- 2017Approved/Agreed
- 2018Approved/Agreed
- 2019Implementation
- 2020Implementation
- 2021Implementation
- 2022Implementation
- 2023Implementation
Background
Active labour market policies are agreed (since 2013) in the framework of the sectoral conference on labour affairs, the general instrument for coordination and cooperation between the central Government and the regions in employment policies.
The framework, coordination and implementation of these policies are based on three instruments: the Spanish strategy for employment activation, the annual plans for employment policy (plan anual de política de empleo, PAPE) and the information system for public employment services (Royal Legislative Decree 3/2015).
Objectives
The 2017-20 Spanish employment activation strategy includes projects and measures to rationalise the unemployment protection system, to develop a set of tools, infrastructures and information systems necessary for the modernisation of the national employment system, and to enhance its efficiency and effectiveness. These include measures aimed at strengthening and developing management and evaluation systems, and particularly at improving the management system and support for the Youth guarantee initiative. The main objectives influencing VET are to:
- promote the activation and improvement of the employability of young people;
- promote employment as the main instrument of social inclusion and the insertion of the long-term unemployed and those over 55 years of age;
- promote a training offer according to the needs of the productive system;
- improve the performance of the public employment services (PES);
- approach activation policies from a perspective that takes into account their sectoral and local dimensions.
Description
Employment authorities have reflected the policy priority given to dual VET and apprenticeships, including them as structural objectives in the 2017-20 Spanish employment activation strategy approved in December 2017. The strategy takes into account recommendations made to Spain both within the framework of the National reform programme and by the European Network of Public Employment Services (SPE-UE Network). The strategy covers dual and alternance training, regarded as key elements for qualification, employability and competitiveness, and personal and professional development. It offers the framework for the different measures that are developed in the active employment policies scope, to ensure effective equal opportunities.
At the end of 2018, new measures were approved according to which practical training placements for intermediate and higher-level VET and university students can take place not only in companies but also in institutions or entities included in training programmes. During their placement, learners are to be covered by the Social Security system (with exception of unemployment allowances) even if they are not remunerated. The Decree also lowers to 25 years the age limit for entering training and apprenticeship contracts (a measure triggered by the reduction in unemployment to below 15%).
Employment policy plans (PAPE) are adopted annually. The degree of compliance with the objectives set in these...
Employment authorities have reflected the policy priority given to dual VET and apprenticeships, including them as structural objectives in the 2017-20 Spanish employment activation strategy approved in December 2017. The strategy takes into account recommendations made to Spain both within the framework of the National reform programme and by the European Network of Public Employment Services (SPE-UE Network). The strategy covers dual and alternance training, regarded as key elements for qualification, employability and competitiveness, and personal and professional development. It offers the framework for the different measures that are developed in the active employment policies scope, to ensure effective equal opportunities.
At the end of 2018, new measures were approved according to which practical training placements for intermediate and higher-level VET and university students can take place not only in companies but also in institutions or entities included in training programmes. During their placement, learners are to be covered by the Social Security system (with exception of unemployment allowances) even if they are not remunerated. The Decree also lowers to 25 years the age limit for entering training and apprenticeship contracts (a measure triggered by the reduction in unemployment to below 15%).
Employment policy plans (PAPE) are adopted annually. The degree of compliance with the objectives set in these annual plans affects the distribution of State-level labour funds to the Autonomous Communities.
The measures of the Spainish employment activation strategy aim at easing access into the labour market and up-skilling and reskilling of the population to stay in it.
At the end of 2019, the fifth Seminar on good practices and mutual learning in the national employment system was held as part of the Programme of good practices and mutual learning agreed by the Sectoral Conference on Employment and Labour Affairs within the framework of the strategy. The objective is to promote a systematised and formalised dialogue among the public employment services that make up the national employment system for the exchange of information and learning that aims to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of their management processes.
The development of the annual employment policy plans is based on the joint work with the regions; the evaluation outcomes of the European network of public employment services are also considered. As part of this process, the set of indications included in the 2019 PAPE, approved in March, has been simplified and rationalised.
The Council of Ministers approved the annual employment policy plan for 2020 in October. The Autonomous Communities and the State Public Employment Service proposed a total of 696 different services and programmes for inclusion in the 2020 plan for the six axes.
The indicators of the annual employment policy plan 2020 were adjusted to the new strategic framework proposed, although it continues to respond to the monitoring and evaluation model established by the Spanish employment activation strategy 2017‑20. The 2020 plan takes into account the outcome of the second evaluation carried out by the European Public Services Network.
In accordance with the provisions of the current Employment Act and following the completion of the Spanish employment activation strategy 2017-20, a new strategy is being drawn up. To this end, at the Sectoral Conference on Employment and Labour Affairs, it was agreed to set up strategic working groups, with the participation of both the Autonomous Communities and the social partners.
These groups' lines of work are based on the vision of promoting the strategic objectives of the employment activation policy within the framework of governance and cohesion of the national employment system; with a people- and companies-centred approach, geared towards measurable outcomes; consistent with innovation and sustainability and supported by the improvement of skills and PES' digital transformation; with special emphasis on the guidance and counselling of people in their employment pathways and the reskilling of workers. Based on the work of these groups and following its consideration in social dialogue processes, the draft Royal Decree that will regulate the new Spanish employment activation strategy 2021-24 is in the pipeline.
The new Spanish active employment support strategy 2021-24 was approved at the end of 2021 (Royal Decree 1069/2021). Developed together with the social partners, it includes an analysis of the situation and trends in the labour market, the strategic and structural actions and objectives on state employment activation policies, the budgetary and financing frameworks and the management criteria of funds. The strategy's yearly objectives for Spain and each Autonomous Community are specified in the annual plan for employment policies (Plan Anual de Política de Empleo, PAPE). The annual plan for 2021 includes the indicators for assessing the degree of performance. The strategy is part of the work of the National recovery and resilience plan (under reform 5: Modernisation of active employment policies, included in component 23: New public policies for a dynamic, resilient and inclusive labour market).
Considering the recommendations made to Spain in the framework of the European Semester (2019/20 and 2020/21), the strategy sets the following priority objectives for reforming employment policies:
- adoption of the necessary measures to make active employment policies more effective;
- strengthening of prospecting and guidance mechanisms;
- financial support for active employment policies.
For groups such as young people, the long-term unemployed and other disadvantaged groups such as refugees, migrants, the Roma, people with disabilities or those in highly vulnerable situations, active employment policies contribute to equal opportunities for access to employment, acting on the causes of lower employability such as mismatches in qualifications, difficulties in acquiring professional experience or in finding and maintaining a job.
This new strategy comprises 27 new measures, including:
- developing a common frame of reference for guidance and counselling services;
- promoting a competence-based management approach to employment and training services and programmes;
- launching the new network of centres for guidance, entrepreneurship, support and innovation for employment (COE);
- support programmes and systematic analysis for sectors and territories facing productive transformation processes;
- strengthening the capacities of the SEPE's Occupations Observatory for skill needs detection, analysis and anticipation in the labour market;
- designing the integrated model for the evaluation and monitoring of active employment policies;
- diversifying the forms of delivery (face-to-face or digital) of the common portfolio services;
- promoting lifelong learning in the national employment system.
On vocational training for employment within the labour ministry remit, the strategy aims to encourage open and multiannual public training calls and public platforms for lifelong learning. It will regulate the necessary adaptation and digital transformation of entities providing non-formal CVET. It will also include a commitment to boost active employment policies, optimise economic resources, enhance governance, and improve operational coordination.
Annual plans for employment policy will continue to be drawn up following the new strategy framework.
The Spanish employment activation strategy is operational and runs smoothly as one of the coordination and reference instruments in the framework of the Public Employment Services.
As every year, the strategy's 2022 objectives for Spain and each Autonomous Community were specified in the annual plan for employment policies (Plan Anual de Política de Empleo, PAPE) which was published on May. The plan, which describes the services and programmes included in active employment policies, is integrated in the work of the National recovery and resilience plan under reform 5: Modernisation of active employment policies, included in component 23: New public policies for a dynamic, resilient and inclusive labour market. The PAPE (Annual plan for employment policy) is included in Spain´s NIP as one of the Strategic and Legal frameworks that will guide the implementation of the planned measures for VET.
A new employment law was approved in February, Law 3/2023 of 28 February on Employment. With this law, the Spanish government intends to implement a modern approach to employment policy, providing the system with the appropriate activation tools to improve the employability of people seeking employment services in situations of transition, unemployment or cease of activity. This is to be done by guaranteeing services that allow a decent standard of living during the job search process and offering individual attention to people and user entities during mediation or job placement processes. The new law defines the framework in which the Spanish employment activation strategy is set up as an instrument for planning and coordinating employment policy with the support of all the autonomous communities, which are responsible for implementing it in their respective territories, and of the social partners who contribute to its design and planning.
Bodies responsible
- Ministry of Labour and Social Economy
- State Public Employment Service (SEPE)
Target groups
Learners
- Learners in upper secondary, including apprentices
- Young people (15-29 years old)
- Young people not in employment, education or training (NEETs)
- Learners with migrant background, including refugees
- Learners at risk of early leaving or/and early leavers
- Learners with disabilities
- Adult learners
- Older workers and employees (55 - 64 years old)
- Unemployed and jobseekers
- Persons in employment, including those at risk of unemployment
- Low-skilled/qualified persons
- Learners from other groups at risk of exclusion (minorities, people with fewer opportunities due to geographical location or social-economic disadvantaged position)
Education professionals
- Trainers
- Guidance practitioners
Entities providing VET
- Companies
- Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)
- VET providers (all kinds)
Thematic categories
Governance of VET and lifelong learning
This thematic category looks at existing legal frameworks providing for strategic, operational – including quality assurance – and financing arrangements for VET and lifelong learning (LLL). It examines how VET and LLL-related policies are placed in broad national socioeconomic contexts and coordinate with other strategies and policies, such as economic, social and employment, growth and innovation, recovery and resilience.
This thematic category covers partnerships and collaboration networks of VET stakeholders – especially the social partners – to shape and implement VET in a country, including looking at how their roles and responsibilities for VET at national, regional and local levels are shared and distributed, ensuring an appropriate degree of autonomy for VET providers to adapt their offer.
The thematic category also includes efforts to create national, regional and sectoral skills intelligence systems (skills anticipation and graduate tracking) and using skills intelligence for making decisions about VET and LLL on quality, inclusiveness and flexibility.
This thematic sub-category refers to the integration of VET into economic, industrial, innovation, social and employment strategies, including those linked to recovery, green and digital transitions, and where VET is seen as a driver for innovation and growth. It includes national, regional, sectoral strategic documents or initiatives that make VET an integral part of broader policies, or applying a mix of policies to address an issue VET is part of, e.g. in addressing youth unemployment measures through VET, social and active labour market policies that are implemented in combination. National skill strategies aiming at quality and inclusive lifelong learning also fall into this sub-category.
This thematic sub-category refers to the ways VET is funded at the system level. Policies include optimisation of VET provider funding that allows them to adapt their offer to changing skill needs, green and digital transitions, the social agenda and economic cycles, e.g. increasing the funding for VET or for specific programmes. They can also concern changing the mechanism of how the funding is allocated to VET schools (per capita vs based on achievement or other criteria). Using EU funds and financial instruments for development of VET and skills also falls into this sub-category.
This thematic sub-category refers both to formal mechanisms of stakeholder engagement in VET governance and to informal cooperation among stakeholders, which motivate shared responsibility for quality VET. Formal engagement is usually based on legally established institutional procedures that clearly define the role and responsibilities for relevant stakeholders in designing, implementing and improving VET. It also refers to establishing and increasing the degree of autonomy of VET providers for agile and flexible VET provision.
In terms of informal cooperation, the sub-category covers targeted actions by different stakeholders to promote or implement VET. This cooperation often leads to creating sustainable partnerships and making commitments for targeted actions, in line with the national context and regulation, e.g. national alliances for apprenticeships, pacts for youth or partnerships between schools and employers. It can also include initiatives and projects run by the social partners or sectoral organisations or networks of voluntary experts and executives, retired or on sabbatical, to support their peers in the fields of VET and apprenticeships, as part of the EAfA.
High-quality and timely skills intelligence is a powerful policy tool, helping improve economic competitiveness and fostering social progress and equality through the provision of targeted skills training to all citizens (Cedefop, 2020). Skills intelligence is the outcome of an expert-driven process of identifying, analysing, synthesising and presenting quantitative and/or qualitative skills and labour market information. Skills intelligence draws on data from multiple sources, such as graduate tracking systems, skills anticipation mechanisms, including at sectoral and regional levels. Actions related to establishing and developing such systems fall under this thematic sub-category.
Modernising VET offer and delivery
This thematic category looks at what and how individuals learn, how learning content and learning outcomes in initial and continuing VET are defined, adapted and updated. First and foremost, it examines how VET standards, curricula, programmes and training courses are updated and modernised or new ones created. Updated and renewed VET content ensures that learners acquire a balanced mix of competences that address modern demands, and are more closely aligned with the realities of the labour market, including key competences, digital competences and skills for green transition and sustainability, both sector-specific and across sectors. Using learning outcomes as a basis is important to facilitate this modernisation, including modularisation of VET programmes. Updating and developing teaching and learning materials to support the above is also part of the category.
The thematic category continues to focus on strengthening high-quality and inclusive apprenticeships and work-based learning in real-life work environments and in line with the European framework for quality and effective apprenticeships. It looks at expanding apprenticeship to continuing vocational training and at developing VET programmes at EQF levels 5-8 for better permeability and lifelong learning and to support the need for higher vocational skills.
This thematic category also focuses on VET delivery through a mix of open, digital and participative learning environments, including workplaces conducive to learning, which are flexible, more adaptable to the ways individuals learn, and provide more access and outreach to various groups of learners, diversifying modes of learning and exploiting the potential of digital learning solutions and blended learning to complement face-to-face learning.
Centres of vocational excellence that connect VET to innovation and skill ecosystems and facilitate stronger cooperation with business and research also fall into this category.
This thematic sub-category is about the way learners learn, how the learning is delivered to them, and by what means. Programmes become more accessible through a combination of adaptable and flexible formats (e.g. face-to-face, digital and/or blended learning), through digital learning platforms that allow better outreach, especially for vulnerable groups and for learners in geographically remote or rural areas.
This thematic sub-category refers to acquisition of key competences and basic skills for all, from an early age and throughout their life, including those acquired as part of qualifications and curricula. Key competences include knowledge, skills and attitudes needed by all for personal fulfilment and development, employability and lifelong learning, social inclusion, active citizenship and sustainable awareness. Key competences include literacy; multilingual; science, technology, engineering and mathematical (STEM); digital; personal, social and learning to learn; active citizenship, entrepreneurship, cultural awareness and expression (Council of the European Union, 2018).
This thematic sub-category refers to updating VET curricula and programmes to incorporate skills related and needed for the digital transition, including sector- and occupation-specific ones identified in cooperation with stakeholders.
This thematic sub-category covers all developments related to work-based learning (WBL) elements in VET programmes and apprenticeships which continue to be important in the policy agenda. It includes measures to stabilise the offer of apprenticeships, the implementation of the European framework for quality and effective apprenticeships, and using the EU on-demand support services and policy learning initiatives among the Member States. It also covers further expansion of apprenticeships and WBL to continuing VET (CVET), for transition to work and inclusion of vulnerable groups, and for improving citizens’ qualification levels.
Supporting lifelong learning culture and increasing participation
Lifelong learning refers to all learning (formal, non-formal or informal) taking place at all stages in life and resulting in an improvement or update in knowledge, skills, competences and attitudes or in participation in society from a personal, civic, cultural, social or employment-related perspective (Erasmus+, Glossary of terms, https://erasmus-plus.ec.europa.eu/programme-guide/part-d/glossary-common-terms). A systemic approach to CVET is crucial to ensure adaptability to evolving demands.
This broad thematic category looks at ways of creating opportunities and ensuring access to re-skilling and upskilling pathways, allowing individuals to progress smoothly in their learning throughout their lives with better permeability between general and vocational education and training, and better integration and compatibility between initial and continuing VET and with higher education. Individuals should be supported in acquiring and updating their skills and competences and navigating easily through education and training systems. Strategies and campaigns that promote VET and LLL as an attractive and high-quality pathway, providing quality lifelong guidance and tailored support to design learning and career paths, and various incentives (financial and non-financial) to attract and support participation in VET and LLL fall into this thematic category as well.
This thematic category also includes many initiatives on making VET inclusive and ensuring equal education and training opportunities for various groups of learners, regardless of their personal and economic background and place of residence – especially those at risk of disadvantage or exclusion, such as persons with disabilities, the low-skilled and low-qualified, minorities, migrants, refugees and others.
This thematic sub-category refers to all kinds of incentives that encourage learners to take part in VET and lifelong learning; VET providers to improve, broaden and update their offer; companies to provide places for apprenticeship and work-based learning, and to stimulate and support learning of their employees. It also includes measures addressing specific challenges of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) willing to create work-based learning opportunities in different sectors. Incentives can be financial (e.g. grants, allowances, tax incentives, levy/grant mechanisms, vouchers, training credits, individual learning accounts) and non-financial (e.g. information/advice on funding opportunities, technical support, mentoring).
This thematic sub-category refers to providing the possibility for individuals who are already in the labour market/in employment to reskill and/or acquire higher levels of skills, and to ensuring targeted information resources on the benefits of CVET and lifelong learning. It also covers the availability of CVET programmes adaptable to labour market, sectoral or individual up- and reskilling needs. The sub-category includes working with respective stakeholders to develop digital learning solutions supporting access to CVET opportunities and awarding CVET credentials and certificates.
This thematic sub-category refers to providing high-quality lifelong learning and career guidance services, including making full use of Europass and other digital services and resources.
This thematic sub-category refers to making VET pathways and programmes inclusive and accessible for all. It concerns measures and targeted actions to increase access and participation in VET and lifelong learning for learners from all vulnerable groups, and to support their school/training-to-work transitions. It includes measures to prevent early leaving from education and training. The thematic sub-category covers measures promoting gender balance in traditionally ‘male’ and ‘female’ professions and addressing gender-related and other stereotypes. The vulnerable groups are, but not limited to: persons with disabilities; the low-qualified/-skilled; minorities; persons of migrant background, including refugees; people with fewer opportunities due to their geographical location and/or their socioeconomically disadvantaged circumstances.