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This policy brief focuses on the opportunities made available in informal apprenticeship systems for improving skill provision in the informal economy to offer young people, especially in developing countries, ways to more productive and decent jobs. The brief draws from ILO Skills and Employability Department's work with constituents to upgrade and expand informal apprenticeship systems through technical cooperation projects operating in Asia and Africa.

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Anticipating skill needs for the low carbon economy is a complex task. The exact margins of the green economic sectors and occupations are not yet fully defined. What these margins are and how they vary across countries and sectors remains to be seen. In addition, the pace of change makes the low carbon economy a moving target, difficult to measure and predict. Intended to assist researchers in anticipating skills, this report builds understanding of how to embark on a skills anticipation exercise, which is relevant for national, sectoral and enterprise level human resource development strategies related to climate change mitigation and adaptation. It primarily deals with methodologies and institutional arrangements, and aims to inform decisions on the scope and level of skills anticipation research, sources of information, and available methodological approaches, both quantitative and qualitative. Research objectives, country context, data availability and institutional settings will determine which combination of methods to apply. The report arises from a joint management agreement between the European Commission and the ILO on Knowledge sharing in early identification of skill needs.

Published abstract.

A research brief entitled 'Anticipating skill needs for the low carbon economy?: difficult, but not impossible' is available for this report. Show less

The renewable energy sector is growing fast: about half of the new electricity-generating capacity added globally in 2008 and 2009 came from renewable energy additions. Renewable energy is expected to generate more jobs over the coming years in the energy sector as a whole. Employment in fossil fuel, however, will drop as energy production turns greener. Fast deployment of new capacity at country or regional levels has led to skills shortages in technical occupations such as solar installers and electrical engineers, but also in more general occupations, such as sales and finance specialists, inspectors, auditors and lawyers. An efficient training system for renewable energy must be integrated within overall policies to support the growth of the sector. It must also involve social partners in the design and delivery of training, retraining of workers and draw from a combination of practical and theoretical knowledge. The study brings together the findings from 33 countries. It arises from a joint management agreement between the European Commission and the ILO on knowledge sharing in early identification of skill needs.

Published abstract.

A research brief entitled ‘Investment in renewable energy generates jobs: supply of skilled workforce needs to catch up’ is available for this report. Show less

Informal apprenticeship refers to the system by which a young learner acquires the skills for a trade or craft in a micro- or small enterprise, learning and working side-by-side with an experienced craftsperson. The aims of this resource guide are: to enhance understanding of apprenticeship systems in the informal economy by providing definitions, and a conceptual framework to describe their functioning; to provide tools for the assessment of informal apprenticeship systems; to explain the issues to be addressed such as quality and relevance of skills training, transition from school to apprenticeship, gender, financing, recognition of skills, equitable access to apprenticeship and decent work; to provide guiding questions and some policy options to pilot upgrading interventions that will lead to policy learning and ultimately enable the reform of national training policies; and to present selected good practice examples from different African countries to show what has worked, under which conditions, what has not worked and why.

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Demand for workers in retrofitting and new green construction is expected to grow over the coming years. Securing an adequate supply of suitably skilled workers is essential to capitalize on opportunities to further develop the sector and its potential to create jobs. Within this context, adequate training provision is vital to success. Green sectors will require new skills needs related to energy efficiency, water management and renewable energies in buildings. At times this may lead to the development of new occupations, such as energy efficiency analysts, but more frequently skills for many existing occupations, such as plumbers and electricians, will need to be upgraded. Workers displaced from declining sectors, including the traditional construction sector, may successfully relocate to green building, provided that relevant retraining programmes are accessible. Training offered in green building has increased notably over the past few years; however, employers still face difficulties finding qualified people to perform certain jobs. Skills-led strategies can drive the green building sector forward. This report brings together the findings from 34 countries. It arises from a joint management agreement between the European Commission and the ILO on knowledge sharing in early identification of skill needs.

Published abstract.

A research brief entitled ‘Greening of the building sector is held back by skill shortages: skills-led strategies can drive green building forward’ is available for this report. Show less

Since its Green Growth National Vision announcement in August 2008, Korea is attracting global attention to its comprehensive nation-wide policy measures and implementation efforts. This report particularly presents the changes in the labour market due to greening initiatives and skills development strategies for emerging green jobs. The objectives of this report are: (1) to explain major policy measures including general environmental strategy towards a green growth, green response to the current economic crisis, and skills development strategy in response to greening in Korea; (2) to discuss the green structural change and its impact on the labour market, and to outline the plans that Korea has put in place for skills response; (3) to present case studies that show actual examples of skills response to the green economy in various sectors; and (4) to discuss the general issues, challenges and limitations of the current approach and suggest policy recommendations. This report was prepared in consultation with several researchers in government-funded research institutes and universities, agencies involved in the formulation and implementation of Korea's green growth strategy, and representatives of civil society and the private sector in Korea. The authors reviewed a wide range of documents including numerous government issued reports and documents, legislations and laws, academic papers, and newspaper articles on green growth. In addition, the authors conducted several expert panel discussions on issues discussed in this report. To carry out case studies, the authors interviewed more than 50 people from 10 different agencies or organizations in green sectors; some were students of a training program and others include instructors, directors of [human resources] HR departments, current employees, and representatives of the organizations. Those conversations with people who were actual beneficiaries of the green policy measures and those who were implementing the policy at the ground level served as invaluable resources for this report.

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