ILO discusses strategies to ensure that skills match labour market needs

BRUSSELS (ILO News) - The ILO participated in a panel on Skills in a competitive Europe at a conference entitled: “The EU's Competitiveness Agenda: What’s at Stake for Workers and Society?”, organized by EZA, the European Centre for Workers’ Questions.

The ILO Resolution concerning skills and lifelong learning (2021) outlines guiding principles and measures to help countries develop inclusive, responsive, and resilient skills and lifelong learning systems. Irene Wintermayr, Policy Officer at ILO-Brussels, highlighted that governments, employers, and workers must collaborate to design and implement effective skills and lifelong learning systems to ensure that such systems are inclusive, accessible to all and respond to labour market needs.

Governments, businesses, and workers should also work together to create more opportunities for learning and career growth. Skills development should be well-funded, inclusive, and flexible, ensuring that workers can adapt to changes in the job market. Special attention should be paid to youth, disadvantaged groups, and informal workers.

The ILO works closely with the EU institutions to promote these guiding principles and measures outlined in the resolution in the context of the EU’s policy and legislative work. Ms Wintermayr welcomed the acknowledgement in the EU’s recently adopted Competitiveness Compass that “the foundation of Europe’s competitiveness are its people” and the fact that this agenda mentions skills development and quality jobs as key elements.

Pedro Moreno da Fonseca, Lifelong Learning Specialist at the ILO, discussed a number of global challenges which are hindering skills supply. Informal learning is still high in many countries, including in the global south, and low-qualified persons often end up in informal sectors. Even though formal learning opportunities have increased, they do not always give access to decent work.

“The proportion of employed workers with skills mismatches is significant worldwide,” said Mr Moreno da Fonseca. This includes both undereducated and overeducated workers. Underqualification among persons in employment is more prevalent in emerging G20 economies namely Argentina, Brazil, Indonesia, India, Mexico and Turkey. This is driven by a lower access to training and lower levels of educational attainment in the populations. Whereas overqualification is more prevalent in advanced G20 economies.

He highlighted the skills needs driven by the digital and green transitions, including higher-level cognitive abilities such as digital, communication, data management and problem-solving skills. Green jobs hold enormous potential and require a strong response in terms of re-skilling and upskilling, as they bring new skills needs. These include an awareness of solutions to make businesses sustainable. Entirely new jobs in the renewable energy, waste and construction sectors require knowledge of regulations as well as technical skills.

“To make the most of these structural shifts, we need to coordinate lifelong learning and develop comprehensive and effective skills policies,” he concluded.