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List of policy instruments

  • AMS Standing Committee on New Skills

    AMS Projektreihe „Standing Committee für New Skills“

    Description

    Focus area
    Main skills assessment/anticipation initiative
    The Committee initiates projects/workshops/lectures that aim to identify changes in the needs for qualifications in collaboration with experts from companies. Based on these projects, the Committee develops continuing education and training (CET) programmes to make it easier for jobseekers to re-enter the world of work.
    The initiative identifies (short and medium-term) changes in the needs for qualifications/new skills to design training measures for the unemployed and to guide
    (further) training in companies and in specific occupations, based
    on input working groups (PES and companies representatives).
    Link
    Reference/weblink
    https://www.ams-forschungsnetzwerk.at/deutsch/qualibarometer/comlist.asp?first=…
    Implementation level
    At what level is the initiative implemented?
    National
    Legal base
    Legal base (E.g. Law, regulation, implementing provision, other)
    Other: cooperation of PES with Social Partners
    Starting period
    TIMESPAN: In what year did the initiative commence?
    Implemented in October 2009 as a response to the economic crisis.
    Perspective
    PERSPECTIVE: is the initiative based on evidence derived from skill forecasts or foresight activities?
    The Committee has continually initiated projects, workshops, and or lectures that aim to identify changes in the needs for qualifications in collaboration with experts from companies (usually of more qualitative nature). Based on these projects, the Committee develops continuing education and training (CET) programmes to make it easier for jobseekers to re-enter the world of work. The committee montiors new developments and formulates reactions to it (e.g. "New Digital Skills" Report Nov. 2019.
    Policy area
    To which POLICY AREAS(s) does the initiative apply?
    Education
    Training
    Employment
    Innovation
    Digital economy
    Funding
    How it is funded?
    Other
    It is part of the core work for the Austrian public employment services, thus covered by their budget.

    Skill mismatch

    Skill mismatch target
    What type(s) of skills MISMATCH does the initiative aim to addresses?
    Skill shortages (employers cannot fill their vacancies due to a lack of skills in the labour market)
    Skill gaps (worker's skills are below the level of proficiency required by their employers and jobs)
    Skills obsolescence (some or all of an individual's skills are no longer relevant to the current employer or in the labour market generally)
    Other
    PES, employers and other sector experts cooperate to identify
    skills needs.
    Skills matching focus
    How does  the initiative address skills mismatches?
    Upskill or reskill employed adults
    The initiative identifies changes in the needs for qualifications/new skills to design training measures to guide
    (further) training in companies and in specific occupations
    Upskill or reskill non-employed adults
    The initiative identifies changes in the needs for qualifications/new skills to design and/or initiate training measures for the unemployed
    Facilitate job / career transitions
    Preparation of labour market related information to make it accessible and understandable for everyone. It helps all interested parties among which persons who want to choose their career) to process information on the local, regional and national labour market.
    Address sectoral or occupational skill shortages
    Preparation of labour market related information to make it accessible and understandable for everyone. It helps all interested parties among which company representatives) to process information on the local, regional and national labour market.
    Address mismatch broadly
    It provides information to potentially skills mismatched people to help them to adapt to (local) labour market needs.
    Other
    Promotes stakeholder cooperation to identify skills needs.
    Skills delivered
    What types of skill  does the initiative deliver?
    General employability skills (team working, communication, etc.)
    Job search skills

    Methods

    Methods
    What methods of undertaking skills assessments and / or skills anticipation does the policy instrument utilise?
    Employer surveys
    The project uses a wide array of inputs (secondary use)
    Skills foresight
    The project uses a wide array of inputs (secondary use)
    Expert panels
    Expert panels seem to be the main method to evaluate new developments / outcomes from the analysis of other sources.
    Use of skills intelligence
    How is labour market information / skills intelligence used within the initiative?
    Designing training programmes to activate unemployed
    One of the policy goals of the initiative is to design training measures for the unemployed and to guide (further) training in companies and in specific occupations, based on input working groups (PES and companies representatives).
    Informing decisions on course funding/provision
    The initiative is used to design training measures
    Informing and training career guidance and counsellors
    The initiative is used to guide further training
    Informing job-search decisions of unemployed
    These groups then formulate a list of current and future sector-specific requirements for employees and jobseekers in their sectors.
    Enabling strategic business decisions at sector/enterprise level
    The outcomes are used by AMS for the design of training measures for the unemployed and are also meant to guide (further) training in companies and in specific occupations.
    Other
    Working groups are created for specific sectors, made up of
    sectoral clusters of business representatives (e.g. in construction
    and building, business administration, chemicals and plastics,
    electrical engineering/electronics/ telecommunications, energy
    and environmental engineering, commerce, machinery/motor
    vehicles/metal, tourism, and health). These groups then formulate
    a list of current and future sector-specific requirements for
    employees and jobseekers in their sectors. The outcomes are
    used by AMS for the design of training measures for the
    unemployed and are also meant to guide (further) training in
    companies and in specific occupations.

    Stakeholders

    Main responsible body
    Main body or organisation with overall responsibility for the initiative.
    National PES
    The Austrian Public Employment Service (AMS)
    Other involved organisations
    Which other organisations have a role in the initiative?
    Social partner: employer organisation
    Main target group. Are responsible for putting the knowledge of the committee into practice.
    Social partner: trade union
    Are responsible for putting the knowledge of the committee into practice.
    Training Providers
    The labour market research and career information department (ABI), in cooperation with the Institute for Research on Qualifications and Training of the Austrian Economy identified organisational change processes and qualification requirements in multiple workshop series.
    Other
    The Standing Committee is meant to prepare employed and
    jobseekers for future changes and challenges in the labour market
    via active labour market policies, especially in times of underutilisation of economic capacities. Stakeholders (in the
    educational system as well as in the labour market, e.g. PES,
    employers, employees) are responsible for putting the knowledge
    into practice. For example, active labour market programmes
    calls for tenders of the Austrian PES are often based on input
    provided by the Standing Committee.

    Sustainability

    Success factors
    SUCCESS FACTORS in the implementation
    The structural change in the labour market (e.g. digitisation) increase the probability that insights are effectively put into practice by stakeholders.
    Barriers
    BARRIERS in the implementation
    The main barrier is the translation of insights into practice.
    Monitoring and evaluation
    MONITORING and EVALUATION: Is progress measured regularly? What are the indicators used to measure progress of the policy instrument? Have any evaluations been conducted?
    Attendance at the events could be seen as a indicator for progress or success of the instrument, however no information is publicly available if attendance is actually measured.
    Updates
    UPDATES: whether there have been any major updates of the initiative since it has been implemented?
    More attention over time has been given to priority groups with a migrant background and to expand the offer of German language courses. Also, recently more fundings are being spent of women in order to facilitate their participation into the labour force.
    Yes
    Several publications per year between 2010 and 2020
    Effectiveness
    EVIDENCE ON EFFECTIVENESS: How effective is the policy instrument?
    There is no evaluation or assessment of the effectiveness. The measure focuses strongly on gathering company experts’ views. At an early stage, other experts/institutions were included. The measure might gain in effectiveness if researchers were included in the process to comment on the views of company experts. Despite stakeholder engagement and a wide range of information relevant to skills anticipation being available, there is a degree of uncertainty about the extent to which it is used to inform decisions within the education and training system; perhaps more so in higher education than in relation to VET/apprenticeships.
    Sustainability
    SUSTAINABILITY: How sustainable is the policy instrument? Do you expect the instrument to continue over the next few years and why?
    As the tasks of the instrument are not tied to a specific time frame, as skills needs and trends are always changing, the Standing Committee will remain relevant. For example, digitisation of the labour market became a more and more important topic during the last few years. The Standing Committee published several reports regarding this topic from 2015 to 2017.

  • Implacement labour foundation

    Implacementstiftung

    Description

    Focus area
    Main skills assessment/anticipation initiative
    The instrument focuses on skills mismathced unemployed workers to promote their labour market integration. The aim is to help the unemployed to find a job and the companies to reduce their skill shortages.
    Link
    Reference/weblink
    https://www.ams.at/unternehmen/service-zur-personalsuche/foerderungen/implaceme…
    Implementation level
    At what level is the initiative implemented?
    Regional
    Legal base
    Legal base (E.g. Law, regulation, implementing provision, other)
    Possible through a reinterpretation of the unemployment insurance law in 1998.
    Starting period
    TIMESPAN: In what year did the initiative commence?
    This instrument was preceded by the so-called Stahlstiftung in the 1980s (retraining measures during industrial restructuring and employment decline in some sectors). It was first developed as a best practice measure at EU level and became a Austrian PES measure later.
    Perspective
    PERSPECTIVE: is the initiative based on evidence derived from skill forecasts or foresight activities?
    No
    Policy area
    To which POLICY AREAS(s) does the initiative apply?
    Education
    Training
    Employment
    Funding
    How it is funded?
    Funded by regional government

    Skill mismatch

    Skill mismatch target
    What type(s) of skills MISMATCH does the initiative aim to addresses?
    Skill shortages (employers cannot fill their vacancies due to a lack of skills in the labour market)
    Skill gaps (worker's skills are below the level of proficiency required by their employers and jobs)
    Other
    Explicitly designed for mismatched unemployed.
    Skills matching focus
    How does  the initiative address skills mismatches?
    Facilitate job / career transitions
    The aim of the instrument is to help mismatched unemployed workers to promote their labour market integration. The aim is to help the unemployed to find a job
    Skills delivered
    What types of skill  does the initiative deliver?
    General employability skills (team working, communication, etc.)

    Methods

    Methods
    What methods of undertaking skills assessments and / or skills anticipation does the policy instrument utilise?
    Other
    The PES has access to LMSI tools and platforms to identify suitable unemployed workers that could be retrained.
    Use of skills intelligence
    How is labour market information / skills intelligence used within the initiative?
    Designing training programmes to activate unemployed
    The PES has access to LMSI tools and platforms to identify suitable unemployed workers that could be retrained. The development of training plans for each future employee is designed according to the operational requirements. With the help of the PES, the company then chooses suitable unemployed workers that are retrained to fill the vacancy. The training can take up to three years. This might therefore help to reduce unemployment and skill shortages at the same time.

    Stakeholders

    Main responsible body
    Main body or organisation with overall responsibility for the initiative.
    Other
    AMS Oberösterreich (regional PES).
    Other involved organisations
    Which other organisations have a role in the initiative?
    National ministry
    Provides the legal framework, funding through unemployment benefits via the Public Employment Service (AMS).
    Regional ministry
    They are funding training costs.
    Social partner: employer organisation
    Social partner involvement at company level (agreement).
    Regional PES
    AMS Oberösterreich is financing the initiative (and paying the unemployment benefits)
    Training Providers
    They provide training
    Other
    Employee organisations. Social partner involvement at company level (agreement).

    Sustainability

    Success factors
    SUCCESS FACTORS in the implementation
    Companies a chance to access the skilled labour that they seek through training. During the training period, the company does not have any wage and ancillary wage costs. Job seekers are given the opportunity to gain qualifications and find a job afterwards. Promotions of greater occupational, remunerative and regional mobility. Low amount of required public funding.
    Barriers
    BARRIERS in the implementation
    Success of the instrument depends on the cooperation with companies and the correct identification of labour shortages. Otherwise, there is a danger of deadweight effects
    Monitoring and evaluation
    MONITORING and EVALUATION: Is progress measured regularly? What are the indicators used to measure progress of the policy instrument? Have any evaluations been conducted?
    Success could be measured in successful labour market integrations after training. These are often between 60 or 70%. However, at the moment there is a lack of comprehensive and regular evaluation of the instrument. There are some regional evaluations (e.g. http://www.forschungsnetzwerk.at/downloadpub/AMSinfo130_2009.pdf) or surveys among participants (http://www.forschungsnetzwerk.at/downloadpub/AMSinfo149.pdf) available
    Updates
    UPDATES: whether there have been any major updates of the initiative since it has been implemented?
    Yes
    Several publications per year between 2010 and 2014
    Effectiveness
    EVIDENCE ON EFFECTIVENESS: How effective is the policy instrument?
    Between 2011 and 2013 the number of participants in implacement foundations has decreased slightly, but went up again in 2014 to 6,940 persons (Sozialministerium 2015). In 2016, 6,815 people received funding (Sozialministerium 2018). Following the latest report (Sozialministerium 2019), the number of participants has risen up to 7,799 in 2017 before lowering again to 6,400 in 2018.
    Sustainability
    SUSTAINABILITY: How sustainable is the policy instrument? Do you expect the instrument to continue over the next few years and why?
    Yes, as further training will remain important to prevent skills mismatch.

  • PES Skills Barometer

    AMS Qualifikations-Barometer

    Description

    Focus area
    Main skills assessment/anticipation initiative
    Preparation of labour market related information to make it accessible and understandable for everyone. It helps all interested parties (PES employees, journalists, politicians, company representatives, persons who want to choose their career) to process information on the local, regional and national labour market.
    Link
    Reference/weblink
    http://bis.ams.or.at/qualibarometer/
    Implementation level
    At what level is the initiative implemented?
    National
    Legal base
    Legal base (E.g. Law, regulation, implementing provision, other)
    The qualification barometer is run by the public employment service (AMS), the consultancy 3s Unternehmensberatung and the Federal Economic Chambers (WKO) subsidiary 'Institute for Research on Qualifications and Training of the Austrian Economy' (IBW).
    Starting period
    TIMESPAN: In what year did the initiative commence?
    Launched in 2002.
    Perspective
    PERSPECTIVE: is the initiative based on evidence derived from skill forecasts or foresight activities?
    It is a main initiative, online information system for trends in qualifications.
    Policy area
    To which POLICY AREAS(s) does the initiative apply?
    Education
    Training
    Funding
    How it is funded?
    Other
    By the Austrian PES, average annual funding (including expenditures for further development of the instrument) amounts to around €160,000.

    Skill mismatch

    Skill mismatch target
    What type(s) of skills MISMATCH does the initiative aim to addresses?
    Skill shortages (employers cannot fill their vacancies due to a lack of skills in the labour market)
    Skill gaps (worker's skills are below the level of proficiency required by their employers and jobs)
    Other
    It provides information to potentially skills mismatched people to help them to adapt to (local) labour market needs.
    Skills matching focus
    How does  the initiative address skills mismatches?
    Facilitate job / career transitions
    The barometer compiles and organises information on current and future qualification requirements and all information is made publicly available through the internet so that it can be used also by those who want to change career
    Address sectoral or occupational skill shortages
    The instrument structures occupations in three levels in accordance to skills and education required for them.
    Address mismatch broadly
    The information on qualification requirements can be used by employees, unemployed, companies and training institutions to take actions to improve labour market matches.
    Other
    The information on qualification requirements can also be used by training institutions to take actions to improve labour market matches.
    Skills delivered
    What types of skill  does the initiative deliver?
    Job search skills
    Career management skills

    Methods

    Methods
    What methods of undertaking skills assessments and / or skills anticipation does the policy instrument utilise?
    Employer surveys
    Interviews are held with experts in different occupational areas, such as HR managers
    Skills foresight
    It involves the secondary analyses of statistical data provided by the Main Association of Austrian Social Insurance Funds (Hauptverband der Sozialversicherungsträger), Statistik Austria and the Public Employment Service (AMS), as well as studies on the development of qualification requirements, job vacancies and the labour market.
    Use of skills intelligence
    How is labour market information / skills intelligence used within the initiative?
    Other
    The Austrian PES uses skills intelligence as a means to achieve a reduction in unemployment. Ministries may also use skills data. Other stakeholders, such as social partners, can initiate adjustments or create apprenticeship curricula, based on a number of sources and on skills anticipation results. Schools are using skills intelligence to provide support and advisory services to pupils and their parents. Career and guidance services are offered by various organisations (including the Austrian PES, social partners, government ministries and associations) for different target groups ranging from adults in full time education to those in the labour market.

    Stakeholders

    Main responsible body
    Main body or organisation with overall responsibility for the initiative.
    National PES
    Arbeitsmarktservice, AMS
    Other involved organisations
    Which other organisations have a role in the initiative?
    National PES
    It is both funded and run by the public employment service (AMS)
    Other
    It is run by the Austrian PES together with the consultancy firm 3s Unternehmensberatung, and the subsidiary of the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber (WKO), the Institute for Research on Qualifications and Training of the Austrian Economy (IBW). The latter two organisations designed and developed the system.

    Sustainability

    Success factors
    SUCCESS FACTORS in the implementation
    Methodologically correct approach; its comprehensible and user-friendly graphical presentation of results useful for the different target groups; it is an open and free tool to use. The Skills Barometer is used by counsellors in the Austrian PES’ career information centres and by those in charge of planning training programmes in the provincial PES offices.
    Barriers
    BARRIERS in the implementation
    Internet access is required to access information on the website.
    Monitoring and evaluation
    MONITORING and EVALUATION: Is progress measured regularly? What are the indicators used to measure progress of the policy instrument? Have any evaluations been conducted?
    Attendance at the events could be seen as a indicator for progress or success of the instrument, however no information is publicly available if attendance is actually measured.
    Updates
    UPDATES: whether there have been any major updates of the initiative since it has been implemented?
    The instrument was adapted to improve the user experience, e.g. by making it more accessible. Regarding content, a segment on green jobs/green skills, as well as a section on gender-related aspects of the labour market has been added. Also, the revised occupational classification of the PES (AMS Berufstaxonomie) had to be implemented.
    Yes
    Most texts are updated every six months, the remaining ones are updated once a year.
    Effectiveness
    EVIDENCE ON EFFECTIVENESS: How effective is the policy instrument?
    According to a survey in 2010, users of the PES Skills Barometer are very satisfied with the information provided and the uses of the website. The website is used by people with both high and low skills. Therefore, it seems that the instrument is relevant not only for highly qualified users, but also for people with lower qualification levels. In other words, neither better qualified or lower qualified (potential) users were (unintentionally) excluded from the instrument, e.g. by providing information or services that are only relevant to a specific (e.g. high-skilled) user group.
    Sustainability
    SUSTAINABILITY: How sustainable is the policy instrument? Do you expect the instrument to continue over the next few years and why?
    Most users visit the website to gather information on retraining possibilities and to find a job. Provided that the instrument continues to offer a good user experience in the future (e.g. by regularly updating information on occupations), and given that the internet will remain one of the most important channels to collect information or to find work, the instrument should continue over the next few years.