Crisis and Social ChangeThursday 18 October to Friday 19 October 2012
Glenda QuintiniSenior Economist - Employment Analysis And Policy DivisionDirectorare For Employment Labour And Social Affairs At OECD
Why skills matter
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Skills matter……because they have an increasing impact on economic outcomes and social participation
0 1 2 3 4,1.0
,1.5
,2.0
,2.5
,3.0
,3.5
In lowest two quintiles of personal income
Unemployed
Received social assis-tance in last year
Did not receive in-vestment income in last year
Number of skills domains with low performance
Increased likelihood of failure (16-65 year olds)*
Low skills and economic outcomes
*Odds are adjusted for age, gender and immigration status.
...but qualifications are not the same as skills...
…because we continue to learn after obtaining a degree
…and because we lose skills that we do not use
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Country A Country B Country C
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Skill score
Measuring the value of qualificationsInterquartile range in skill distribution by educational qualification
The OECD Skills Strategy
How does a country maximise its skills?
Developing the right skills
o By encouraging and enabling people to learn throughout lifeo Gather and use evidence about changing skills demand to guide skills developmento Engage social partners in designing and delivering education and training
programmeso Ensure that education and training programmes are of high qualityo Promote equity by ensuring access to, and success in, quality education for allo Ensure that costs are shared and that tax systems do not discourage investments in
learningo Maintain a long-term perspective on skills development, even during economic
crises
o By fostering international mobility of skilled people to fill skills gapso Facilitate entry for skilled migrants and support their integrationo Design policies that encourage international students to remain after their
studieso Make it easier for skilled migrants to return to their country of origin
o By promoting cross-border skills policies o Invest in skills abroad and encourage cross-border higher education
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Keeping learning beyond schoolCross-sectional skill-age profiles for youths by education and work status
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Age
Mean skill score
Youth in education
Youth in education and work
Youth in work
Not in education, not in work
Unused skills may be more likely to atrophy
15 25 35 45 55 65
Average proficiency of adults who engage the least in reading at work and in daily life (bottom 25%)Average proficiency of adults who engage the most in reading at work and in daily life (top 25%)
Age
Skills score
Low
High
The OECD Skills Strategy
How does a country maximise its skills?
Activate the supply of skills o By encouraging people to offer their skills to the labour market
o Identify inactive individuals and the reasons for their inactivity
o Create financial incentives that make work payo Dismantle non-financial barriers to participation in the labour
force
o By retaining skilled people in the labour market
o Discourage early retirement
o Staunch brain drain
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Labour force participation variesPercentage of 25-64-year-olds active in the labour market, 2011
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Japan
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The OECD Skills Strategy
How does a country maximise its skills?
Put skills to effective useo By creating a better match between people’s skills and the requirements
of their job
o Help employers to make better use of their employees’ skills
o Tackle unemployment and help young people to gain a foothold in the labour market
o Provide better information about the skills needed and available
o Facilitate mobility among local labour markets
o By increasing the demand for high-level skills
o Help economies to move up the value-added chaino Stimulate the creation of more high-skilled and high value-added
jobso Foster entrepreneurship
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Evidence on the link between skill mismatch and earningsSkill mismatch and earnings are strongly related
–
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Follow up
o Skills Outlook:o 2013 – First International Report of the OECD
Survey of Adult Skills (PIAAC)o 24 countrieso Direct assessment, Job Requirements module,
background questionnaireo Publication of first results: October 2013
o 2014+ Showcasing horizontal work on skills
o Projects on: “Anticipating Skill Needs” and “National Skills Strategies”
THANK YOU
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