Employer engagement in education and training has become a major issue for policy makers and practitioners around the world. Over recent years, governments and other stakeholders have invested significant resources to promote and enable closer links between employers and schools, colleges, universities and training providers. The conference will present research papers and field experience that sets out new insights into employer engagement in education and training. As a tripartite organization representing governments, workers’ and employers’ organizations from the world, the ILO is uniquely placed to engage employers and workers in dialogue and action to strengthen skills development systems. Moreover, closer links between individual enterprises and education and training institutions can help deliver benefits on both sides: education and training institutions are better aligned to labour market needs, and enterprises are able to find workers with the right skills.

Employer engagement in training can operate at different levels within a skill system, ranging from enterprise/institution links to employer representation on national policy, advisory and regulatory structures. While the need for employer engagement is well understood, in practice there are many challenges surrounding that engagement, including the right mix of financial and non-financial incentives to secure that engagement.

At the conference, ILO Senior Skills Specialist Paul Comyn will be presenting a paper on recent research and examples of employer engagement through technical cooperation projects. In addition, he will be participating in a panel discussion with other leading international and national organisations, including the OECD, Asian Development Bank, the European Training Foundation, the UK Commission for Employment and Skills, King's College London and Harvard University.

For additional information about the London Conference, visit the Global Skills for Employment Knowledge Sharing Platform.