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
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.