Skills policies and systems
- matching training to demand for skills in the labour market;
- helping workers and enterprises adjust to technological or market changes, making it easier to move from declining or low productivity activities to growing and higher productivity activities through re-skilling and lifelong learning; and
- building and sustaining competencies for future labour market needs, focusing on the strategic role of education and training policies in triggering and continuously fuelling innovation, enterprise development, technological change and competitiveness.
Coordinated efforts are needed to promote skills development at the workplace and along value chains, to help manage the drivers of change at work today, among them, new technologies and climate change, and to integrate skills development into national and sector development strategies. ILO work in this area supports mechanisms, institutions, and social dialogue that can sustain inter-ministerial coordination and improve the early identification of skill needs and reduction of skill gaps. Our research agenda focuses on sustainable forward-looking frameworks for skills development; country experiences worldwide in developing and implementing national qualifications frameworks; improving informal apprenticeship systems (see skills for youth employment), and meeting the training needs created by economic stimulus programmes and emerging green jobs.
What's new
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Upgrading informal apprenticeship A resource guide for Africa
12 January 2012 -
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Teachers and trainers for the future – Technical and vocational education and training in a changing world
30 September 2010Report for discussion at the Global Dialogue Forum on Vocational Education and Training (29–30 September 2010)
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Knowledge sharing in early identification of skill needs
28 May 2010The ILO is conducting research into the identification of skill needs to help smooth transition to a low-carbon economy. The work is co-funded and jointly managed by the European Commission.
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Skills for Green Jobs
22 October 2009The ILO is conducting policy-applied research into skill needs for greener economies. The research is based on fifteen country studies worldwide with a primary focus on good practice examples of how national policies for greening economies are complemented by identification of skills needs and efficient skills response strategies. The ILO is partnering with the European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training (CEDEFOP) who is conducting six additional country studies in Europe.
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Key Resources
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R195 Human Resources Development Recommendation, 2004
17 June 2004Recommendation concerning Human Resources Development: Education, Training and Lifelong Learning
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Learning and training for work in the knowledge society. Report 91 IV (1)
04 February 2002Explores contemporary trends in human resources development and training. Examines the shift towards economies and societies that increasingly rely on human knowledge and skills in producing goods and services and reviews the new objectives of education and training. Investigates reforms in education and training systems and examines policies and practices that encourage more and better training opportunities for employed and unemployed workers and those with special needs. Looks at international cooperation and donor policies in this area.
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Conclusions on skills for improved productivity, employment growth and development
13 June 2008International Labour Conference, 2008
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An introductory guide to national qualifications frameworks : conceptual and practical issues for policy makers
01 January 2007Provides guidance on how to design and implement National Qualifications Frameworks, an instrument for the development, classification and recognition of skills, knowledge and competencies along a continuum of agreed levels.
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Managing vocational training systems
18 January 2000Provides state-of-art materials relating to the management and organization of public vocational education and training (VET) systems and suggests a framework for developing the management competence of senior VET administrators encouraging them to review critically their administrative practices in order to move towards professional excellence. Covers management, organizational structure, target setting, planning, financing, and training administration.
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Supporting workplace learning for high performance working
11 June 2002Explores workplace learning as a means of enhancing both work performance and the quality of working life. Identifies characteristics of high performance work organizations, considers the implementation of high performance work practices and investigates how far these practices are embedded in different countries. Examines ways in which public policy can be used to encourage organizations to make more effective use of the skills of their employees.