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

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In lowest two quintiles of personal income

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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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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 skillso By encouraging and enabling people to learn throughout life

o 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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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

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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

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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 inactivityo 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 marketo Discourage early retiremento 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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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 jobo Help employers to make better use of their employees’ skillso Tackle unemployment and help young people to gain a foothold in

the labour marketo Provide better information about the skills needed and availableo 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