Skills anticipation in Spain (2022 Update)

Summary

Overview of the Spanish approach

Skills anticipation in Spain involves substantial stakeholder/social partner engagement. The overall approach is designed to bring about a better match between the skills supplied by workers and those required by employers. The involvement of the social partners reflects the tradition of social dialogue around vocational education and training (VET) in the country.

Skills anticipation has been reformed following the introduction of Law 30/2015 to address the relatively poor labour market outcomes arising from VET provision. The law regulates VET system in relation to both employed and unemployed people and implies that more effort will be required to improve strategic planning – encompassing skills anticipation – to better coordinate and align the activities of employment and education authorities at national and regional levels. The remit of stakeholders such as employer associations and trade unions following the introduction of the Law is now that of identifying current and future training needs, but not to be providers of that training as they were in the past.

At a ministerial level, coordination of skills anticipation activities rests with namely the Ministry of Labour, and Social Economy (Ministerio de Trabajo y Economía Social), and the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training (Ministerio de Educación y Formación Profesional). The Ministry of Labour has responsibility for the public employment service (PES) known as Servicio Público de Empleo Estatal (SEPE), the Observatory of Occupations (El Observatorio de las Ocupaciones), and the State Foundation for Training and Employment (Fundación Estatal para la Formación en el Empleo, formerly the Tripartite Foundation). The Ministry of Education has responsibility for the Observatory of Professions (El Observatorio Profesional) at the National Qualifications Institute (Instituto Nacional de las Cualificaciones, INCUAL). Data on the employability of VET graduates is undertaken by the National Institute for Educational Evaluation (Instituto Nacional de Evaluación Educativa, INEE).

Efforts are being made by the Ministry of Labour (PES and State Foundation for Training for Employment) and the Ministry of Education (through INCUAL) to coordinate their methodologies in order to achieve a more consistent approach to skills anticipation. The governmental economic programme for fiscal discipline and social cohesion, known as the Agenda for Change (Agenda del Cambio), focused on enhancing training and human capital and moving towards an efficient and fair labour market. Skills anticipation activities are to provide evidence to measure progress. An updated classification of occupational standards will be developed in consultation with social partners, the private sector and educational institutions to ensure it meets the needs of the labour market.

At the regional level, the regional governments have a responsibility to ensure that training provision meets local demand. Social dialogue takes place between workers and employers through Sectoral Joint Committees, which are responsible for assessing the skills content of qualifications and the adequacy of training provision in relation to businesses’ needs.

Active labour market policies experienced severe budgetary cuts at the beginning of the economic crisis, though their budgets have subsequently recovered since then. This is likely to have constrained skills anticipation activities. Furthermore, challenges remain in effectively disseminating information through career and vocational guidance channels, and in reaching target groups such as small businesses and their employees, as well as self-employed workers.

Description

Skills anticipation in Spain is a collaborative process between national government departments and agencies, namely the Ministry of Labour and Social economy (Ministerio de Trabajo y Economía Social), and the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training (Ministerio de Educación y Formación Profesional), regional governments and the social partners (employers’ and workers’ representatives). In addition, the Chambers of Commerce, of which there are 86 at local level, are co-ordinated by the Cámara de Comercio de España and assess the skills needs of their associated companies. A major reform of the training system for both employed and unemployed people was approved in 2015,[i] stipulating the improved coordination between the multiple actors involved in the VET system. The Ministry of Labour, Migration and Social Security (via Public Employment Service (PES)(Servicio Público de Empleo Estatal – SEPE) and the State Foundation for Training for Employment) and the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training (through INCUAL) use of a coordinated methodology to develop training needs assessments and skills forecasting. Important here is the development of a multi-annual scenario, developed by the Ministry of Labour, Migration and Social Security, that acts as a framework for strategic planning to ensure that training provision is guided by skills anticipation. The multi-annual scenario will be developed by using the annual report of PES that outlines skills needs.

National and regional authorities along with the social partners are part of the General Council of the National Employment System (Consejo General del Sistema Nacional de Empleo),[ii] which is the main consultation forum related to the vocational training system for employment. The Council guarantees, among other tasks, the correct implementation of Law 30/2015, in close cooperation, with the Spanish General Council on VET (Consejo General de la Formación Profesional) where necessary.[iii]

The principal outputs of skills anticipation activities consist of (a) a multi-annual scenario (described above); and (b) the annual report of the PES (Informe Anual de Necesidades Formativas) which identifies the occupations with relatively strong employment prospects and their associated training needs [iv] and includes recommendations relating to training provision for both those in employment and those who are unemployed. Additionally, sectoral reference plans (planes de referencia sectoriales) are produced by the 87 Sectoral Joint Committees.[v]

Aims

The primary aim of skills anticipation is to match and adapt the skills developed in the education and training system with the skills in demand in the labour market. The skills anticipation approach in Spain attempts to achieve this through the inclusion of stakeholders in the assessment of skills needs. The latter is primarily the responsibility of the respective agencies of the Ministry of Labour, and the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training. The governmental economic programme for fiscal discipline and social cohesion, known as the Agenda for Change (Agenda del Cambio), was published in February 2019. Action is focused on:

• enhancing training and human capital;
• promoting ecological transition;
• fostering scientific and technological progress;
• moving towards an efficient and fair labour market;
• reducing inequality and protecting the welfare state; and
• progressing towards a more efficient public administration at the service of citizenship.

Skills anticipation activities will provide evidence to measure progress towards these actions. The agenda also proposes an update to the classification of occupational standards to ensure they meet the needs of the labour market. This updating is to be undertaken in consultation with social partners, the private sector and educational institutions. 

Legal framework

With the aim of matching the provision of training to skills demand, the skills anticipation process has undergone a major reform, though it has not yet been fully implemented.[vi] The provision of training for employment will now be matched more closely to labour market skills demand, based on multi-annual strategic planning in consultation with stakeholders such as regional governments and the social partners. As a result of the reform, a focus has also been placed on the evaluation of training provision. The Sectoral Joint Committees are also responsible for producing sectoral analyses of changes in their sectors and developing training reference plans.

In summary, the legislative changes in 2015 ensure the following:

• The establishment of a multi-annual strategic plan – and the production of an annual report – to link training needs with training provision;
• The implementation of an integrated information system, which collates information on developments in the labour market and the associated demand for skills, alongside information on training provision at national and regional levels. This information is intended to inform training provision at national and regional levels. The evaluation of training activities has gained weight as a result of the Law;
• The assigning of the existing 87 Sectoral Joint Committees according to the sectoral mapping developed by the General Council of the National Employment System, so as to prioritise where training needs analysis is to take place.

Governance

Skills anticipation in Spain is governed by both the Ministry of Labour, and the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training and their respective agencies, as detailed above.

The role of stakeholders

Several stakeholders play a key role in skills anticipation activities. Chief amongst them are government agencies such as PES, the State Foundation for Training and Employment, INCUAL, the Quality Evaluation and Accreditation National Agency (Agencia Nacional de Evaluación de la Calidad y Acreditación), regional employment and education authorities, and the social partners.

Coordination amongst stakeholders was strengthened with Law 30/2015. Generally, key stakeholders such as the social partners are brought together for Sectoral Joint Committees. These committees are organised on a sectoral basis involving roundtables at a national level to produce sectoral training reference plans which are considered by the PES. The General Council of the National Employment System is the main coordinating institution related to the provision of training in relation to employment, and is also an important forum through which the social partners play a role in skills anticipation (see section “Target groups’ uses of skills anticipation outputs”). It is comprised of representatives from the national and regional employment administrations and the social partners. The Council guarantees, amongst other things, the correct implementation of the recent reform of the VET system (c.f. Law 30/2015) with the Spanish General Council on VET. The Spanish General Council on VET, which is responsible for the development of the VET system, comprises representatives from the Ministries of Employment and Education, respectively, the regions, and the social partners.

The PES and the State Foundation for Training and Employment are both agencies of the Ministry of Labour. The PES, through its Occupation Observatory (a sub-agency), is the main agency responsible for the assessment of training needs. The State Foundation for Training and Employment is the managing institution for training both those in employment and those who are unemployed.

The social partners (employers’ and workers’ representatives) participate in the VET system through the Sectoral Joint Committees, which provide expert guidance on skills anticipation at the sectoral level, establish priorities for vocational training and monitor trends in supply and demand. The Chambers of Commerce help to assess their member firms’ training needs.

Regional employment and education authorities have responsibility for implementing skills policies and adapting them to local conditions. The reform of the VET system foresees their role in skills anticipation being strengthened, but this has yet to be implemented. They are also part of the General Council of the National Employment System and of the General Council on VET.

Target groups

Among the intended target groups are both the information providers themselves and other end-users, including the PES (with its Occupation Observatory), the State Foundation for Training for Employment, the INCUAL (and its Observatory of Professions), social partners, training providers, education providers (via career guidance counsellors for young people), career counsellors (for jobseekers) and regional governments.

Funding and resources

According to Law 30/2015 on reforming the VET system, funding for skills anticipation will be borne by the State Foundation for Training for Employment, and the respective regional authorities. Additionally, the PES, through the Observatory of Occupations, funds in part the analysis of skills anticipation, while the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training, through its various agencies, carries out and funds other activities. The regional authorities (both employment and education) carry out and fund skills anticipation activities. The Sectoral Joint Committees are funded by the State Foundation for Training for Employment.

Methods and tools

The PES is currently analysing future skills needs with up to 5 years horizon and is setting up a new system for future skills analysis. It uses descriptive statistics/stock taking, quantitative forecasting, skills and jobs surveys (questionnaire surveys), graduate tracer studies, qualitative research (including qualitative forecasting), foresight and big data (using web scraping/web crawling to access and gather data, analysing textual data with the use of natural language processing (NLP) tools, using machine learning (ML) algorithms to extract and elaborate information [vii].

Skills assessment

The PES analyses skill needs in terms of demand and supply on an annual basis.

Skills assessment in Spain is primarily undertaken by the PES through the Observatory of Occupations, which analyses recruitment activity and employment trends to determine which occupations are increasing in employment and to identify the skills associated with these occupations. The Observatory uses quantitative and qualitative information and analysis of skills included in companies’ online job advertisements[viii]. Training needs are analysed using both qualitative and quantitative methodologies. The State Foundation for Training for Employment undertakes training needs assessments by analysing administrative data on training courses and their participants (persons and companies).[ix] This approach was in place before the introduction of Law 30/2015, but the coordination of - and the importance attached to - skills anticipation in general, including skills assessments, has been strengthened since its introduction.

At the end of 2018, the Ministry of Education was in the process of developing a new regulation to modify the procedure for the identification of training needs of the different sectors. It was foreseen that the National Institute of Professional Qualifications (INCUAL) professional observatory will identify, update and, where appropriate, design occupational standards meeting labour market needs. The objective of that reform was to shorten the time necessary for designing and normative processing, while developing training offers (VET diplomas, Specialisation Courses, Professional Certificates) to allow for acquisition of occupational standards can be.

INCUAL carries out studies to assess the impact of Industry 4.0 to adapt existing occupational standards and define new ones.  INCUAL is currently carrying out prospective studies to assess the needs of adaptation of existing occupational standards to the requirements derived from Industry 4.0 and, where appropriate, defining new occupational standards [x].

Skills forecasts

The State Foundation for Training for Employment undertakes forecasting activities by analysing administrative data on recruitment activity, social security and tax contributions, and additionally is now exploiting big data. Skills demand forecasting is relatively new in Spain and began in earnest with the Anticipa Project, in 2012, led by the State Foundation for Training and Employment. This project constructed a model which produces medium- to long-term forecasts of the most in-demand skills in the labour market. It uses data from the Labour Force Survey and Labour Contracts Statistics are compiled by the National Statistical Office (Instituto Nacional de Estadística) and the PES respectively. Following the Anticipa Project, skills forecasting is now regularly undertaken by the State Foundation for Training for Employment.

Skills foresight

Skills foresight is mostly developed in the Sectoral Joint Committees through roundtable discussions at national and sectoral levels. The outcomes of their deliberations are sectoral reference plans usually including, amongst other objectives, adapting workers and employers to the use of new technologies, training actions to reduce accidents at work, improving workers’ job specific and transversal skills, increasing firms’ competitiveness, raising awareness about lifelong learning needs, increasing firms’ international trade, modernising firms’ management, and facilitating the introduction of quality systems.

The PES uses interviews and surveys with stakeholders, as well as experts’ workshops / meetings / panels[xi].

Other skills anticipation practices

Other skills anticipation practices are undertaken by the regions. They typically carry out regional employer surveys to detect skills and training needs, as happens for instance in Andalusia[xii] and in Murcia.[xiii] They may also develop methodological studies, together with the regional social partners, relating to how to anticipate skills and training needs, and/or sectoral prospective analyses (as in Aragón). Provincial and local authorities also undertake their own activities.[xiv]> Employers’ associations may also carry out sectoral analysis on skills and training needs, frequently through focus groups, for instance in the ICT sector (e.g. CONETIC).[xv] Similarly, trade unions carry out surveys on workers in the sectors they represent. The Chambers of Commerce take advantage of their close relationship with local companies to detect their needs and organise training activities.[xvi] Finally, tertiary level education institutions conduct tracking surveys of graduates to assess skills demand among graduate employers. The National Institute for Educational Evaluation (Instituto Nacional de Evaluación Educativa, INEE) also collects data on general education indicators, such as examination achievements. It produces reports on the employability of VET graduates.

The Observatory’s territorial network uses a CRM to identify information on skills required by employers for selected professional profiles, through online job advertisements posted on the SEPE’s EMPLÉATE (Get Employed) website. Efforts are underway to incorporate text analysis methods and tools, and machine learning to facilitate the use of information from EMPLÉATE in research and reports. Monitoring of job-seekers holding recognised qualifications (university, vocational training, and professional aptitude certificate) who are registered with employment offices, allows for the analysis of the labour market for graduates[xvii]

Dissemination and use

Use of skills anticipation in policy

Among the key actors involved in the dissemination of skills information are the PES, the State Foundation for Training for Employment, the National Qualifications Institute, the social partners, regional government, Chambers of Commerce, and guidance counsellors. Additionally, education institutions (at secondary and tertiary levels) may disseminate information on skills demand to students to guide their career choices, making use of publications, studies and statistics, webpages, visits of the PES, job fairs and social media (Twitter, Facebook, etc.). The PES, the State Foundation for Training for Employment, and the Observatory of the Professions provide their information to the public through publications on, for example, sectoral developments and occupational trends.

Outputs from skills anticipation activities mainly affect policies, which in turn are relevant to the delivery of training. In this regard, the PES uses the outputs of the skills assessments it runs to produce multi-annual scenarios which serve as a framework for strategic planning for training provision, supported by analysis of training needs, an annual report,[xviii] and numerous sectoral and thematic reports.[xix] The training is then provided by authorised organisations/companies. Evaluation has been reinforced by the reforms, although the implementation process has not yet been accomplished.

Cooperation with social partners occurs primarily through the Sectoral Joint Committees where expert opinion (derived from roundtable discussions between social partners) is used to inform the skills anticipation process. The new Law (Law 30/2015) foresees a rationalisation of the work of these Committees, but this element of the law has not yet been implemented. The Sectoral Joint Committees bring together employers and unions and produce sectoral reference plans, which are taken into account in the training that the PES commissions from training providers.

The workers’ and employers’ representatives, through their involvement in the Sectoral Joint Committees, provide substantial expertise which informs sectoral skills anticipation. As such, these actors play a key role in the dissemination of information through their sectoral organisations. Changes to the role of the social partners included in Law 30/2015 means they are no longer involved in delivering training, such that training providers and regional governments will have to take on a greater role in the dissemination of information about skills anticipation.

Target groups’ uses of skills anticipation outputs

Including stakeholders in the skills anticipation process facilitates the goal of reaching the respective populations that stakeholders represent, or the client groups they serve. There are, however, difficulties reaching certain groups, such as small and medium-sized enterprises and their employees, and those who are self-employed. There are also concerns about whether outputs from skills anticipation activities are being used by careers guidance services, as they often use information not directly relevant to the labour market. Career guidance at both secondary and tertiary levels often focuses on understanding a student’s (or a graduate’s) ability and strengths rather than matching those strengths to labour market needs.

Executive summaries of skills intelligence findings are being used by the PES internally, while general reports presenting key skills intelligence findings are shared with externals. These may regard specific analyses and evaluations focused on specific topics or target groups. Externals can also access skills intelligence findings through datasets for open access/use[xx].

The PES staff is informed of skills intelligence outputs through handbooks/guidebooks/toolkits, as are PES customers (including job-seekers, employers, VET providers, other educational institutions). Skills intelligence also enriches guidance offered to externals by counsellors, upskilling and reskilling programmes addressing future skills requirements[xxi].

Please cite this document as: Cedefop.(2022). Skills anticipation in Spain. Skills intelligence: data insights. URL [accessed XXX]

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Endnotes