Governments, employers’ associations and trade unions around the world are working to improve the quality and relevance of training and employment services in order to improve the employability of workers and the productivity and competitiveness of enterprises.
The Skills and Employability Department helps member States and the social partners apply the policy recommendations arrived at through tripartite consultations on skills development within the Decent Work agenda (see Key Resources) to their circumstances and priorities. Comparative research, policy guidelines and technical assistance aim to help constituents:
- integrate skills development into national and sector development strategies in order to better meet current labour market needs and to prepare for the jobs of the future;
- expand access to employment-related training so that youth, persons with disabilities and other vulnerable groups are better able to acquire skills and secure productive employment while at the same time contributing to poverty reduction; and
- improve the ability of public employment services to provide career guidance, labour exchange services, delivery of active labour market programmes, and rapid response services in the aftermath of crises.
Whether dealing with the present global economic turmoil or addressing long-term inequality and poverty, promoting skills development furthers the ILO’s Global Employment Agenda for decent and productive work for all.
What’s New
Knowledge sharing in early identification of skill needs The ILO is conducting research into the identification of skill needs to help to smooth transition to a low-carbon economy. The work is co-funded and jointly managed by the European Commission.
Skills for Green Jobs The 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.
ILO research programme on implementation and impact of NQFs
Media Guidelines for The Portrayal of Disabilities How people with disabilities are portrayed and the frequency with which they appear in the media has an enormous impact on how they are regarded in society. Portraying people with disabilities with dignity and respect in the media can help promote more inclusive and tolerant societies and stimulate a climate of non-discrimination and equal opportunity. These ILO Guidelines are intended as a tool for professional communicators.
ILO Conference to promote training and employment opportunities for people with intellectual disabilities, 9 – 11 March, 2010, Lusaka, Zambia An estimated 10 to 15 million people in Africa have some form of intellectual disability and the majority live in poverty and isolation. The ILO-Irish Aid Partnership Programme will be gathering representatives from East African countries, Australia and the United Kingdom in order to focus new attention on the issue and discuss ways of promoting training and employment opportunities for people with intellectual disabilities.
Learning from the first qualifications frameworks - [pdf 1438 KB] – Employment Working Paper No. 45
Researching NQFs: some conceptual issues - [pdf 407 KB] – Employment Working Paper No. 44
The price of exclusion: the economic consequences of excluding people with disabilities from the world of work - [pdf 746 KB] – Employment Working Paper No. 43
A guide to worker displacement : some tools for reducing the impact on workers, communities and enterprises. Update March 2009 - [pdf 858 KB] The Guide presents possible strategies for averting layoffs and promoting business retention by communities, enterprise managements and workers’ associations. A discussion of early warning networks is also presented, stressing the importance of monitoring and rapid response mechanisms such as retraining to ensure worker adjustment and economic renewal.