Description
Country
Focus area
The AIS (labour market information system), developed by ROA (Research Centre for Education and the Labour Market), focuses on the match between education and occupation, the substitution processes in the labour market, and generates the mid-term forecasts for the labour market perspectives in the Netherlands for the Project Education-Labour Market (POA).
The information in the AIS is useful for young people and their educational and occupational choice, for the unemployed and unemployed placement office when considering retraining or career changes, for employers in their hiring policy and for policy makers who are concerned about the optimality of the match between educational demand and supply on the labour market.
The information in the AIS is useful for young people and their educational and occupational choice, for the unemployed and unemployed placement office when considering retraining or career changes, for employers in their hiring policy and for policy makers who are concerned about the optimality of the match between educational demand and supply on the labour market.
Link
Reference/weblink
Implementation level
At what level is the initiative implemented?
National
Legal base
Legal base (E.g. Law, regulation, implementing provision, other)
The Research Centre for Education and the Labour Market (ROA) is part of the School of Business and Economics of the University of Maastricht. Therefore there is no legal mandate for AIS. ROA does however cooperate closely with different ministries and the Dutch PES on multiple AIS based projects
Starting period
TIMESPAN: In what year did the initiative commence?
2010
Perspective
PERSPECTIVE: is the initiative based on evidence derived from skill forecasts or foresight activities?
Yes. ROA uses a variety of data and their own econometric models to make a forecast of labour demand (i.e., expansion, replacement and substitution demand) and supply (i.e., influx of graduates in into the labour market). It then computes early warning indicators for imbalances on the labour market. The labour market forecasts are updated every other year.
Policy area
To which POLICY AREAS(s) does the initiative apply?
Funding
How it is funded?
Funded by national government
Funded as project (at least 3 years)
Skill mismatch
Skill mismatch target
What type(s) of skills MISMATCH does the initiative aim to addresses?
Skill shortages (employers cannot fill their vacancies due to a lack of skills in the labour market)
Skills obsolescence (some or all of an individual's skills are no longer relevant to the current employer or in the labour market generally)
Skills matching focus
How does the initiative address skills mismatches?
Job brokers use the information in the AIS to help graduates who cannot find a job by advising on further career choices and possible retraining.
By taking into account the supply and demand relationship on the labour market, students can make a choice about their education with future chances of employment in mind.
Skills delivered
What types of skill does the initiative deliver?
Job search skills
Career management skills
Methods
Methods
What methods of undertaking skills assessments and / or skills anticipation does the policy instrument utilise?
Skills forecasting
The AIS contains forecasts of labour demand (i.e., expansion, replacement and substitution demand) and supply (i.e., influx of graduates in into the labour market), they are updated every other year.
Use of skills intelligence
How is labour market information / skills intelligence used within the initiative?
The unemployed placement office uses the AIS when considering retraining or career change and steer people in a certain direction with more labour market opportunities.
(Upcoming) students use the AIS to be better informed about future labour market opportunities when making their choice of education/career path. Students later in their education can also use this information to steer their direction of study to an area with greater job opportunities.
People who are unemployed use the AIS to inform themselves about (future) job opportunities on the labour market and making job search decisions accordingly. Employment agencies also use the information to help their clients in their job search.
The early warning indicators in the AIS help employers make adjustments in their hiring policies.
Stakeholders
Main responsible body
Main body or organisation with overall responsibility for the initiative.
National agency
The Research Centre for Education and the Labour Market (ROA), a research institute of the Maastricht University School of Business and Economics.
Other involved organisations
Which other organisations have a role in the initiative?
National ministry
The AIS is funded by the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science (OCW), the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality (LNV), the Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations (BZK) and the Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment (SZW).
National agency
Randstad Nederland is an employment agency that operates on a national level and it helps fund the AIS. The foundation for the Co-operation Vocational Education, Training and the Labour Market (SBB) also helps to fund the AIS.
Regional PES
Research centres, universities
Labour Force Survey (Enquête Beroepsbevolking (CBS)), the Labour Supply Panel (het Arbeidsaanbodpanel (SCP)), the Labour Demand Panel (het Arbeidsvraagpanel (SCP)), Education Executive Agency (Dienst Uitvoering Onderwijs (DUO)) and ROA School Leaving Surveys (ROA Schoolverlatersenquêtes (SIS)) all provide data for the AIS.
Beneficiaries
Who are the intended beneficiaries?
Young people making the transition from education into work
Young people can use the AIS to take the supply and demand on the labour market into account for their choice of education and/or to decide on any career changes later in their education and potential reskilling.
Employed adults at risk of job displacement
The unemployed and the unemployed placement office can use the AIS when considering retraining or career change and steer people in a certain direction with more labour market opportunities. The employed at risk of displacement can use this service.
Other
The AIS is also helpful for employers with their hiring policy and policy makers who are concerned about the optimality of the match between educational demand and supply on the labour market.
Sustainability
Success factors
SUCCESS FACTORS in the implementation
The AIS provides labour market information for about 100 educational programs and occupations, 35 labour market regions and 21 industry sectors in the Netherlands, which shows the broadness of the system. The AIS is useful for many parties, such as students, unemployed people, employment agencies, employers and policy makers.
Monitoring and evaluation
MONITORING and EVALUATION: Is progress measured regularly? What are the indicators used to measure progress of the policy instrument? Have any evaluations been conducted?
The various components of the ROA forecasting model are regularly evaluated. The evaluation studies can give cause to adjust or renew the forecasting models. It is not clear is the AIS itself is regularly evaluated.
Updates
UPDATES: whether there have been any major updates of the initiative since it has been implemented?
The various components of the ROA forecasting model are regularly evaluated. The evaluation studies can give cause to adjust or renew the forecasting models. It is not clear is the AIS itself is regularly evaluated.
No
Effectiveness
EVIDENCE ON EFFECTIVENESS: How effective is the policy instrument?
The intended goal of providing information and early warning indicators about the match between education and occupation, the substitution processes in the labour market and mid-term forecasts for the labour market perspectives is effective because it provides this exact information. Since the implementation the AIS has been the core of every ROA rapport within their Project Education-Labour Market (POA), providing accurate labour market forecasts and actual labour market information.
Sustainability
SUSTAINABILITY: How sustainable is the policy instrument? Do you expect the instrument to continue over the next few years and why?
The forecasts and actual labour market information are widely used in research and policy, making the AIS a convenient and essential information system. Therefore, it is likely that the AIS will last for the coming years.
Other instruments in Netherlands
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