Guide

Next generation sector skills bodies

The ILO Guide provides policymakers, employers’ and workers’ organizations and practitioners with practical guidance for establishing, revitalizing and operating Sector Skills Bodies that are responsive to a rapidly changing world of work. Drawing on comparative evidence from more than 20 countries, it sets out a new vision for SSBs and provides practical guidance on their functions, governance, financing, labour market intelligence, establishment and operation.

The global world of work is navigating a “poly-crisis” driven by converging megatrends: rapid digitalization, the expansion of Artificial Intelligence (AI), the climate transition, and profound demographic shifts. In this volatile context, well-functioning skills systems are essential for productivity, decent work and social justice.

Yet in many countries, a persistent “broken link” exists between education and training systems and the real economy. Policymakers and business leaders face a paradox in which high unemployment coexists with acute skills shortages. While education systems expand, the “wiring” connecting classrooms to workplaces is often frayed. This guide argues that the missing link is not simply more training, but effective, institutionalized mechanisms that engage industry in defining and meeting skills demand.

- Why sector skills bodies are needed

What will the next generation of Sector Skills Bodies look like?

The video introduces the changing role of Sector Skills Bodies and the case for a new generation of industry-led institutions capable of responding to rapid technological, economic, environmental and demographic change.

Why Sector Skills Bodies?

Skills systems need strong connections with the sectors and enterprises they serve.

Technological transformation, changing business models, the green transition, demographic shifts and evolving patterns of work are changing both the skills that workers need and the capabilities that enterprises require to remain productive and competitive.

Yet skills systems do not always have effective mechanisms to identify these changes early or translate them into coordinated action.

Sector Skills Bodies create an institutional space at sector level where employers, workers and governments can work together to identify priorities and develop responses that reflect the realities of industries and labour markets.

By combining industry leadership with social dialogue, SSBs can strengthen the responsiveness of skills systems while contributing to broader sectoral development.

Traditional SSBs have often concentrated primarily on qualifications, occupational standards and the identification of skills needs.

These remain important functions. But the scale and speed of transformation affecting sectors require a broader approach.

The ILO’s Next Generation model proposes six interconnected shifts in the way SSBs are conceived and operate:

From narrow mandates to integrated service portfolios

Moving beyond a limited set of skills functions towards a broader portfolio that can combine skills development and business development services according to sector needs.

From rigid mandates to sectoral agility

Giving SSBs the flexibility to respond to changing technologies, occupations, business models and sector priorities.

From casual consultation to institutional industry leadership

Creating structured and sustained mechanisms through which employers and workers can exercise meaningful leadership in sectoral skills development.

From fragmented initiatives to coherent sectoral ecosystems

Connecting enterprises, workers, training providers, government institutions and other sector stakeholders around shared priorities.

From single-source funding to diversified hybrid models

Developing financing approaches that strengthen both the sustainability of SSBs and their capacity to provide relevant services.

From advisory committees to data-driven powerhouses

Strengthening the ability of SSBs to generate, interpret and use labour market and sector intelligence to anticipate change and inform action.
Next Generation SSBs recognize that skills development and enterprise development are closely interconnected.

A skilled workforce can enable enterprises to adopt new technologies, innovate and improve productivity. At the same time, productive and innovative enterprises can create better jobs, generate demand for higher-level skills and provide workers with opportunities to develop and use their capabilities.

Depending on the national and sectoral context, SSBs can therefore combine traditional skills functions with services that support the development and transformation of enterprises.

Their role can include:

identifying current and future skills needs;

informing sector skills strategies;

developing occupational standards and qualifications;

supporting training and workforce development;

generating and interpreting sector labour market intelligence;

supporting technology adoption and innovation;

providing or facilitating business development services;

strengthening productivity and competitiveness;

supporting enterprises and workers through sectoral transitions; and

bringing social partners together to address shared sector priorities.
The Next Generation SSB model is anchored in a Triple Bottom Line, recognizing that sectoral skills institutions can generate economic, social and environmental value.

Economic productivity

SSBs can help sectors strengthen skills, productivity, innovation, technology adoption, enterprise performance and competitiveness.

Social justice

Through social dialogue and inclusive skills development, SSBs can contribute to decent work, employability, better opportunities for workers and more inclusive labour markets.

Environmental sustainability

SSBs can help sectors anticipate and respond to the skills and business implications of the green transition and support a Just Transition towards environmentally sustainable economies and societies.
There is no single institutional model for a Sector Skills Body.

SSBs need to be designed around the economic, institutional and social dialogue context of each country and sector. Their mandate, governance arrangements, financing model and portfolio of services should respond to the needs and maturity of the sector in which they operate.

The ILO Guide provides practical guidance covering the full SSB development process, including:

determining the rationale and scope for an SSB;

defining its mandate and functions;

establishing governance and industry leadership;

developing sustainable financing arrangements;

building labour market intelligence capabilities;

developing a sector skills strategy;

designing and delivering relevant services; and

monitoring performance and adapting the SSB as sector needs evolve.
The ILO works with governments and employers’ and workers’ organizations to establish, strengthen and revitalize sector-level mechanisms for skills governance and sectoral development.

ILO support is adapted to each country’s institutional arrangements and development priorities and can include policy and institutional design, capacity development, sector skills strategies, labour market intelligence, governance and social dialogue, sustainable financing and support for the establishment and operation of SSBs.

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Next generation sector skills bodies

Why Sector Skills Bodies?

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