New tools to support skills identification, recognition and transferability

WHAT’S THE ISSUE?

The story is the same everywhere: on the one hand employers complain that they can’t find the staff and skills they are seeking, while on the other hand many people struggle to gain a foothold in the labour market. Many vacancies remain unfilled, as employers shy away from costly job search, turnover and retention problems, and dissatisfied staff. Is this an “information problem”? Where jobseekers cannot demonstrate their skills to employers, while employers actually seek the skills jobseekers have? When do matches not come about, because there are some (small) skill gaps jobseekers have? These issues arise for many low- and middle-skill jobs, when skills are developed by workers as they go about their jobs and much of the learning is informal and remains unrecognised. What tools and systems are available to overcome these information problems to support matches where they should happen? How can small skill gaps be identified and filled in a fast and efficient manner to support the next match?

ABOUT THE WORSKSHOP

In this OECD Local Development Forum workshop, organised in partnership with the Strada Education Network we brought together policy makers and practitioners to discuss new tools that support skills identification, recognition and transferability. Presented during the workshop were MYSKILLS of Germany, Passport for Work of the Netherlands, and Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Region of Learning in the UK together with Navigatr.