Description
Country
Focus area
The primary goal of Job Opportunity is to provide information on the future labour market by showing future job opportunities for graduates in secondary vocational education in their attained level of education. It displays the ratio between the expected number of graduates looking for work and the number of expected vacancies that are suitable for these graduates in terms of content and level. This information is useful for students who are choosing their qualification in secondary vocational education. Job Opportunity also provides schools with information about the needs of the labour market for graduates and gives businesses an indication as to whether sufficient secondary vocational education graduates will become available on the labour market. The chances of work are split out by qualification and region.
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 SBB (short for Cooperation organisation Vocational Education and Business) has a legal mandate to provide information to intermediate vocational education institutions and to businesses about the labour market, professional development and the effectiveness of the education system’s output.
Starting period
TIMESPAN: In what year did the initiative commence?
2016
Perspective
PERSPECTIVE: is the initiative based on evidence derived from skill forecasts or foresight activities?
Yes. Job Opportunity shows future job prospects of students that are starting secondary vocational education. An estimate is made of future vacancies that are suitable for the attained level of education. The estimate is based on current available vacancies, expected production growth and mobility using forecasts of growth or contraction in certain business sectors. The expected number of graduates looking for a job and other job seekers is calculated using current vacancies and expectations with regard to the popularity of the program and the labour market influx.
Policy area
To which POLICY AREAS(s) does the initiative apply?
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)
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 Opportunity shows the number of expected vacancies that are suitable for graduates of secondary vocational education and therefore possible skill shortages on sectoral or occupational level.
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
Job Opportunities provides an arithmetic model to predict future job prospects of secondary vocational education graduates and gives a better insight into the labour market relevance of a qualification.
Skills foresight
Job Opportunity releases a yearly rapport that ensures that education and business are well supported in the choices and agreements they want to make.
Vacancy surveys
The survey inquired what proportion of vacancies are suitable for school-leavers and what preferences companies have to gain insight into the competition recent graduates face from others who enter the labour market
Use of skills intelligence
How is labour market information / skills intelligence used within the initiative?
Job Opportunity informs students about which professions and education trajectories offer the best opportunities on the labour market, therefore helping student make career decisions.
Job Opportunity gives businesses an indication as to whether sufficient secondary vocational education graduates will become available on the labour market , which enables businesses to make strategic decisions at a sectoral level.
Stakeholders
Main responsible body
Main body or organisation with overall responsibility for the initiative.
National agency
Other involved organisations
Which other organisations have a role in the initiative?
National ministry
The Ministry of Education, Culture and Science (Ministerial van Onderwijs, Cultuur en Wetenschap (OCW)) and the government body Education Inspection (Inspectie van het Onderwijs) helped to compile an overview of all qualifications. Additionally SBB advices the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science on the relation between vocational education and the labour market
National agency
The executive education service (Dienst Uitvoerend Onderwijs (DUO)) and secondary vocational education council (MBO Raad) also helped to compile an overview of all qualifications
Research centres, universities
Research organisation Panteia and Etil helped developing the model
Other
Job feed is an independent organization that takes a central place in determining the total work demand. Jobfeed registers all vacancies and their specific characteristics on a daily basis
Beneficiaries
Who are the intended beneficiaries?
Other
Job Opportunity provides schools with information about the needs of the labour market for graduates and the business community uses Job Opportunity as an indication as to whether enough secondary vocational education graduates will become available on the labour market.
Sustainability
Success factors
SUCCESS FACTORS in the implementation
The method used to measure Job Opportunity is shown to have high validity and reliability, making the predictions useful and accurate. The outcomes are useful for (prospective) students, their parents, deans, (organized) businesses, pre-vocational secondary education institutions, secondary vocational education institutions and other stakeholders such as UWV and municipalities.
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 method is adjusted/further developed annually after evaluation (in parts) and was more thoroughly evaluated in 2019 where it was shown that almost all qualifications are consistent/plausible an it did not result in recommendations. The results are compared with another well-known labour market indicator: the Tension Indicator by UWV.
Updates
UPDATES: whether there have been any major updates of the initiative since it has been implemented?
The evaluations did not result in recommendations and therefore there were no major updates since Job Opportunity was implemented.
No
Effectiveness
EVIDENCE ON EFFECTIVENESS: How effective is the policy instrument?
The stated aim of educating about the labour market opportunities of senior secondary vocational education graduates is effective as it publishes accurate annual results. The results are compared with the UWV Tension Indicator (Tension Indicator), which uses a different method, but comparable results.
Sustainability
SUSTAINABILITY: How sustainable is the policy instrument? Do you expect the instrument to continue over the next few years and why?
As Job Opportunity provides accurate information that is useful for many stakeholders, such as (prospective) students, sector chambers, market segments, schools and branches, it is likely that the initiative will continue for some time. There have not (yet) been found factors that would undermine the initiative in the years ahead.
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