Cedefop newsletter

Participants will learn from:

• success stories – how SMEs take the lead and set apprenticeship programmes;
• national practices put in place by industry, social partners, public authorities, and other bodies that have a role in supporting SMEs;
• messages brought forward by the employers’ representatives at European and national levels.

The keynote speaker will be British entrepreneur Jason Holt, CEO, Holts Group of companies, who has won awards and honours for his contribution to promoting apprenticeship. He is a leading SME employer that set up the UK’s sole provider of government-accredited training to the wider jewellery sector. Mr Holt is also Chairman of the Apprenticeship Stakeholder Board at the UK’s Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.

The conference is an opportunity for participants to identify ideas that may be turned into cross-country partnerships, find partners, and understand how they may finance their ideas and turn them into reality.

The following funding opportunities will be presented:

• an Erasmus+ call for proposals, which aims at supporting SMEs engaging in apprenticeships;
• European Social Fund;
• European Investment Bank.

Cedefop expert Ramona David, who organises the conference, said: ‘Small and medium-sized enterprises employ two thirds of the European workforce, but data show that they are more reluctant to engage in training apprentices than larger companies. The challenges they face are known, but ways to overcome them may be less so. The conference is an excellent occasion to discover opportunities and create partnerships to support SMEs in this endeavour.’

Follow the event live here.

In the first in a series of articles on insights from the European Skills and Jobs (ESJ) survey, Cedefop expert Konstantinos Pouliakas looks at skill shortages in the European Union.

He notes that mitigating skill shortages is a joint responsibility of private and public actors since ‘countries with more responsive education and training systems have seen fewer companies faced with recruitment bottlenecks in the last decade.’

Cedefop’s ESJ survey was carried out in 2014 in all 28 EU Member States, collecting information on the match of the skills of about 49 000 EU workers.

Read the whole article here.

Organised by Cedefop expert Giovanni Russo, the workshop brought together some of the most influential researchers working on issues of skills and skill mismatch. Debated topics included the economic and social returns of education and of skills; trends in educational and skill mismatches; skill shortages and impact for enterprises; training, job design and the impact of human resource management policies on skill development and utilisation; and the impact of the business cycle on skill mismatch.

A key objective was to validate and generate new evidence based on the new Cedefop European skills and jobs (ESJ) survey data. Mr Russo presented research that corroborates the importance of job design for effective skill development and utilisation. He noted that his research provides solid evidence that by designing complex jobs, employers stand to gain not only in terms of better utilising the skills of their workforce, but also in terms of their continuous development.

Cedefop expert Konstantinos Pouliakas presented research showing that overqualified EU tertiary graduates receive 24% lower hourly wages relative to similar graduates in matched jobs. His analysis highlights that this wage penalty is driven by poor signalling of information about the value and match of jobs with the qualifications and skills of the overqualified – which calls for better guidance based on labour market intelligence.

Other research based on the Cedefop ESJ survey highlighted that, by complementing formal training, informal training tends to have the greatest impact on the skill development of EU adult workers. Having skill gaps in one’s job can sometimes be regarded as a sign of potential or untapped skills rather than market failure, given that underskilled workers tend to be in more challenging jobs that ensure their continued skill development over time.

In his keynote speech, Professor Peter Cappelli, George W. Taylor Professor of Management at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, USA, highlighted that employers' claims of skill shortages tend to mask other underlying factors, such as lack of competitive salary offers.

He presented evidence that the financial returns to higher education are not universal, as degrees from several higher education institutions are now characterised by negative rates of return.

Mr Cappelli noted the value of vocational education and of apprenticeship schemes for providing useful work-related skills to job applicants, considering that employers place a much higher value on work experience at times of recession. He cautioned, however, against the logic of asking from higher education institutions to provide more work-based skills, as such settings are inefficient for this purpose relative to actual workplaces. The role of employers in providing formal and informal training is therefore key for mitigating any skill shortages or gaps.

The workshop programme and the papers presented can be found on the workshop webpage while the presentations are available here.

The central question of the workshop was what makes VET measures to tackle ELET successful.

Cedefop expert Irene Psifidou, who organised the event, said: 'The connection between educational attainment and employability is not a cliché. It is a fact. The consequences for early leavers affect their whole life. VET can empower these people to say "yes" to education and training.'

Ms Psifidou added: ‘Details in the design and implementation can make polices effective. And effectiveness is not a detail.’

Participants debated on a set of success indicators and criteria for policy transfer to different countries and contexts. The findings of this project aim to support the European Commission, Member States, social partners and other stakeholders in their effort to implement EU policies to reduce early school leaving and to achieve the EU target by 2020.

The workshop conclusions together with the findings of the study will be published in 2016 in a Cedefop research paper and two policy briefs.

According to the review report, one of the first steps to address the problem is ‘to set governance structures to ensure cooperation and equal partnerships between the vocational education and training (VET) systems and employment/labour market systems.’

The review also suggests that ‘governance structures should enable a quick reaction to changes in the employment and the professional world.’

An additional action could be to clarify the place of apprenticeship in education and training: ‘Currently, school-based VET and apprenticeship in Malta exist in parallel in the same occupational fields, so there is a certain competition between school and apprenticeship training (two certificates, longer duration of apprenticeship than school-based, leading to the same qualification).’

Maltese Education and Employment Minister Evarist Bartolo noted that ‘apprenticeships encourage young people to feel like promising individuals with the potential to learn,’ adding that ‘many employers look for specific behaviour and attitudes in employing people.’ He stressed that work-based learning has three dimensions: hands-on experiences, school-based learning and a social interactive programme aimed at active citizenship and living together.  

Cedefop Director James Calleja said: ‘With the thematic country reviews on apprenticeships, Cedefop embraced the mission to support Member States to deliver VET reforms, and to make apprenticeships a recognised and well-defined learning pathway towards quality jobs, career prospects, and a better quality of life.’

He added that at the end of the review process in Malta ‘it is apparent that apprenticeship governance needs to be revisited so that strategy design, provision and quality assurance are interdependent and act through a clearer legal framework, clear guidelines and procedures. The world of employment needs to be given formal responsibilities and treated on equal footing with the world of education in strategy design and provision.’

Participants in the event prioritised the following suggestions from actions included in Cedefop’s report:

• strategy, provision and quality assurance should function autonomously and interdependently;
• in defining the apprenticeship offer, governance structure should formally invest not only in the education side, but also in the labour market side.

The Cedefop review has found that ‘for apprenticeship to be sustainable, it is necessary in the medium term to convince the bulk of business, especially micro and small companies, of its value and the collective contribution to the skilled labour force at national or sector levels that can benefit all employers.’

Balance needs to be achieved between long-term interest in developing a skilled workforce and short-term interest of employers: ‘Business (employers’ organisations) should be driving this, in dialogue with sector organisations, education institutions and workers’ organisations.’

The thematic country review (TCR) on apprenticeships in Malta is largely based on information collected from stakeholders. Cedefop launched TCRs to support the European alliance for apprenticeships. Between May 2014 and May 2015, Cedefop piloted TCRs on apprenticeships in two volunteer countries, Lithuania and Malta. In 2015-16 three more volunteer countries (Greece, Italy, and Slovenia) will benefit from the review.

Cedefop was represented at this high-level event by Director James Calleja and Head of Department for VET Systems and Institutions Loukas Zahilas. OECD, ILO, the World Bank, the World Health Organisation, DG EMPL and DG DEVCO of the European Commission, the European Training Foundation, the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation, together with permanent representations in Paris and international organisations working on skills and VET also took part.

Unesco officials led by Assistant Director-General for Education Qian Tang and David Atchoarena, Director, Division for Politics and Lifelong Learning Systems presented the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Education 2030 Agenda: the place of skills for work and entrepreneurship.

Participants then discussed increasing international cooperation to reach the skills targets in Education 2030 and on mechanisms for follow-up and next steps.

Key players presented their agencies’ strategies and potential implications of the post-2015 agenda. All agencies are focusing their resources on three key action strands: VET systems and reform impact on institutions and the provision of VET; lifelong learning opportunities in all settings and at all education levels and the challenge of identifying skills for work and entrepreneurship.

The focus on education and training quality and learning outcomes recognises the danger of concentrating on access to education and training without paying attention to whether students are learning and whether their learning translates in a better labour market and a better quality of life.

Cedefop shared the initial strategic orientations for the programming period 2017-20 discussed at its Governing Board meeting in June. Shaping VET for better provision, valuing VET to empower people and informing VET by offering labour market intelligence provided the strategic focal points which would support the EU 2020 targets, the E&T 2020 objectives as well as the Riga conclusions deliverables.

All agencies showed readiness to create a platform for cooperation and to share knowledge, evidence and initiatives that could support at country level an implementation strategy for VET quality, development and relevancy to present and future jobs.

Cedefop Director James Calleja said that the key challenge for all agencies is implementation of policies and tools at country level.

The time is ripe, he added, for the inter-agency group to ‘create an implementation partnership plan, common to all participating agencies, so that support to clusters of or individual countries can materialise through a concerted effort backed by shared information, evidence and a sustainable knowledge-broker approach. As strategic targets for VET or TVET overlap and are cross-cutting between the agencies, so should intervention as a means to strengthen the reform process needed to provide quality VET. The next step of the inter-agency group should be to design a roadmap for shared interventions on TVET in the agencies’ partner countries.’

In his keynote speech, Mr Calleja said that Europe is now faced with high unemployment, migration flows, global competition and an ageing workforce. He referred to Cedefop’s European skills and jobs survey results and in particular to the need for all to keep learning throughout their careers: ‘Hence the need for vibrant VET systems that ensure quality, relevance, inclusivity and excellence.’

The Cedefop Director added that VET is an ongoing priority ‘as we will continue to be challenged by early leavers, drop-outs, skills mismatch, new skills and new jobs, the effective use of IT and borderless qualifications recognised by international sectors and leading to employment and careers.’

As far as the role of VET schools and colleges is concerned, he noted that ‘they have a unique and irreplaceable position that must guarantee that all learners succeed at any national qualification framework level and can be integrated in a labour market which needs all skills and competences.’

Mr Calleja expressed the wish that, on the road to 2020, ‘VET providers will form the fourth pillar of the key European consultative groups, with governments, employers and employee representatives being the other three.’ Their engagement with Cedefop is a step in the right direction, he concluded.

Cyprus’ Education and Culture Minister Costas Kadis said that his country, like all EU Member States, supports the European VET agenda and is working towards a quality VET system that is inclusive and aims at excellence at all levels.

European Commission’s João Santos and Mr Calleja had a separate meeting with EfVET President Peter Hodgson and committee members, in which they explored ways of increasing cooperation between EfVET (and other European associations of VET providers), DG Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion and Cedefop.

A survey was conducted prior to the conference and the top five replies of EfVET members to the question what the primary role of VET will be by 2020 were: to satisfy labour market needs, to provide people with 21st century skills, to address youth unemployment, to link businesses with education systems and to promote parity of esteem with other educational pathways.

Work-based learning

Mr Calleja also took part in an international conference on work-based learning challenges and opportunities in Bucharest (19-20 October).

In his intervention, he brought up work-based learning and apprenticeship examples of good practice in various EU Member States in the context of Cedefop’s European skills and jobs survey. He also spoke about the agency’s work in the field to illustrate work-based learning success stories based on legislation, active industry participation and a culture promoting such learning as a stepping stone to employment.

The summit – the world’s largest brainstorming event, according to its organisers – brings together thought leaders of the WEF’s Network of Global Agenda Councils, comprising more than 80 groups of experts from academia, business, civil society, international organisations and government.

Ms Descy is a member of the council on the future of jobs, which aims to ‘consolidate the latest knowledge on trends and disruptions to develop scenarios for skills and employment demand in the next 5-10 years, and identify implications of these projections for human capital planning and labour policy by governments, as well as for business and education providers.’

At the summit’s 2015 edition, over 1,000 network members discussed comprehensive insights and recommendations to achieve real impact and focused on the achievements of the councils that have been collaborating since September 2014.

Global Agenda Council members are appointed for two years, upon personal invitation by the WEF. This is Ms Descy’s second term in a council. In the period 2012-14, she was a member of the council on employment, which produced a report on matching skills and labour market needs for the 2014 Davos meeting.

Mr Zahilas was a keynote speaker at the annual conference of the European Association of Institutes for Vocational Training (EVBB) in Brussels (21-24 October).

He presented a changing labour market landscape where technological developments, massive open online courses (MOOCs) and quality assurance and recognition are already playing a crucial role or are expected, in the case of MOOCs, to become more important for VET.

Mr Zahilas stressed the significance of learning outcomes and the need to ‘apply this principle in a way which is fit for purpose at the relevant level’ by using and further developing the available EU common tools.

The institute and Cedefop have long-standing close ties, with a more than a decade-old memorandum of understanding and extensive cooperation at management and expert levels.

The three senior research fellows who visited Cedefop this time had a special interest in the professional development of trainers and the accreditation of training providers as well as the evaluation of European policies.  They, in turn, presented the South Korean approach to validation, accreditation and the training of trainers to Cedefop’s experts. Lively discussions followed each presentation.