Action of evaluating current and future skill needs in the labour market in a strategic way, using consistent and systematic methods.
Comment
- Skills need assessment is the process of identifying skill gaps and shortages, and evaluating the capacity of qualification systems (education and training provisions, funding schemes, etc.) to meet the needs of the economy;
- this can take place at the national, regional, local, or sectoral level and aim at providing a comprehensive analysis of current skill needs and the implications of past trends for the future; it can provide information on emerging skill needs or likely future skill gaps;
- this may be provided quantitatively (e.g. with reference to the changing number of people employed in an occupation, or with a certain level of qualification), or qualitatively (e.g. with reference to providing descriptive information about the changing skill profiles within jobs);
- skill needs anticipation is the process of identifying skills the economy will require in the short, medium or longer term, using skills intelligence, to achieve a better balance between skill supply and demand, and to promote economic development through targeted skills investments by individuals, countries, regions, sectors or enterprises;
- common tools for skill needs assessment and anticipation include:
- skills forecast;
- skills foresight;
- tracer study;
- big data analysis;
- skills surveys.
Source
ILO, 2015; Cedefop.