Cedefop newsletter

The resources result from a research process of over three years on the effective usage of labour market information (LMI) and information technologies (ICT) in career development services across Europe. Many practices have been inventoried and the most significant were documented and analysed in great detail.

This web-based set of tools showcases LMI’s importance with a special focus on the use of ICT tools.

Resources for guidance consist of three main sections:

• a  toolkit on LMI usage;
• a handbook for transferability of practices;
• training modules on how to use LMI and ICT in guidance.

The toolkit on LMI highlights the importance of labour market information and the use of ICT tools. It offers tips on how to effectively use career relevant information during the guidance process. It provides a wealth of information including definitions, examples, methods, national LMI sources and selected ways of LMI integration as well as information on the necessary LMI skills. The toolkit is translated into all EU languages.

The handbook departs from careful documentation of the most successful practices in Europe. It documents technical requirements, challenges and success factors in detail. It also offers a decision-making tool to select the best options and drive the reflection on what is better for the adopter. The decision-making tool is available as a printable document and will be also available as an interactive resource in the near future.

The training modules offer practitioners and careers service managers training on how to successfully integrate LMI contents and new technologies in career support practices. The modules are meant to help manage organisational change and prepare staff for innovative processes. The modules are currently available as downloadable pdfs and will be reworked into an interactive learning platform.

The resources for guidance were piloted during the first European guidance week in Tallinn Estonia (26-29 September 2017), which gathered representatives of the European guidance community, including practitioners, policy-makers and researchers.

Cedefop is open to suggestions regarding the expansion and improvement of the resources.

An initiative of Cedefop and six EU-level associations (EfVET, EVBB, EVTA, EUCEN, EUproVET and EURASHE), the community was set up in May 2017.

In his opening remarks, Cedefop Head of Department for VET Systems and Institutions Loukas Zahilas argued that the community gives practitioners the opportunity to cooperate, discuss challenges and problems, and exchange ideas and best practice, adding: ‘Cedefop has inserted a knowledge-broker’s function in its work, bridging the gap between theory and practice; therefore, working with those at the heart of practical implementation of education and training is a sound way to enhance this practical perspective.’

European Commission’s Joao Santos admitted that ‘for many years we had neglected the vocational education and training (VET) providers,’ but noted that things are now changing, with the Commission seeking regular contact with those ‘who know much more what is happening on the ground.’ He referred to various Commission initiatives that are of interest to VET providers and/or where their input will be sought.

Cedefop expert Tina Bertzeletou, who organised the meeting, said that the community currently consists of 45 members from 17 EU Members States and Turkey, and that it complements the Platform for European Association of VET Providers, which provides policy advice to the Commission.

Representatives of the organisations taking part in the community spoke about the opportunities and challenges of the new initiative.

Three working groups met to discuss technology enhanced learning and teachers, teacher mobility, and migrant and refugee integration. They came back with concerns and proposals to the plenary.

Closing the meeting, Cedefop Director James Calleja expressed his pleasure at seeing the community become a reality. He said that giving a voice to learning providers and raising their profile is important, adding: ‘At this early stage you need to scream to be heard because you are very important stakeholders and can make a difference to learners even more than we can.’

Workplaces and VET schools and colleges are constantly challenged by changes in the way we learn and work. Mr Calleja noted: ‘Training providers, like employers, are threatened by the speed of innovation. For both sectors, speed is a more challenging factor than digitalisation, big data analytics, the internet of things and advanced robotics. These developments are visible and manageable. But the speed of change is not. The need for the sectors of education and employment to join forces is more critical than ever.’

The high-level meeting was addressed by the Vice President of the Republic of Bulgaria Iliana Iotova, the Deputy Minister for Labour and Social Policy Zornitsa Rusinova, the President-elect of EESC’s Section for Employment, Social Affairs and Citizenship Christa Schweng and the President of the EESC Employers’ Group Poland Jacek Krawczyk. Cedefop Governing Board members Barbara Dorn and Gerhard Riemer played an active role at the meeting.

In his presentation, Mr Calleja stressed that better personal lives and better working conditions lead to more productivity, more profit and happier employers. If there is a proliferation of employers this is added value to education and training and employment.

Recipe for success

Quoting statistical data from Cedefop’s European skills and jobs survey, he said that ‘preventing technological unemployment requires the right mix of digital and soft skills, better labour market intelligence and career guidance, upskilling and reskilling, particularly of low-skilled adults and the unemployed, and education that caters for personal and professional growth at the same time.’

The creation, transformation and replacement of jobs that Cedefop underlines in its briefing note on people, machines, robots and skills complements OECD’s prediction of 9% of jobs being displaced, 70% of tasks automated and 25% of jobs transformed in the near future. Mr Calleja argued that the way we teach must change: ‘A knowledge-based approach has been dominating our education system for over 200 years. We need new systems based on the acquisition of knowledge, skills and competence that will help young people and adults compete with machines and secure jobs that machines cannot perform.’

According to Mr Calleja, ‘it is time for workplaces to become learning environments as well, which implies that training providers need to spend more time in industry, and employers to engage in education and training policies and curriculum design.’

If we bridge the two sectors we must also ensure that traffic goes both ways. An important factor that will determine the success of this approach is career guidance, which Mr Calleja said must be a joint venture of the public and private sectors.

Forecasting limitations

Employers stressed the need for work-based learning and for future employees to possess soft skills. In their view, skills forecasting has its limitations due to the rapid changes that labour market is experiencing through technological developments. Shorter periods of skills anticipation are valid but emphasis should be put on the need for reskilling, upskilling and lifelong learning.

Governments should shoulder the financial burden of lifelong learning while employers would be ready to support such initiatives if skills strategies aim at a better trained workforce. The investment of over EUR 60 billion per year in training by German social partners is an example of how social partners can make a difference in a political environment conducive to lifelong learning.

The workshop participants discussed the proposed methodology for collecting and analysing information from online job vacancies in all EU Member States.

To ensure the system’s highest possible quality, Cedefop brought together members of the European Statistical System Network (ESSnet), Eurostat, the Joint Research Centre (JRC), the European Skills, Competences, Qualifications and Occupations (ESCO) and independent researchers to discuss and fine-tune the methodology for extracting vacancies and classifying the information they contain.

Cedefop expert Vladimir Kvetan, who coordinates the project, stressed that the event represents an important milestone as the methodology gets exposed to external validation and can benefit from critical review before data collection starts. The ESSnet representative Nigel Swier highlighted that the network has been engaging in similar activities in the past three years making small steps forward and this meeting represents a big step to develop a concise system suitable for statistical purposes.

The meeting confirmed the project’s potential as well as the right direction taken in establishing the system and its infrastructure. Participants provided constructive feedback for further development.

During the concluding session, Eurostat’s Fernardo Reis said that the basics are set for a robust infrastructure to collect information from online job vacancies. Mr Swier noted the need to take concrete actions to expand collaboration between Cedefop, Eurostat and ESSnet in this area.

More information and the agenda of the event can be found here.

The event presented good practices and ways of shaping independence in gaining and using information when planning a professional career. It provided information and ideas to 700 young people and policy-makers, including high-level officials of national and regional authorities. Stakeholders from different professional areas described their experiences and offered their opinions, helping create a forum for professional knowledge and networking possibilities.

In his presentation, Mr Zahilas referred to Cedefop’s work in shaping, valuing and informing VET and reflected on the need for responses to the challenges of globalisation, technological developments, unemployment and migration.

He said that societies are searching for a more meaningful vocational education and training in the context of the labour market and there is a need for a better package that would attract learners, get people back into work and promote equality, inclusion and solidarity.

The review can help Slovakia develop a medium-term policy roadmap for its skills anticipation and matching system.

Priority areas are: the improvement of the institutional framework; capacity building to develop tracer studies; and ensuring that the skills anticipation and matching system is future proof, i.e. that it can develop flexibly in response to changes.

Highlights from Cedefop’s analysis of the system currently in place include:

• Available labour market and skills intelligence is not sufficiently disseminated to learners and career counsellors.
• The skills anticipation system is not sufficiently stable. A lot of work is project-based limiting continuity. Stakeholders agree that the system should be based on a widely-accepted apolitical vision and strategy.
• Small and medium-sized enterprises need to have more say in the system.

The review is steered by the Slovak Education Ministry and Cedefop but stakeholders decide the best way forward for the country.

Cedefop has commissioned an independent ex-post evaluation of the Europass resources and tools and of the pan-European skills supply and demand forecasts.

The evaluation’s aim is to understand whether the overarching objectives of the two projects have been achieved, and use findings and recommendations for future improvement.

The identity of those who take part in the evaluation will not be disclosed; however, identification information concerning the type of their organisation and Member State of origin will be used for the purpose of the analysis.

You can access the surveys here:

• Europass survey
• skills forecast survey

For queries on the survey or the evaluation itself, please contact Kahina Bensalem, Deloitte kbensalem@DELOITTE.com

The Cedefop representative is Marc Willem marc.willem@cedefop.europa.eu

Ms Zukersteinova referred to results from Cedefop's European skills and jobs survey and provided a sneak peek into the new forecast results which will be officially released by Cedefop in spring this year.

She mentioned that ‘according to the Cedefop survey, about 85% of all EU jobs need at least a basic digital skills level. This being coupled with the figure quoted several times during the event – that almost half of Europeans still lack basic digital skills – points to a gap which has to be addressed.’ She also stressed that ‘individuals who will be able to survive and succeed in the digital economy are those who do not only possess good digital skills, but also a healthy mix of cognitive and socioemotional skills.’

Read the full statement issued by the heads of the agencies, including Cedefop Director James Calleja:

'Together, we the heads of EU agencies and Joint undertakings commit to zero tolerance towards sexual harassment and we cannot and will not accept harassment of any form in our agencies. We take it upon ourselves to communicate to our staff that harassment in the workplace is never acceptable. We have committed ourselves in accordance with existing laws and particularly the staff regulation, to promote diversity at work and provide our staff with a trusted place in which to work.

Equality is one of the fundamental values on which the European Union is built. Gender-based violence, including sexual harassment, is one of the most extreme manifestations of inequality and discrimination.

Sexual violence and harassment contradict the principle of gender equality and equal treatment. They constitute gender-based discrimination in employment. Cases of sexual harassment and bullying, while significantly underreported, are a matter of health, safety and well-being in the workplace and need to be responded to effectively and in accordance with existing laws.'

The European Union has established decentralised agencies to carry out specific legal, operational, technical or scientific tasks within the EU. These agencies are autonomous EU bodies and add value by helping to implement policies, enhance dialogue and share information and expertise on a range of topics. EU agencies also provide practical support to Member States and the EU institutions.

More information about the EU agencies’ network here.

Compiling different data insights, the report highlights skill mismatch as a complex, multidimensional and dynamic phenomenon.

At the dawn of the 4th industrial revolution, four in 10 employers in Europe cannot find people with the right skills.

The introduction of new technologies means that skill needs are changing fast, and 43% of EU employees told the ESJ survey that they had recently experienced new technologies at work.

Cedefop's report calls on policy-makers to adopt a different mindset for tackling skill mismatch, focused on sustainable activation, continuous learning, job-task reengineering and promotion of higher-end product market/managerial practices.

Watch our animated video to find out more and download the report for the analysis.