An Agenda for New Skills and Jobs

An Agenda for New Skills and Jobs
Title	An Agenda for New Skills and Jobs
Author	Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
Year	2012
Subject	Labour market policy
Pages	120

An Agenda for New Skills and Jobs is a policy report published by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development that sets out recommendations to address skills mismatches and promote employment recovery after the Great Recession. The report synthesizes evidence from member states including United States, Germany, France, United Kingdom, Japan, Canada, Australia, Italy, Spain, and Netherlands to propose coordinated reforms across training, activation, and social protection systems. It situates strategies within comparative experiences such as Sweden's active labor market policies, Denmark's flexicurity model, and South Korea's vocational training initiatives.

Background and Rationale

The report was motivated by the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis, the prolonged slump observed in the Eurozone sovereign debt crisis, and heightened unemployment in Greece, Portugal, Ireland, and Spain. It draws on empirical studies from institutions including the International Labour Organization, the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, the European Commission, and the United Nations Development Programme. Analyses reference demographic trends in China, India, and Brazil, structural transformation in Mexico and Poland, and technological change evident in sectors influenced by Silicon Valley, Toyota, and Siemens.

Policy Objectives and Framework

The agenda sets three core objectives aligned with commitments observed in policy dialogues such as the G20 Pittsburgh Summit and recommendations from the OECD Jobs Strategy. It links short-term stabilization aims tied to interventions seen in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act packages with medium-term reforms inspired by Hartz reforms in Germany and social investment approaches from Norway and Finland. The framework emphasizes coordination among ministries comparable to examples from Belgium, Austria, Switzerland, and subnational authorities in California, Bavaria, and Quebec.

Skills Development Strategies

Recommendations cover vocational education models like the Dual education system practised in Germany and Austria, apprenticeships promoted in United Kingdom and Switzerland, and tertiary upskilling exemplified by reforms in Finland and South Korea. The report highlights links to curriculum reforms in institutions such as Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of Oxford, and University of Cambridge and to sectoral training partnerships involving General Electric, IBM, Siemens, and Accenture. It discusses credentialing systems influenced by the European Qualifications Framework and lifelong learning provisions in Denmark and The Netherlands.

Labor Market and Employment Policies

Proposed employment measures include targeted activation modeled on Active labour market policies in Sweden and Norway, unemployment insurance reforms referenced against schemes in Canada and Australia, and wage subsidy examples seen in France and Italy. The agenda assesses collective bargaining frameworks from Nordic model countries, minimum wage debates influenced by legislation in United States states and United Kingdom policy, and migrant integration practices from Germany and Canada. It cross-references evaluations by Jens Stoltenberg, policymakers from European Central Bank, and analyses by Joseph Stiglitz and Amartya Sen.

Financing and Institutional Arrangements

The report examines funding mechanisms comparable to the European Social Fund, public employment service models like Jobcentre Plus and Pôle Emploi, and financing instruments such as social investment bonds and public–private partnerships used in United Kingdom and United States initiatives. It reviews institutional innovations including sectoral training funds in France and Belgium, governance arrangements in OECD member institutions, and decentralization experiments in Spain's autonomous communities and Brazil's municipalities.

Implementation, Monitoring, and Evaluation

Implementation guidance draws on monitoring frameworks like those of the European Commission's Europe 2020 strategy and evaluation methods used by the World Bank and the International Labour Organization. It recommends indicators related to employment rates tracked in OECD Employment Outlook publications, skills mismatch metrics used in European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training, and impact evaluation techniques employed by researchers associated with RAND Corporation and National Bureau of Economic Research. The report advocates piloting through initiatives similar to Youth Guarantee schemes and randomized trials comparable to experiments funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Rockefeller Foundation.

Case Studies and International Examples

Case studies include Germany's vocational training and Denmark's flexicurity, South Korea's Human Resources Development Service reforms, United Kingdom apprenticeship expansions under David Cameron, United States workforce development efforts after the Great Recession and city-level programs in New York City, Chicago, and San Francisco. Comparative examples extend to Australia's vocational education and training system, Canada's labour market agreements, and Singapore's SkillsFuture. The report synthesizes lessons for policymakers from cross-national experiences involving institutions such as European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, Asian Development Bank, and Inter-American Development Bank.

Category:OECD reports