New approach to training needs anticipation

In the first half of 2019, new legal provisions were published setting out certain aspects of Law 30/2015: Order 283/2019 regulating the structure and content of the Catalogue of training specialities and Order TMS/369/2019 for the Register of training entities. The Catalogue of training specialities is intended to be used in the programming and execution of training activities within the vocational training system for employment. Based on this catalogue, each competent public authority can offer the training that best meets the needs and priorities within their management scope.

A first coordination meeting in September 2019 gathered all main stakeholders to decide on a join proposal for the methodology to use for skills needs detection and their conversion into training specialities:

1. the Observatory of Occupations of SEPE, whose tasks in analysing and identifying training needs include reporting on changes in economic activity and occupations;
2. the national reference centres for vocational training (Centros de referencia nacional, CRN), which specialise in the different productive sectors;
3. the joint sectoral committees, (by Law 30/2015), composed of the most representative employers' organisations and trade unions at the sector level;
4. the Department for Training provision and Certification of the SEPE, responsible for the Catalogue of training specialities;
5. the State Foundation for Training in Employment (FUNDAE), a public body comprising the State General Administration, the regions and the most representative employers and trade union organisations.

Different sectoral groups were organised to continue the work. A second seminar took place in November 2019 on good practices and bench learning within the national employment system on the skills needs to fill job vacancies, now and in the future, as a result of the creation of new jobs, new needs resulting from technological developments and of job replacements. A working group a member from the ICT joint sectoral structure was set up to move forward with a methodological basis applying design thinking techniques.

A meeting at the end of February 2020 brought together general directors of public employment services and training managers at regional and State levels, members of Fundae's Board, as well as representatives of business and union organisations, managers from SEPE, universities and companies. The objective was to favour good practices in the detection of training needs.

Several coordination events were held to facilitate the articulation of the different agents' roles in the determination of training needs in a shared knowledge space. At these meetings, sectoral information from SEPE's Observatory of Occupations, along with the specifications for registering new training specialities in the Catalogue of training specialities of the national employment system and the structure of these specialities' training programmes were provided.

In addition, a workshop took place on the methodology for the development of training programmes for the network of national reference centres. Two sectoral working groups, as pilot projects, were set to analyse all the relevant information about the labour market and skill needs to determine:

1. the relevance and validity of the training specialities included in the catalogue, in relation to content, length, materials and facilities. Timelines of the proposed training specialities;
2. a proposal for the inclusion of new specialities in the Catalogue to respond to identified needs that have not yet been included;
3. priority sectors and groups;
4. emerging and priority training actions;
5. the quantitative estimate of the number of workers affected by the training needs;
6. the main territorial areas of training delivery.

12 working meetings, coordinated by SEPE and Fundae, have been held in the hospitality and tourism, construction and commerce sectors and in the electrical industry.

Sectoral Joint Commissions (CPS) - made up of the leading employers' associations and trade unions in the corresponding sector - met during 2021 to draw up their proposals for new training specialities in response to training needs identified in each sector; overall, 380 new specialities have been identified. Fundae's technical services reviewed and characterised these training specialities to add them to the catalogue of training specialities.

In December 2021, Fundae released a tender to establish a methodological tool for identifying training needs to be used by all agents involved in vocational training for employment under the labour remit (sistema de formación profesional para el empleo en el ámbito laboral), and as a tool for sharing the results with companies and workers. The measure is delivered through component 23: New public policies for a dynamic, resilient and inclusive labour market, which is part of the National recovery and resilience plan. The aim is to anticipate changes in the labour market, including those linked to digital transition, to ease access to training for skills in demand and to support the personal and professional development of workers, as well as companies' competitiveness.

In 2022, the development of the training needs anticipation tool will continue. It is financed by the National Recovery Plan, component 23. New public policies for a dynamic, resilient and inclusive labour market.
In September 2022, the successful tenderer started the development of the methodology, analysis of sources and periodicity of data extraction for the identification of training needs. The project is expected to be completed by June 2025.
Fundae awarded a second project to an external contractor in 2022 for a 'service for the identification, collection and analysis of data on training needs in digital skills through various databases and sources, with the possibility of periodic updating'. The aim was to identify and study ICT profiles to address the need to strengthen and broaden digital skills across all sectors. The first report was presented in December 2022.