Cedefop

Mismatched unemployed people face greater difficulties in finding employment than other unemployed workers. The instrument, therefore, focuses on this sub-group of the unemployed workers to promote their labour market integration. The aim is to help the unemployed to find a job and the companies to reduce their skill shortages.

The objective of this policy instrument is to attract those key and skilled workers from abroad who are urgently needed on the labour market, but cannot be recruited from the domestic labour supply (with due attention to the future development of the Austrian labour market and economy). It opens the labour market and regulates the opportunity for foreigners to receive employment permits in Austria.

The instrument, the Centres d'Insertion Socioprofessionnelle (CISP) is a centre that provides trainings for people not in employment. The CISP groups the competences previously implemented by the "Enterprises de Formation par le Travail" (EFT) and the "Organismes d'Insertion Socioprofessionnelle" (OISP). The centres, which are local non-profit associations, encourage the professional development of lower educated adults detached from the labour market (who completed mandatory education) by updating their general and technical skills. Every CISP covers at least one of the three domains mentioned through the operation of workshops. The CISPs give a personalised guidance to the intern all the way until reaching professional specialisation. The specialisation is chosen among a wide range of possibilities that match the skills needed in the labour market. The rationale is to prepare adult job-seekers with links to the labour market, and provide general and technical training for a given profession. Job-seekers are trained in the necessary and relevant skills needed in their desired profession, in a real working environment. The link between training and work is made stronger for all job-seekers, with a special focus on providing vocational guidance, basic training in transversal skills, and vocational training to provide job seekers with skills required for specific professions.

Provide unemployed individuals (sometimes specific target groups) with the necessary skills and competences to carry out work within a specific enterprise. The rationale behind the IBO measure is that by bringing a job seeker and enterprise together, the VDAB can help develop a training and education plan that allows the job seeker to attain the skills required by the enterprise in question. The job seeker can learn while working at the enterprise and become acquainted with the organisation, prove themselves, and learn the necessary skills. A feature of the measure is that the job seeker receives employment at the enterprise once the training is complete. The rationale is that such specific matching between individual enterprises and job seekers, together with the feature that the job seeker becomes employed, promotes employment through a tailored matching in skills and competences to an enterprise’s needs.
The goal is to offer 13,500 training programmes in 2012 (11,979 reached), 15,500 in 2013 and 17,000 in 2014.

The instrument aims to help working adults to remain employable and active in the labour market by giving them easily accessible options to learn skills across a broad variety of subject areas. The main rationale for this instrument is to improve the competences and employability of workers and job seekers in Flanders. The instrument does so by offering (in October 2017) 635 online courses for free to both target groups.

The overarching objective of the initiative was to enhance labour market adaptability and effectiveness, as well as to strike a greater balance of labour market demand and supply by developing a system for workforce competence assessment by sectors and regions. The rationale of the Competence Assessment System can be defined, as follows: Forecasting the demand for labour force with specific qualification levels in specific sectors and regions. The policy goal, defined in section 2 were achieved through:
- Analysing and defining workforce competence requirements by considering EU, national and sector requirements and standards;
- Establishment of a Bulgarian Competence Assessment Network by sectors and regions and improvement of the coordination and information exchange of workforce competence assessment among national, branch and regional structures of the employers and trade unions and the responsible government institutions;
- Gaining national recognition and fostering prerequisites for the integration of the workforce competence assessment system in the future e-government so as to enhance adaptability and effectiveness, and to achieve a balance of the labour market demand and supply.

The aim is to address the following problems: persisting downward trend in the number of economically active people in recent years reduced employment rate of the population aged 20-64 years; and increased unemployment rate. The key priorities of the National Reform Programme (2012-2020), of which the HRD OP's specific targets are focused in the area of unemployment and employment, are the fight against unemployment among labour market vulnerable groups, above all youth and long-term unemployed, and also the achievement of higher employment rate among older-age people.
Bulgaria's national targets to the Europe 2020 Strategy are: (1) at least 76% of the 20-64 year olds to be employed by 2020, and (2) reducing the number of people living in poverty by 260,000 by 2020. Attaining these targets is of paramount importance for the vision and strategy of the HRD OP. New working place 2015, as a HRD OP scheme, will contribute to achieving both national targets, i.e. contribute to increasing employment, especially of the most vulnerable groups in the labour market, and thus, to reducing poverty in Bulgaria.

The policy instrument addresses the need for better defining the range of skills and knowledge offered in the system of higher education, through establishing active cooperation mechanisms between higher education institutions and business entities and their associations. Thus, the policy goal of the initiative is to translate the social order for new professionals of the Bulgarian business into the language of education. The intervention contributed to the establishment of a direct link between HEIs on the one hand and employers on the other, including at higher and mid-management level. Key business experts were attracted, together with academics to redefine and update university curricula to better respond to labour market needs. Strategies were elaborated at HEI level for the development of the different degrees of education by professional fields and/or specialties, as a direct response to the needs of the business sector.

The instrument addresses the problem of unemployment among young people. The aim of the Schemes is to provide young unemployed persons (below tertiary-education graduates) the opportunity to acquire work experience in order to improve their employability, at the same time, giving the opportunity to enterprises/organisations to use the services of those young persons at no financial cost to them. The scheme gives young graduates of secondary education the opportunity to enter/re-enter the labour market and improve their employability through acquiring training and work experience in companies and organisations.

According to the current national labour statistics there is lack of a sufficient number of skilled workforce for the implementation of measures relating to the construction of energy efficient buildings, and furthermore, a lack of appropriate training programmes for the training of the workforce in this area is evidently present. The project primarily aims at achieving national targets 2020 (Buildings and RES technologies) concerning renewable energy sources technologies in buildings through training of workers in the building and related sectors. In order to achieve this policy targets, there is a need of a qualified workforce with appropriate knowledge, experience, skills, and attitudes not only in the building sector, but in all sectors related to the building industry.

The goal of the measure is to provide financial support to seasonal workers in the period they are not working, in order to ensure necessary work force for employers in all services during the periods of reduced amount of work, due to seasonal characteristics of the business. In addition to the financial help to seasonal workers, a payment of part of the expenses of prolonged pension insurance is given to employers in the period seasonal workers are not working and are registered for prolonged pension insurance in the period of 6 months between two seasons.
This is a social measure aimed at preserving workplaces. The employer can use the instrument for as many seasonal workers as he has employees. Permanent seasonal worker can also be hired in the period of prolonged insurance, in order to participate in the preparations for the next season and in special events that he/she doesn’t have opportunity to do during the season. For these activities, the employer can reward the person with a monthly amount that cannot be higher then the amount of the average monthly compensation during the unemployment paid in the previous year (in 2017, this was 2004,42 HRK). Seasonal workers receive financial help for the whole out-of-season period (no more than 6 months), regardless if they work for that period or not - this is also a social measure. They can work during that period for the employer on preparations for the next season and out-of-season events for which they can be additionally awarded with the amount that is not higher than the average compensation for the unemployed persons in the previous year.

The goal of the measure is preserving workplaces at employers that had temporary reduction of business activities and/or losses in business transactions, and gaining necessary knowledges and skills by workers that need to be prepared for the market considering potential loss of workplace and difficulties in business activity of the employer.
Compensation for the part of the expense of the salary for persons that work part-time at employers that have reduced amount of work. Employers can shorten working hours by 40%, due to reduced amount of work or the age of workers who can't fulfil demands of the workplace, in order to avoid dismissal. Support can also be provided for education or training of workers employed at employers that are experiencing difficulties, so that they can be employed in case they lose their jobs.

The policy goal of Education and Work is to create a user-friendly tool communicating to the general public the concepts of the National Register of Qualifications, namely the Vocational Qualifications. It also serves as an intermediary platform connecting information on skills and corresponding work opportunities. The portal provides users with the opportunity to match their skills and qualifications with corresponding job titles and vacant positions. It also works the other way around: giving information on available training courses, exams and certificates for those interested in gaining skills required for specific jobs.

The key problem that the instrument aims to address is a low number of pupils/students studying specific fields of secondary education (especially technical/vocational fields). In many regions, there is a long track record of a low number of students studying technical fields at the secondary education level, because many children (and their parents) prefer general or administration/business fields of education. This results in the shortage of a qualified workforce for particular sectors and also causes the outflow of qualified training staff from vocational schools, which could be a threat for vocational education in the future.

Provide the unemployed, job seekers etc. with the possibility of having their informally acquired skills and competences assessed and certified, thus deepening, increasing or changing their qualifications, and in effect, improving their chances in the labour market.
An increasing number of citizens find their original formal qualifications either obsolete or losing relevance in the changing conditions of the current labour markets, and their workplace-learned (i.e. informally acquired) skills gaining significance. At the same time, quick technical developments cause employers to lack required skills in their staff. Vocational Qualifications are designed according to current and actual needs of the labour market, and allow for obtaining formally recognised qualifications by demonstrating actual skills and competences rather than by absolving periods of formal education.

To contribute to maintaining and improving the vocational skills and competences of the participants in accordance with the needs in the labour market and to furthering competence development of the participants. The education and training committee's task is to develop labour market education that can meet the labour market needs for vocational adult and continuing education targeted at skilled and unskilled workers.

The job rotation scheme aims to address two main problems: the unemployment rate in Denmark and the need to upgrade the skills of employed people. Issues relating to the unemployed and underemployed people include: enabling entry into the profession by supporting education, the recruitment of new staff members once the scheme is complete and addressing the need for a more skilled workforce. The employer hires unemployed people as temporary workers, while permanent staff members receive further education and training. One precondition is that there is an ‘hour-to-hour relation’ between the employees attending education or training and the temporarily recruited workers.

The policy instrument addresses the issue of labour shortages in the field of ICT. As there is a serious mismatch between the supply and demand of such workers, more active measures are needed in addition to classical ones, e.g. increasing the number of study places and engaging qualified foreign labour. This implies that the possibilities for retraining and in-service training for adults have to be broadened.
The policy goal is to improve digital literacy (information and communication technology skills) of adults. The rationale for the intervention is to provide active and intensive retraining opportunities in the field of ICT for adults with higher education (or discontinued higher education, 50% of the curricula must be completed), who currently work in other areas (or are currently unemployed), but in the future are interested in working as software developers or more general, in the ICT field. The instrument contributes to increasing and enhancing digital literacy of adults through active, intensive and agile retraining programme.

To develop career guidance in the national system of education seeking to cope with the current and future skills mismatch. The general goal of the policy instrument was to provide easily accessible and high quality career guidance services and to guarantee that the development of the career guidance system in Estonia is systematic and sustainable.
The policy goal was related to lifelong learning and the development of human resources, specifically the goal was increased participation in lifelong learning according to the possibilities and needs of the population. The development of the Career Guidance System in Estonia contributes to the reduction of the future skills shortages through the following tasks: development of the national system of career guidance in the system of education; development of career education in general and vocational schools; development of the provision of career information and career counselling in regional information and counselling centres, including the creation of quality assurance system; development and introduction of ICT applications in guidance and counselling (questionnaires for choosing suitable occupations and the ability to recognise suitable professions etc); and strengthening of cooperation and information exchange within the institutional network in the fields of education, training, guidance, youth work and labour market in Estonia.
As the policy goal was to increase participation in lifelong learning, the instrument contributed to it by methodologically and systematically helping youth in their (career related) decision making process and making career studies and career planning part of their ordinary, everyday education. Furthermore, with the introduction of ICT applications, digital literacy was improved which nowadays is an essential part of lifelong learning. Institutional cooperation in the field of career guidance and counselling was strengthened through the creation of the Cooperation Council (Koostöökogu), which united various ministry representatives, youth organization representatives and employer federations etc. Also, during the programme period, various temporary working groups were assembled to solve relevant issues.

To enhance the return and re-integration of dropouts to VET schools, thus preventing their unemployment and reducing their vulnerability in the labour market. The policy goal is related to lifelong learning and the development of human resources, specifically the goal is to increase participation in lifelong learning according to the possibilities and needs of the population.
The rationale for the intervention is to increase the competitiveness of people with lower education and no formal qualification, who discontinued their studies at the time of the economic boom and after the collapse, and to equip them with skills and knowledge relevant to the labour market. The instrument contributes to achieving the policy goal by giving a second chance to people to return to school and finish their studies. The focus of the instrument is on the learner and his/her choice of specialty (personal preference), and not so much on national priority study specialties or areas.

The Job Bank Trial aims to find employment for persons at a potential disadvantage in the labour market, such as partially disabled persons, youth without education and the long-term unemployed.

The goal is to improve the professional skills of unemployed adults or adults who are at risk of being unemployed, enhancing their possibilities of finding a job or retaining one. It also aims to improve their capacity for working as entrepreneurs. The overall aim is to promote the availability of skilled labour. Education and training are key measures to help people meet changing skills requirements and improve the matching of supply of and demand for labour. Skills development of individuals has an important role in the implementation of ALMPs and in managing challenges of changing skills requirements.

The aim is to anticipate the skills needs in the different occupations to design the initial vocational education programmes and vocational training programmes. All the results about future jobs and skills needs are published and disseminated to those responsible for education and training programmes within the whole country.

The goal is to concretely apply the right to lifelong learning by enhancing access to training, independent of the employment record or situation. This instrument enables the accumulation of credits for the right to training for every individual since his/her entrance into the labour market. The account is entirely transferable from one occupation to another, and preserved when changing or losing one’s job.

The "Blue Card" wants to achieve the goal of attracting a highly skilled workforce from abroad in order to tackle specific mismatches in certain sectors of the German economy. Highly skilled is defined by a high level of education. The Blue Card contributes to this goal by enabling and facilitating the access to the German labour market. It is the basic way of access for foreign employees following the definition of highly qualified. The Blue Card is supplemented by a large number of initiatives under the roof of the “Fachkräfteinitiative”.

According to BiBB, the forecast of the apprenticeship market is very complex as it depends on the interaction of four dynamics (population growth, school leavers, labour market, economic development). PROSIMA helps to understand and predict developments in the apprenticeship market and the impact of policy measures that affect the apprenticeship market. Politicians have to react to developments in the apprenticeship market, e.g. to prevent skills shortages in specific sectors or to promote specific occupations. POSIMA helps to understand these interventions and measure their effects.

The instrument relates to 705 workers made redundant in 46 enterprises operating in the Publishing activities sector in the region of Attica. All of them are entitled to receive support in terms of counselling, training, business consultancy, self-employment subsidy and mobility allowance. Through a series of personalised services the instrument aims to support workers that lost their jobs in publishing enterprises due to the crisis. The personalised services, which are to be provided to the redundant workers consist of the following actions: occupational guidance (recording and investigation of the needs, skills assessment, personal and occupational development procedure, conducting the individual action plan, follow-up), training and vocational training, self-employment subsidy, job-search allowance and training allowance, mobility allowance.

The aim of the Local actions for vulnerable groups (TOPEKO) is to contribute towards the integration or re-integration of unemployed people belonging to socially vulnerable groups, through a broad set of actions that cover additional needs of different beneficiaries with a special emphasis on their employment or entrepreneurial perspectives. The actions aim to mobilise local actors to create jobs and at the same time facilitate a versatile and effective preparation of unemployed beneficiaries to:
- cover job positions of existing businesses
- start a business that will benefit from the characteristics of their area
- gain qualifications to benefit from other investment programs
- acquire skills that will meet real and identified needs of local businesses that will hire them

The policy goal is to lead the unemployed back to the labour market, so that people get work rather than social benefits. Community work means the launching of employment programmes that connect work and practical training, in order to eliminate employment disadvantages, increase the job-seekers’ qualification level, improve their skills, and transmit practical experience. The programme's available in the well-organised public application system, and also facilitate the realisation of local, as well as regional and national objectives with well-considered, planned and checked value-creating employment.

The policy goals were the following: to reform the contents and structure of vocational training; to develop/introduce a modular training system; and to strengthen the links between education and training and the economy.
A new phase in the modernisation of the VET system began in Hungary in 2006, which concurrently meant renewal of content, methodology and structure. The key concepts of the new training structure are modularisation and competence-based training. Together with this, the content of vocational training has also been updated, and new professional and examination requirements have been developed. The Regional Integrated VET Centres (TISZK) were established from consortiums of 6 to 8 vocational schools in 2006. TISZKs provide a professional learning environment for theory and workshop-based practical classes of IVET. The training workshops are equipped with state-of-the-art technology. TISZKs constitute a network of multi-purpose and multi-functional institutions that meet the needs of youth VET, adult education and further education efficiently and economically; are able to respond to changes in labour market requirements; and stimulate real cooperation and planning among partners contributing to performing tasks.

The actions target all types of NEETs below the age of 25, including inactive and unemployed young people who are not in education or training and who need practical experience before they can enter the primary job market. By providing subsidies to employers hiring young people in need of help, young people gain experience, knowledge, upgrade their skills and are more likely to be able to find a job in the primary job market.

Improving employability of the long-term unemployed. Momentum consists of a number of projects aimed at improving the employability of individuals who are long-term unemployed. Participants receive training in areas with recognised skill shortages, where existing vacancies have been identified. The projects include an element of on-the job training in the form of work experience modules, as well as development of the skills required to obtain and retain employment. Momentum will also include projects specifically aimed at individuals aged under 25 who are long-term unemployed.

The policy instrument aims to address skills mismatch/gaps and to meet the evolving needs of the labour market through training and upskilling, with company groups, businesses, employees and the unemployed. The goal of Skillnets is to sustain Ireland's national competitiveness. The current rationale behind Skillnets is based on Ireland’s National Skills Strategy 2025, which is to increase the supply of skills to the labour market, and to strengthen the role of employers and training providers. Through it's different programmes, it meets the policy goal by offering support and funding to all levels of the labour market, e.g. by developing new programmes that address emerging skills gaps with FSNP, or supporting management development training opportunities and mentoring support for SME managers with ManagementWorks.

Helps the unemployed to obtain a job through apprenticeship contracts and train them in craft/manufacture skills to fill the skill shortages in the sector. The project aimed to promote the training and allocation of jobs for around 20,000 young unemployed people in the sector of traditional craft and manufacture. There were two areas of intervention:
1) Operational activities through: (i) the establishment of 17,913 apprenticeship contracts for hiring young unemployed; (ii) the creation of 134 workshops ("botteghe di mestiere") for on-the-job training of unemployed; (iii) up to 1,000 firm transfers (trasferimenti d'azienda) with the purpose of transferring the heritage of skills from old entrepreneurs to young entrepreneurs; and (iv) about 3,000 traineeships for NEET (young people not in education or training) living in the four Convergence regions (Campania, Puglia, Calabria, Sicily).
2) Actions to promote and strengthen the cooperation between public and private actors in the labour market.

Facilitating the matching of demand and supply and sharing useful information with education/vocational training and labour market stakeholders and job seekers via an online platform. The system provides qualitative and quantitative information about economic trends, labour market forecasting and professional trends and provides information about the features of the so-called "professional unit" (unità professionali), professional needs, classified into professional units, linked to labour market trends; mid-term professional needs stimulated by new trends in sectoral economies, mid-term economic trends at the national level; economic trends at the local level; and employment forecasts for professional categories, both nationally and locally.

The long-term objective of the action is promoting the increase of the capacity of the building industry workforce for the delivery of high-energy efficiency renovations. In the short-term, the action will promote the increase of the number of qualified workers in the building industry in Latvia. Within the framework of the action, two continuing education programmes and training materials were elaborated for the building industry workforce: one for energy efficient engineering systems and one for energy efficient envelopes. The programmes were licenced in six training institutions. A training of trainers was carried out, thus creating preconditions for the availability of skilled building workers for building energy efficient buildings in Latvia. The project is a strategic initiative that is part of the European Union’s “Intelligent Energy - Europe” programme and is aimed at improving the knowledge and fill the skills gap of those who work in the construction industry. The goal was achieved by:
- preparing and licencing two professional improvement training programmes.
- preparing high-quality/modem training materials.
- training professional instructors in the area of professional training (train the trainers) and organising pilot training for on-site construction workers, as part of the new programme.
- using experience from the project to draft proposals on the sustainability of professional training programmes in Latvia.

The goal of the instrument is to increase the unemployed person’s competitiveness and integration into the labour market by adjusting their skills and competences to employer demand. This is done by practical training of the employee in areas needed by the employer by organising training in the employer’s facilities. By training the unemployed person in the premises of employer, the level of compliance between skills and requirements is the highest. The trainee can start his employment as soon as the training ends, and both parties can be sure about the result of the process.

Policies goals include:
- Provide an opportunity for unemployed persons and job seekers to increase competitiveness.
- Provide an ability to adjust to the changing labour market demand.
- Increase the opportunities for unemployed people and job seekers to integrate into the labour market. Participation in voucher education programmes gives unemployed people and job seeker, who cannot find employment due to not having suitable abilities for changing labour market demand or having insufficient abilities, the possibility to obtain necessary skills and competences, thus tackling the problem of skills mismatch.
To apply to professional further education and professional vocational development programmes, the unemployed person should comply with the following:
- has not previously acquired a professional qualification
- the previously acquired professional qualification or experience is not demanded in labour market
- the previously acquired professional qualification does not comply with the requirements of the particular profession, e.g. the person has not received a certificate that authorises the person to continue employment in the acquired profession in accordance with the normative acts
- the professional abilities have been lost due to not working in the acquired profession for at least three years, or cannot continue employment in the acquired profession, due to medical conditions.

The main goal of the policy is to fulfil specific sectorial needs, by providing training and to create a sub-system of high qualification development at a work place. The rationale for the intervention is strengthening the potential of human resources. The instrument covers the whole country and a wide network of employees and employers.

The policy goal is to modernise and update the technical infrastructure of the initial VET and lifelong learning. It widens the accessibility of practical training by providing workplace-based competences needed in the different sectoral occupations.

The goal is to reduce the incidence and duration of youth unemployment. By subsidizing the initial year of work, necessary work experience can be gained by the young worker.

The goal is to provide LMSI and analysis for all interested parties. It aims to produce studies from existing data, in order to improve the overall knowledge base of the labour market situation. The RETEL regularly publishes a dashboard for the labour market. It also organises annual conferences related to the labour market and employment in Luxemburg.

To reduce the skills mismatch in the aviation maintenance sector by improving training availability and ultimately, the employability of people working in that sector. This project provided basic and advanced training in aircraft maintenance, avionics systems, aircraft structures and composites, which laid the foundations for expert knowledge, competences and licensing in the aviation maintenance sector. This served to improve the MCAST’s training programme portfolio in this area and provided better trained people for this sector, to thus counter the lack of skills found in the aviation maintenance sector.

This instrument will help to address the shortage of skills in the construction industry. It also aims to improve quality standards, health and safety practices and employment conditions in this sector. The policy instrument creates an official method of recognition for people that have worked in the construction industry for years and never had their technical knowledge recognised. Apart from this, the workers will also benefit from training that will in turn lead to higher construction standards, including in health and safety as well as employment conditions.

Several goals where defined, including conducting research in ten sector groups, where a report generated for each sector will seek to identify skills, competences and qualifications that will be used as the basics to design tailormade courses for each industrial sector. There was an aim to re-skill 20% of participants to enable them to take up new tasks in the same or different industry sector and to up-skill 80% of participants to enable them to take up new tasks or perform better the same tasks within the relevant industry. There was also the goal to identify and address emerging trends developing in the labour market by providing approximately 3,600 hours of training across 10 sectors. This project aimed to identify the specific skills needs and current gaps in 10 different sectors. After this, the instrument also allowed people to apply for courses related to these sectors, which will ultimately give them the adaptability to move around in the Maltese labour market and in turn close the skills mismatch that exists in the market.

The policy goal is to bring together demand of employers and the supply of skills of potential employees. The measure was introduced in 2009 and continued as an important programme in 2013. The aim was to help soften the impacts of the European crisis on youth unemployment. The rationale behind this particular programme is that in times of economic difficulty, it can be more advantageous for an individual to keep studying and learning. As such, the School Ex Programme helps guide the graduates (or leavers) of secondary VET to the next level of study which suits the graduate, for which there is also demand in the labour market. In cases where a graduate wants to work, a suitable job is found via the PES.

Supplying young people with information about the present situation and trends in the regional and global labour market, to help them in making educational and professional decisions; supplying vocational counsellors, teachers, parents with the same range of information to make them able to help young people in their decisions; and monitoring the labour market for education authorities. Support for decision making for pupils, young graduates, career counsellors, parents, regional authorities, and school authorities is provided by popularizing analyses of regional labour market.

Projects analysing how the structure of competences is changing in the labour market. This extensive research project seeks the answers to the key questions about the future asked by schoolchildren, students, employees, employers, and public institutions responsible for shaping policies related to human capital at both national and regional levels: What subjects of studies to select to have desirable knowledge and skills after graduation? What competences to hone to build the best professional career, one that will be in demand in the face of dynamic economic changes? How to plan the development of the team, so that the firm gains a lasting competitive edge founded on the team’s qualifications? Finally, what changes to introduce at the state level to support the building of an innovative economy based on human capital?

The instrument aims to reinforce the quality, the effectiveness and the responsiveness of active employment policies, namely regarding the professional qualification of unemployed people. This instrument creates a qualification measure that aims to adjust the personal employment plans and the individual potential and needs of each unemployed, in order to improve his/her employability, and favour his/her return to the labour market. Whenever considered adequate to the profile of the unemployed, the instrument may include a skills recognition, validation and certification process.

The policy goal is to gradually reduce the number of unemployed graduates from public universities and polytechnic institutes by limiting the number of vacancies in the public higher education institutes, taking in consideration the level of unemployment of graduates in the calculation of the number of new places to be opened. It is an instrument regulating vacancies to be opened by calculating formulae of employability of graduates. There is a set of formulae that must be applied by each public university and polytechnic institute every year to determine if they can increase or must decrease the number of vacancies for each of the bachelors and integrated master courses they intend to open.

The vocational courses have three main goals: contribute to the development of personal and professional skills in order to pursuit a profession; develop training offers related with the local and regional work needs; and enable the students to continue to post-secondary education or higher education. They provide a double certification (secondary and professional) giving an EQF level 4. The vocational courses are courses of the secondary level of education (double certification), characterized by a strong connection with the professional world. Taking into account the personal profile of the students, the learning carried out enhances the development of competences for a profession, in cooperation with the local business sector.

The policy focuses on matching the supply of higher educated graduates with the demand of the employers, the adaptation of curricula and strengthen the link between higher education supply and the changing demands of the real economy. The instrument has been designed to assist the decision making at national level and thus reduce the gap between the supply of higher educated graduates and the demand coming from the labour market. It has been used to forecast trends by occupation and thus inform the national decision making process, as well as at the university level, with respect to the trends of the labour market and help adjust the structure of the university studies, adjust curricula and education plans and ultimately assist in creating a better match between education and the needs of the enterprises.

The aim is to respond to a growing need of updated information from employers, social partners and other stakeholders of the labour market, in order to improve access to labour market information, to deal with mismatches, as well as to enhance the capabilities of the National Agency for Employment to provide and elaborate labour market analyses and forecasts.

The project provides a funding scheme, as well as a project platform for the provision of training (change of skill profiles, up-skilling, re-skilling) for the unemployed, who find themselves possessing skills not required by employers. The specific policy goals are:
- Providing job seekers with new vocational skills and practical experience for the purposes of gaining employment in a matching occupation.
- Facilitating the entry and re-entry to the labour market after breaks in employment, by gaining skills that correspond with current labour market needs and with the needs of specific target groups.

The instrument addresses the skills mismatch in the economy and aims at linking employers' demands for skills with labour supply (via education and training). This instrument is the third (final) phase and continuation of previous projects National Register of Occupations I and II. After defining occupational standards that reflect employers needs for skills, and linking them to education and training (first and second phase), this instrument was finalised by the creation of the information portal with job classifications.

The policy instrument was designed to help graduates’ transition from education to work. Counselling in career planning and career guidance provide better match of students‘ knowledge and skills to labour needs, thus contributing to better quality of study and easier labour market integration. The instrument promotes further activity and development of career guidance, especially career counselling for students in higher education, with the aim of achieving timely career planning and development. This will ensure:
- better employability of graduates and their more efficient labour market entry.
- better alignment of acquired knowledge with labour market needs.
- elimination of discrepancies between the study programs and labour market demand.
- reduction of dropout and shortening the length of studies.

The policy instrument addresses the lack of relevant instruments and advanced tools that enable quality labour market forecasts, which, combined with a shortage of in-depth cooperation between the individual stakeholders (public institutions, business associations, research institutions, social partners), disrupts the consistency of labour supply and demand and quality forecasts for labour market needs. The instrument addresses this challenge by:
- developing a taxonomy of competencies, the establishment of an employment competency model and the implementation of its use, which is aimed at the effective coordination of supply and demand in the labour market.
- developing a model for identification of employers’ short-term needs for knowledge, skills and competences in the labour market, which will be realised by the implementation of employment forecasts.
- developing a multi-channel services with the emphasis on the use of modern information technologies, solutions and services in accordance with user needs and expectations.

eVŠ was developed for the purposes of:
- determining students’ eligibility to study and other rights chargeable to public funds.
- HE policy planning and the monitoring of the HE system.
- the monitoring of a network of HE institutions and study programmes.
- the monitoring of the employability of higher education graduates, which will enable appropriate professional and career counselling and will provide the basis for forecasting the needs for higher education staff in the labour market.
- public information.
- for research, analytical and statistical purposes, i.e. for the implementation of statistical, social and economic and other research activities in the area of HE. eVŠ addresses the fundamental need for the monitoring of students' employability, related to the question of transition from education system to labour market, and the problem of poor competencies - work match. eVŠ also addresses the general public policy trend of increased transparency, accountability and evidence-based decision-making, the growing international competitiveness of HEIs and the ever-increasing need for collecting and processing data.

The instrument’s goal is to offer an upgrade of skills to the more disadvantaged groups of job-seekers in Barcelona, so that they can improve their employability. What is more important, in terms of the attention on skill mismatch, is that the attention of the policy is particularly focused on those skills that are important for the socio-economic development of Barcelona, such as new technologies and environmental skills. The rationale of the intervention is to improve the employability of vulnerable unemployed through guidance and training in strategic sectors.

The goal is to respond to the industry demand for computer programmers with skills in the SAP programming language. The instrument offered training courses in SAP technology for 200 unemployed people, through 8 courses for 25 people each. The duration of each course was 220 hours. The courses were organized in 5 cities: Madrid, Barcelona, Zaragoza, Sevilla and Bilbao. Courses provided an international certification, which improved the employability of participants.

To improve the national co-ordination of skills supply and to strengthen local and regional cooperation between public institutions and agencies in charge of skills supply. Set up platforms for cooperation in skill supply and short and long-term educational planning in each region.

Provide job seekers and others concerned with advanced labour market information, in order to match demand and supply of skills. Deliver short-term (1 year) and long-term (5-10 years) skills anticipation for around 200 occupations (80% of the labour market), supported by advisory councils at sector level, alongside a council of vocational experts.

The policy goal is to develop a training system that is fully focused on customers, businesses and employees, aligning skills potential with growth investment. By changing the way funding flows through the system, and to place responsibility and reward for investment more squarely with employers for employer-facing programmes, such as Apprenticeships. The Employer Ownership of Skills pilot is a competitive fund open to employers to invest in their current and future workforce in England. Government will invest in projects in which employers are also prepared to commit their own funds, in order to make better use of our combined resources.

SBWA are designed to help unemployed benefit claimants enter the labour market, stay in employment, and reduce the time spent claiming the unemployment benefit (JSA). The instrument targets sectors with high volumes of current local vacancies, and has been designed to help employers meet their recruitment and skills needs, whilst also assisting benefit claimants to enter the labour market. This goal is met through the provision of training and work experience, as well as through linking job-seekers to locally available vacancies.