Informal EPSCO meeting discusses youth and skills
Heinz Koller, Assistant Director-General and Regional Director for Europe and Central Asia, addressed the Informal Meeting of the Ministers of the EU responsible for Employment and Social Affairs (EPSCO).
The meeting was chaired by the Bulgarian Presidency of the Council of the EU, and focussed on ways to improve workforce skills and qualifications and ensure equal access to the labour market.
The ILO fully supports the European Pillar of Social Rights, which enshrines the right to quality and inclusive education, training and life-long learning. Mr Koller underlined the importance of life-long learning in particular, which should be realized through a clear commitment of governments, employers and workers. They have a joint responsibility on when and how to retrain and reskill the workforce.
According to recent ILO surveys, young workers are fully aware of the need for retraining and most of them consider that their professional success largely depends on learning new skills during their career. However, few countries have developed a fully integrated life-long learning policy framework, and even fewer have a coherent system of financing life-long learning. “In fact, public spending on worker training has declined over the past twenty years in most OECD countries,” he added.
“We need to invest in people as much as we do in technology, and education has to be recognized as an investment rather than a cost in accounting systems, both at national and corporate levels,” Mr Koller concluded.
The ILO fully supports the European Pillar of Social Rights, which enshrines the right to quality and inclusive education, training and life-long learning. Mr Koller underlined the importance of life-long learning in particular, which should be realized through a clear commitment of governments, employers and workers. They have a joint responsibility on when and how to retrain and reskill the workforce.
According to recent ILO surveys, young workers are fully aware of the need for retraining and most of them consider that their professional success largely depends on learning new skills during their career. However, few countries have developed a fully integrated life-long learning policy framework, and even fewer have a coherent system of financing life-long learning. “In fact, public spending on worker training has declined over the past twenty years in most OECD countries,” he added.
“We need to invest in people as much as we do in technology, and education has to be recognized as an investment rather than a cost in accounting systems, both at national and corporate levels,” Mr Koller concluded.