During the past few years Slovenia has invested a lot of efforts into long-term and short-term competence forecasting, culminating in a 2021 Skills forecasting platform project that falls under the remit of the Ministry of Labour, Family, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities (MDDSZ). The Competence Forecasting Platform is of key importance for tackling future challenges in fields of work such as robotics.
The establishment of the Career platform & the Smart specialisation strategy (S4)
In 2015 the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Slovenia (GZS), together with partners and with the financial support of the MDDSZ, developed the Career platform for employees – a model of competence needs forecasting, which reliably predicted employment and competence needs for the next 8 to 10 years. The platform provided employers with personnel planning and development tools, helping them adjust to the challenges of the global market in time. One of the aims of the platform was to improve the balance between skills supply and demand on the labour market and prepare the education system for future challenges. The project was concluded in 2015, but the results are still used by the GZS in Strategic research and innovation partnerships (SRIPs), and were even further developed (MDDSZ).
The Slovenian smart specialisation strategy (S4) defined national strategic development priorities and areas, which are supported in practice by targeted, comprehensive and tailored measures. With S4, Slovenia introduced a new model of development cooperation between innovation stakeholders and achieved inclusion in international development and innovation networks, platforms and consortia. The implementation of S4 is therefore one of the key tools for strengthening and upgrading the Slovenian innovation ecosystem.
As the S4 also emphasises the importance of human resource (HR) development, different institutions are developing S4 HR development tasks, including SRIPs. The basis for the HR development in all five SRIPs partnerships is the long-term competence and personnel needs forecast.
Skills forecasting platform
In 2021, the MDDSZ established a project that will develop a long-term systemic approach to competence forecast: the Skills forecasting platform. The platform will be a systemic tool to support matching skill supply and demand on the labour market. The purpose of the project is to study the existing situation in Slovenia and abroad, and to prepare suitable systemic solutions that will enable skills forecasting in the future. The project is co-financed by the European Social Fund.
Its objectives are:
- to upgrade/further develop short-term competence and profession forecasting (up to 1 year) based on current methods and tools;
- to develop a methodology of medium (3-5 years) and long-term (10 years) forecasting;
- to help establish institutional cooperation of key stakeholders for the further development, use and expansion of the platform (e.g. education providers, chambers of commerce).
The long-term effects of the platform are expected to include greater harmonisation of supply and demand on the labour market, reduction of structural disparities, and higher skills for the Slovenian population.
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Platforma za napovedovanje kompetenc – PNK [Competence prediction platform - PNK]
| Please cite this news item as: ReferNet Slovenia; Cedefop (2022). Slovenia: new skills forecasting platform. National news on VET |