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List of policy instruments

  • Continuing training and education committees

    Efteruddannelsesudvalg

    Description

    Focus area
    Main skills assessment/anticipation initiative
    The continuing training and education committees are similar to the trade committees that exist for vocational education (eud) and both committees are nationwide and set up at a central level. However, the main difference is that the continuing training and education comittees deal with vocational adult and continuing education, while the trade comittees deal with vocational education in generel.
    There are 11 continuing and education comittees. The number of comittees are established by the social partners (employer organizations and trade unions).
    The task of the committees is to follow the vocational development and development opportunities within each of the relevant areas. These are for example industry, office, social- and healthcare, transportation and so on. They are responsible for the maintenance of the continuing educations e.g. new establishments, reorganizations and the closure of education centres.
    Link
    Reference/weblink
    https://www.uvm.dk/arbejdsmarkedsuddannelser/regelsaet-og-aktoerer/ansvar-og-ak…
    Implementation level
    At what level is the initiative implemented?
    National
    Legal base
    Legal base (E.g. Law, regulation, implementing provision, other)
    Law on labour market education, see:
    https://www.retsinformation.dk/eli/lta/2008/190 (danish)
    Starting period
    TIMESPAN: In what year did the initiative commence?
    The committees were implemented in 2003
    Perspective
    PERSPECTIVE: is the initiative based on evidence derived from skill forecasts or foresight activities?
    It does not seem like the committees use skill forecasts and skill foresight. The committees base their work on analyses of educational needs and on their collaboration with the business community within the specific industry
    Policy area
    To which POLICY AREAS(s) does the initiative apply?
    Education
    Training
    Employment
    Funding
    How it is funded?
    Funded by national government

    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)
    The task of the committees is to develop continuing education, which can meet the labour market's needs for vocationally continuing education targeted skilled and unskilled workers.
    Skills matching focus
    How does  the initiative address skills mismatches?
    Address mismatch broadly
    The committees address mismatch more broadly across the population since they coordinate the entire continuing education effort within the VET-area.

    Methods

    Methods
    What methods of undertaking skills assessments and / or skills anticipation does the policy instrument utilise?
    Other
    The committees develop the continuing education effort on the basis of analyses of the educational needs as well as their cooperation with the business community within the specific field
    Use of skills intelligence
    How is labour market information / skills intelligence used within the initiative?
    Informing decisions on course funding/provision
    LMI is used by the committees in the maintenance of the continuing educations e.g. when deciding if new establishments, reorganizations or closures of educations are to be made

    Stakeholders

    Main responsible body
    Main body or organisation with overall responsibility for the initiative.
    National agency
    The Agency of Education and Quality (Styelsen for Undervisning og Kvalitet)
    Other involved organisations
    Which other organisations have a role in the initiative?
    National agency
    The Agency of Education and Quality (Styelsen for Undervisning og Kvalitet): The Agency assures that the educations that are being developed live up to the formal rules. Furthermore, the agency supervise the educational providers of the continuing education (AMU-providers)
    Social partner: employer organisation
    The social partners are responsible for developing the continuing education and associated tests.
    Social partner: trade union
    The social partners are responsible for developing the continuing education and associated tests.
    Training Providers
    The training is being provided by different institutions such as business schools, private educational institutions and a few university colleges

    Sustainability

    Success factors
    SUCCESS FACTORS in the implementation
    Even though the participation of the courses provided has been declining for some years now, an analysis from EVA in 2019 shows that around one in three companies still use these for its employees at least once a year. Similarly, despite the decline in activity, there are still almost half a million students annually
    Barriers
    BARRIERS in the implementation
    Throughout the years there has been some challenges regarding the entire continuing educations-system - especially regarding the economy and managerial incentives, which were inappropriate. In 2009, the responsible Ministry became aware of this and it lead to a series of tightening's (for example, the access to and opportunities to receive compensation and board and lodging were pretty favourable before (due to wanting to encourage the workforce to participate in continuing education and training)). See: https://www.ft.dk/samling/20111/almdel/BUU/bilag/24/1039685.pdf (danish)
    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?
    Several analyses have been conducted. For example by EVA, who, in the period between 2007-2019 have investigated the companies use and assessments of continuing education within the VET-area. See https://www.eva.dk/voksen-efteruddannelse/virksomheders-brug-vurderinge… (danish)
    Updates
    UPDATES: whether there have been any major updates of the initiative since it has been implemented?
    Yes
    Throughout the years there have been some challenges regarding the entire continuing educations-system - especially regarding the economy and managerial incentives, which were inappropriate. In 2009, the responsible Ministry became aware of this and it lead to a series of tightening's (for example, the access to and opportunities to receive complementation and board and lodging were pretty favourable before (due to wanting to encourage the workforce to participate in continuing education and training)). See: https://www.ft.dk/samling/20111/almdel/BUU/bilag/24/1039685.pdf (danish)
    Effectiveness
    EVIDENCE ON EFFECTIVENESS: How effective is the policy instrument?
    No evaluations of the committees work can be found. However, analyses show that the activities within the continuing vocational education have been declining from 2010 onwards (the number of course participants)
    Sustainability
    SUSTAINABILITY: How sustainable is the policy instrument? Do you expect the instrument to continue over the next few years and why?
    The committees - as a policy instrument - seem sustainable for now. This is due to the fact that they coordinate the entire continuing vocational education-area and, therefore, play an important role in fixing the skill shortages-gap which the companies experience. Furthermore, they enable unskilled and skilled workers to participate in upskilling courses, which is important looking into a labour market that changes quickly due to among other things the green transition and digitization. However, there's been some challenges wihtin the continuing education area, for example the fact that net number of course participants have dropped significantly since 2010.

  • Labour Market Balance

    Arbejdsmarkedsbalancen

    Description

    Focus area
    Main skills assessment/anticipation initiative
    The labour market balance is a national tool to check where there are good job opportunities. The labour market balance can gives an idea of what the job opportunities are within 900 across regional areas.
    It supports guidance and management of efforts in e.g. job centres and unemployment insurance funds as well as within the regional area. The aim is to target guidance on job search and the activation offers that is provided to the unemployed.
    The labour market balance is updated every year in January and July and shows the situation in the labour market for six months at a time. It is not an assessment of the future development in demand or supply in the individual subjects, but describes the situation as it is here and now.
    Link
    Reference/weblink
    https://arbejdsmarkedsbalancen.dk/
    Implementation level
    At what level is the initiative implemented?
    National
    Legal base
    Legal base (E.g. Law, regulation, implementing provision, other)
    Arbejdsmarkedsbalancen is mentioned in several laws regarding the employment effort, see for example https://www.retsinformation.dk/eli/ft/200812L00185 and https://www.retsinformation.dk/eli/retsinfo/2019/10084 (danish)
    Starting period
    TIMESPAN: In what year did the initiative commence?
    The first analysis was made back in 2007
    Perspective
    PERSPECTIVE: is the initiative based on evidence derived from skill forecasts or foresight activities?
    No. It is not an assessment of the future development in demand or supply in the individual subjects, but describes the situation as it is here and now.
    Policy area
    To which POLICY AREAS(s) does the initiative apply?
    Employment
    Funding
    How it is funded?
    Funded by national government

    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)
    Within the labour market balance there is an indicator on how many jobs that could not be filled within a given profession. This means that it is possible to look up areas and jobs which have been marked as "missing labour"
    Skills matching focus
    How does  the initiative address skills mismatches?
    Address mismatch broadly
    It addresses skill shortages by showing positions and job areas with bad job opportunities

    Methods

    Methods
    What methods of undertaking skills assessments and / or skills anticipation does the policy instrument utilise?
    Employer surveys
    The balance is based on a survey conducted among companies which have advertised for labour (the survey contains answers for approx. 17,500 completed recruitment trials across the entire country)
    Vacancy surveys
    The balance is based on full register data of unemployed persons registered in Jobindsats, employees as well as job turnover
    Use of skills intelligence
    How is labour market information / skills intelligence used within the initiative?
    Informing and training career guidance and counsellors
    Arbejdsmarkedsbalancen is used by, e.g. job consultants, who use it in their work guiding the unemployed to find a new job
    Informing job-search decisions of unemployed
    Arbejdsmarkedsbalancen is available to everyone, not only public employees and can, therefore, be used by the unemployed themselves to look up jobs with good employment opportunities

    Stakeholders

    Main responsible body
    Main body or organisation with overall responsibility for the initiative.
    National agency
    The Danish Agency for Labour Market and Recruitment (STAR)
    Other involved organisations
    Which other organisations have a role in the initiative?
    Other
    It is mainly STAR who has a role in the initiative (they run it). However, there's a lot of different actors using the balance e.g., job centres, unemployment insurance funds, the three employment offices within STAR etc. This is due to the fact that is stated in the law that - in the assessment of employment opportunities - STARs' overview of employment opportunities (labour market balance) must be used.

    Sustainability

    Success factors
    SUCCESS FACTORS in the implementation
    One of the success factors is the fact that it is so widely used among actors within the employment area and, therefore, constitutes an important tool in matching skills within the labour market
    Barriers
    BARRIERS in the implementation
    No barriers in the implementation has been located.
    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?
    Arbejdsmarkedsbalancen as a tool has not been evaluated.
    Updates
    UPDATES: whether there have been any major updates of the initiative since it has been implemented?
    No
    Effectiveness
    EVIDENCE ON EFFECTIVENESS: How effective is the policy instrument?
    Arbejdsmarkedsbalancen is an effective instrument since it gives a national overview over e.g. jobs with good employment opportunities and jobs with less good employment opportunities. Knowledge, which is then used by job consultants in every municipality in the country to guide the unemployed into jobs that are needed and adds value to society.
    Sustainability
    SUSTAINABILITY: How sustainable is the policy instrument? Do you expect the instrument to continue over the next few years and why?
    The tool is sustainable and will likely continue to be available since it plays a major role in the Danish employment effort. However, it's been critized that the tool is not forward-looking as it does not take green jobs into account. Therefore, it's been decided at a national level that a new green labour market balance is to be developed (this is especially relevant due to the fact that the government facilitates a green transition and, therefore, some jobs and positions will naturally disappear within the near future). Since this green tool is in its infancy, it is difficult to evaluate what this will mean for the use of the labour market balance as it exists today.

  • The Regional Labour Market Councils (RAR)

    De Regionale Arbejdsmarkedsråd (RAR)

    Description

    Focus area
    Key training policy measure
    From 2018 and beyond, the Regional Labour Market Councils (RAR) have been given the task of strengthening regional and local co-operation to coordinate continuing education efforts, so that it becomes easier for companies to get qualified labour. The effort is supported with a new reporting system, where job centres, employers, unemployment funds and others can draw attention to unmet competence needs and the need for coordination of course procurement. This information is then passed to the vocational schools and helps to coordinate the courses across municipalities.
    Link
    Reference/weblink
    https://rar-bm.dk/
    Implementation level
    At what level is the initiative implemented?
    National
    Legal base
    Legal base (E.g. Law, regulation, implementing provision, other)
    The Regional Labour Market Councils are created by law and, therefore, has a legal base. The law is called "Lov om organisering og understøttelse af beskæftigelsesindsatsen m.v." and can be found at the following link: https://www.retsinformation.dk/eli/lta/2014/1482 (see chapter 5).
    However, their role regarding the coordination of the continuing educations efforts have been established later on in tripartite negotiations: https://bm.dk/media/6686/trepartsaftaleiii-pdf.pdf
    Starting period
    TIMESPAN: In what year did the initiative commence?
    RAR became operational in 2018
    Perspective
    PERSPECTIVE: is the initiative based on evidence derived from skill forecasts or foresight activities?
    RAR does not explicitly work with forecasting and foresight activities. However, since it coordinates the entire effort within the continuing educations efforts, there must be some kind of foresight activities
    Policy area
    To which POLICY AREAS(s) does the initiative apply?
    Education
    Training
    Employment
    Social inclusion
    Funding
    How it is funded?
    Funded by national government

    Skill mismatch

    Skill mismatch target
    What type(s) of skills MISMATCH does the initiative aim to addresses?
    Underqualification (individuals' qualifications/credentials are below their job's needs)
    RAR works with different actors (e.g., jobcentres and social partners) on upskilling courses for the unemployed or employed.
    Skill shortages (employers cannot fill their vacancies due to a lack of skills in the labour market)
    RAR works on initiatives (e.g. courses) with the aim of addressing the lack of manpower with desired skills. This is done, for example, by giving jobcentres 80 pct. refusion on their expenditures relating to the these courses
    Skills matching focus
    How does  the initiative address skills mismatches?
    Upskill or reskill employed adults
    The purpose of RAR is among other things to create better conditions for targeted upgrading of employees and the unemployed in areas with a need for labour. It should make it easier for companies to get qualified employees and make it easier for the job centres to get unemployed people on courses.
    Upskill or reskill non-employed adults
    The purpose of RAR is among other things to create better conditions for targeted upgrading of employees and the unemployed in areas with a need for labour. It should make it easier for companies to get qualified employees and make it easier for the job centres to get unemployed people on courses.
    Address mismatch broadly
    RAR address skills mismatches more broadly since they support the employment effort across all municipalities, give advice to the municipalities regarding the employment effort and coordinate this effort with (among others) VET-centres.

    Methods

    Methods
    What methods of undertaking skills assessments and / or skills anticipation does the policy instrument utilise?
    Employer surveys
    Employer surveys: (It is not possible to mark the box). The starting point for undertaking skills assessments and / or skill anticipations within RAR is a survey among companies that have had job postings during the period
    Other
    The effort is supported with a new reporting system, where job centres, employers, unemployment funds and others can draw attention to unmet competence needs and the need for coordination of course procurement. This information is then passed to the vocational schools and helps to coordinate the courses across municipalities.
    In addition, a new competence tool will be developed, which will be a central reference work on the companies' competence needs within various job titles .
    Furthermore, the municipalities' annual employment plans and the analysis material prepared by the Danish Agency for Labour Market and Recruitment are natural parts of RAR's monitoring of employment development. In addition, RAR may launch its own analyses and studies, and draw on knowledge from outside
    Another method used is the dialogue with municipalities, unemployment insurance funds, educational institutions and companies
    Use of skills intelligence
    How is labour market information / skills intelligence used within the initiative?
    Informing decisions on course funding/provision
    Informing decisions on course provision: The effort is supported with a new reporting system, where job centres, employers, unemployment funds and others can draw attention to unmet competence needs and the need for coordination of course procurement. This information is then passed to the vocational schools and helps to coordinate the courses across municipalities.

    Stakeholders

    Main responsible body
    Main body or organisation with overall responsibility for the initiative.
    National ministry
    The Ministry of Employment
    Other involved organisations
    Which other organisations have a role in the initiative?
    National agency
    The Danish Agency for Labour Market and Recruitment (STAR): The agency works as a secretary for the eight RARs.
    Social partner: employer organisation
    These kind of organizations participate as members in the council (one regional council consists of 21 members).
    Social partner: trade union
    These kind of organizations participate as members in the council (one regional council consists of 21 members).
    Training Providers
    These cooperate and coordinate the employment effort with RAR securing that the courses offered match the skills needed.
    Other
    Unemployment insurance funds: These cooperate and coordinate the employment effort with RAR.
    Jobcentres: These coordinate the employment effort and the work regarding labour shortages and areas of high unemployment.

    Sustainability

    Success factors
    SUCCESS FACTORS in the implementation
    From the national level, five success criterions for the VET-effort (adapted to the RAR-model) have been set up. These are as follows: 1) There is a better match between the supply and the demand for VET; 2) The wishes for new courses are coordinated between companies, jobcentres and unemployment insurance funds; 3) Job centres, unemployment insurance funds, VET-providers and the social partners in each RAR get a better overview of where there are shortage of labour; 4) VET-providers experience that it is easier to tailor, coordinate and carry out courses targeted at the unemployed and employed in areas with recruitment challenges; 5) companies within these regional cooperation's experience that it easier to upskill employees or unemployed persons to the jobs that are needed.
    Barriers
    BARRIERS in the implementation
    There are many different actors that need to agree a common solution.
    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?
    There's been one baseline measure of the RAR-model. This was published in 2019 by Deloitte. Several indicators have been used to measure the progress of the RAR-model (in total 10 indicators). For further description of these, see the baseline at: https://star.dk/media/9878/baselinemaaling-for-rar-modellen-national.pdf (danish)
    Updates
    UPDATES: whether there have been any major updates of the initiative since it has been implemented?
    No
    There has not been any major updates of the initiative yet, but the model of RAR are to be evaluated in 2021.
    Effectiveness
    EVIDENCE ON EFFECTIVENESS: How effective is the policy instrument?
    Will be relevant to answer when the evaluation of the RAR-model are made (scheduled for 2021).
    Sustainability
    SUSTAINABILITY: How sustainable is the policy instrument? Do you expect the instrument to continue over the next few years and why?
    RAR is a sustainable policy instrument since its role (coordinating the entire continuing educations effort) is important. The network which they engage in is big and covers all the relevant organizations and institutions within the area. This network and dialogue between the actors mean that RAR supports a welfunctioning labour market in a way where changes like e.g., the green transition, digitization and automation are kept in mind when new courses are developed and unemployed are looking to upskill.

  • Trade committees and local committees

    Faglige udvalg og lokale uddannelsesudvalg

    Description

    Focus area
    Key training policy measure
    The organization of the committees (members of both employer organizations and trade unions) assures that skills gained within education are also relevant within the labour market and up to date.
    Every education within the vocational area is run by a trade committee. One of the tasks of the committees is to follow the business development and development opportunities and, if necessary, take the initiative for new establishments, reorganizations and closures of education centres.
    Link
    Reference/weblink
    https://www.uvm.dk/erhvervsuddannelser/ansvar-og-aktoerer/raad-og-udvalg/de-fag…
    Implementation level
    At what level is the initiative implemented?
    National
    Legal base
    Legal base (E.g. Law, regulation, implementing provision, other)
    The committees are regulated by law. See: https://www.retsinformation.dk/eli/lta/2020/51 (danish)
    Starting period
    TIMESPAN: In what year did the initiative commence?
    The committees have been operational for quite some time. It is not possible to locate the exact implementation date, but documents show that they were operational back in 2007 as well.
    Perspective
    PERSPECTIVE: is the initiative based on evidence derived from skill forecasts or foresight activities?
    Not explicitly mentioned, but the committees are to follow the business development and development opportunities and, if necessary, take the initiative for new establishments, reorganizations and closures of educations. Especially the establishments of new educations can be expected to build on some kind of skill forecasts.
    Policy area
    To which POLICY AREAS(s) does the initiative apply?
    Education
    Employment
    Funding
    How it is funded?
    Funded by national government

    Skill mismatch

    Skill mismatch target
    What type(s) of skills MISMATCH does the initiative aim to addresses?
    Overqualification (individuals' qualifications/credentials are above their job's needs)
    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?
    Address mismatch broadly
    The committees address mismatch more broadly across the population since they take care of the entire VET-area and keep track on which educations are relevant right now, which are to be closed and which ones we will need within the nearest future.

    Methods

    Methods
    What methods of undertaking skills assessments and / or skills anticipation does the policy instrument utilise?
    Other
    Specific methods of undertaking skills assessments and / or skills anticipation are not mentioned explicitly. However, it is stated that it is the social partners relevant for the given education who will assess and decide the skills needed within that specific education. Furthermore, when the trade committees submit a recommendation to the Ministry (e.g. regarding changes to one of the educational areas), this work is based on analyses and forecasts within that specific area.
    Use of skills intelligence
    How is labour market information / skills intelligence used within the initiative?
    Other
    In order to be able to solve the task of ensuring that education at all times match the competence requirements in the labour market, the trade committees must, among other things, follow the business development and development opportunities within the committee's area. In this connection, the professional committees are also obliged to follow the employment development in the given education area and submit a recommendation to the Ministry if this shows a need for changes in the education. In order to carry out this task, the trade committees base their work on analyses and forecasts within the educational area of relevance.

    Stakeholders

    Main responsible body
    Main body or organisation with overall responsibility for the initiative.
    National ministry
    The Ministry for Children and Education: The ministry has the final say regarding all the rules. These are decided on the basis of the wishes of the committees. Furthermore, the ministry may also appoint development committees to examine new job areas that could possibly be covered by a VET programme. The committees are typically established in areas where no trade committees exist
    Other involved organisations
    Which other organisations have a role in the initiative?
    Social partner: employer organisation
    Employer organizations are included as members in the committees. Their role are similar to the one the committee performs (see above)
    Social partner: trade union
    Trade unions are included as members in the committees. Their role are similar to the one the committee performs (see above)
    Other
    Other: Local vocational committees: There are local committees for each education. The local committees fill out the framework for the specific education, whereas the trade committees decides the skill needed for the specific education. Also, these committees consists of employer organizations and trade unions within the relevant area.

    Sustainability

    Success factors
    SUCCESS FACTORS in the implementation
    The trade committees are obligated to take care of education so that it always match the skills needed within the labour market. One of the ways to measure whether this has succeeded is to look at the employment rate.
    Barriers
    BARRIERS in the implementation
    No barriers have been located in the implementation of the trade committees and local committees.
    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?
    No major evaluations of the trade committees and local committees have been conducted recently.
    Updates
    UPDATES: whether there have been any major updates of the initiative since it has been implemented?
    No
    No major updates of the committees have been taking place. Their construction is written in the law and is, therefore, pretty stable.
    Effectiveness
    EVIDENCE ON EFFECTIVENESS: How effective is the policy instrument?
    No major evaluations have been conducted so, therefore, it is difficult to evaluate the committees effectiveness. However, they have been operational for quite a long time, and, furthermore, play a key role in the management and development of vocational education and training in Denmark. One can therefore say that they are an effective tool in developing the VET-area.
    Sustainability
    SUSTAINABILITY: How sustainable is the policy instrument? Do you expect the instrument to continue over the next few years and why?
    The initiative seems likely to continue in the years ahead since it represents something unique about the Danish labour market model: Mainly, that employer organizations and trade unions are included as essential actors in the work of developing the entire VET-area. Furthermore, and by doing so, it is assured that the skills gained within vocational education are also relevant within the labour market and, thereby, up to date.