Contact us

Skills and Employability Branch (SKILLS)
Employment Policy Department

International Labour Office 4 Route des Morillons

Geneva 22
Switzerland
CH-1211

Tel : +41 22 799 7512
Fax : +41 22 799 6310
Email : empskills@ilo.org
Website : www.ilo.org/skills

Skills and Employability Branch (SKILLS)


 

Governments, employers' associations and trade unions around the world are working to improve the employability of workers, move young people into productive and decent work, and increase the productivity of enterprises through better quality and relevant training. The Skills and Employability Branch conducts comparative research and provides policy guidelines and technical assistance to help constituents integrate skills development into national and sector development strategies.
The ILO's work with constituents focuses primarily on three areas: linking training to current labour market needs as well as anticipating and building competencies for the jobs of the future; building quality apprenticeship systems and incorporating core skills into training for young people; and expanding access to employment-related training in rural communities in order to improve livelihoods, reduce poverty, and equip women and men to work in the formal economy.
 

What's new

  1. Skills and trade

    Book launch: "Investing in Skills for Inclusive Trade"

    The publication, co-published by the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the International Labour Office (ILO), builds on previous collaboration between the two organizations. It focuses on the linkages between trade and skills and between trade and skills development policies.

  2. Event

    Inter-regional Technical Forum on Skills for Trade, Employability and Inclusive Growth

    Sharing knowledge and lessons learned from implementing the ILO Skills for Trade and Economic Diversification (STED) programme and applying the G20 Training Strategy. The event will take place from 30-31 May 2017 in Siem Reap, Cambodia. 

  3. International Conference on Jobs and Skills Mismatch

    This conference aimed to deepen understanding of the labour market effects of various types of skill mismatch and how they can be best measured in different country contexts. It included ILO research and also presented the work of other partner international organizations.(Presentations now available on the event page.)

Recent publications

  1. New updated version

    STED brochure

    May 2017

    The brochure presents the rationale for this type of intervention, discusses some practical aspects of implementation, and explains the analytical process underlying STED. It also provides a brief overview of the experience so far with STED, in eleven countries and nineteen sectors.

  2. Strengthening Skills Recognition Systems: Recommendations for key stakeholders

    December 2016

    The ILO has prepared this set of Recommendations on strengthening skills recognition systems, as countries seek strategies to enhance the employability of workers and the productivity of enterprises.

  3. Understanding the potential impact of skills recognition systems on labour markets: Research report

    October 2016

    Provides analytical research on the labour market impact of skills recognition systems, in particular, in matching skills and jobs.

  4. Vocational teachers and trainers in a changing world: the imperative of high-quality teacher training systems

    16 July 2015

Events

  1. The ILO and the United Nations Climate Change Conference - COP22

    The annual United Nations Climate Change Conference will be held in Bab Ighli, Marrakech, Morocco from 7-18 November 2016. This twenty-second session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP22) follows the adoption in 2015 of the Paris Agreement on climate change at COP21.

  2. National Conference on Strengthening Apprenticeship in Egypt

    27-28 April 2015, Cairo