The first Global Careers Month was launched on 8 November with the aim to showcase career guidance as a policy priority because it helps individuals to reach their potential by responding to their needs, economies to become more efficient and societies to become fairer.
The Global Careers Month (8 November-13 December) is organised by the Inter-Agency Career Guidance Working Group, composed of Cedefop, the European Commission, the European Training Foundation (ETF), the International Labour Organization (ILO), the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), UNESCO and The World Bank. It includes a series of global and regional events, in partnership with national and regional associations operating around career development for both young people and adults.
During the virtual opening ceremony, which was hosted by the ETF, representatives of the organisers, social partners, career guidance experts and regional partners outlined the objectives of the initiative and looked ahead to the challenges and opportunities for people’s career prospects.
Cedefop Head of Department for VET and Skills Antonio Ranieri told participants that ‘Today’s young people have witnessed the consequences of a deep recession, a pandemic, war and an energy crisis. Career guidance is there to create hope and clear prospects for them.’
He added: ‘The great skill mismatch is a fundamental gap between employers’ and workers’ expectations and investment in learning. We need a stronger career guidance with synergies between all areas of policy.’
Career guidance is the services provided to individuals, groups and their families, starting with mandatory education and extending to lifelong learning. It can help open up the world of work to everyone, not excluding vulnerable groups, as well as alerting them to opportunities offered by new sectors arising from the digital and green transitions.
As Cedefop Executive Director Jürgen Siebel said, 'quality career guidance helps people to navigate change, but also to shape change and the world – to be in the driver’s seat while steering through the challenges of the labour market.'
The specific objectives of the Global Careers Month are to:
- raise awareness about the role and importance of effective career guidance to enable access to decent work and support growth efforts during the economic recovery;
- identify shared challenges to the development of career guidance systems as well as local specificities linked to local contexts;
- showcase high quality, as well as innovative solutions to promote career development support in diverse contexts and for learners at different stages in their educational and career pathways; and,
- disseminate research undertaken by the collaborating agencies on the design and delivery of effective career guidance.
More on the month’s objectives and career guidance’s importance in Cedefop’s new podcast.
Check out the planned activities here.