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The [Coronavirus Disease 2019] COVID-19 pandemic has led to deep shocks and scars to the economy and societies throughout the world. To mitigate and address these shocks and scars, as well as the wider impacts of the pandemic, many countries put in place recovery plans that may now be threatened by Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine, the associated rises in energy prices and cost of living, and its consequences on the global economy. At the same time, countries are also mobilising to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and widespread environmental degradation, working to adjust to the diffusion of new digital technologies (including generative artificial intelligence systems), and putting in place strategies to reduce the economic and societal effects related to increased poverty and shares of marginalised population.

Overall, countries look increasingly vulnerable, with risks of profound economic and societal upheavals. In this context, skills development and lifelong learning play a fundamental role, now more than ever before. Skills are essential to ensure that individuals and societies are able to navigate and integrate into a rapidly changing world of work. Learning from the past three years is critical to strengthen the resilience of lifelong learning systems to future and ongoing shocks.

This brief focuses on the resilience of skill systems, which is key to promote resilient labour markets and societies. It reviews what policy responses can promote labour market integration and skills development, with a view to build resilient systems. It draws lessons from recent episodes of economic downturn, for example the COVID-19 pandemic - an economic crisis for which both shock and recovery are currently observable - as well as the cost-of-living crisis, that many countries have recently experienced as a consequence of rising prices, in particular for energy.

The brief first summarises evidence on the effect of COVID-19 and the cost-of-living crisis on labour markets and skills over 2020-2023, flagging their most important lessons. It then proceeds to describe a set of policies that have recently been implemented around the world to foster skill resilient systems in the face of external shocks - such as the pandemic crisis or the energy crisis, by classifying them in policies to enhance absorption, adaptation, and anticipation.

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The European Qualifications Framework for Lifelong Learning (EQF) acts as a translation device to make national qualifications more readable across Europe, promoting the mobility of workers and learners between countries and facilitating their lifelong learning. The EQF will relate national qualifications systems to a common European reference framework. Individuals and employers will be able to use the EQF to better understand and compare the qualifications levels of different countries and different education and training systems. The EQF was adopted by the European Parliament and Council on 23 April 2008. The EQF encourages countries to relate their qualifications systems or frameworks to the EQF by 2010 and to ensure that all new qualifications issued from 2012 carry a reference to the appropriate EQF level. The core of the EQF are eight reference levels describing what a learner knows, understands and is able to do, i.e. learning outcomes. Levels of national qualifications will be placed at one of the central reference levels, ranging from basic (Level 1) to advanced (Level 8). It will therefore enable much easier comparison between national qualifications and should also mean that people do not have to repeat learning if they move to another country. The EQF applies to all types of education, training and qualifications, from school education to academic, professional and vocational education. The system shifts the focus from the traditional approach which emphasises 'learning inputs' such as the length of a learning experience, or type of institution. It also encourages lifelong learning by promoting the validation of non-formal and informal learning.

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This report provides a statistical representation of the 80 million young people (50 million aged between 15 and 24; 80 million including 25 to 29 year olds) living in the Member States of the European Union (EU) at the time of the study. It describes the major trends, similarities and contrasts between Member States in the areas of education, training, transition to the labour market, family life and living conditions. Two major themes emerge from the study: (1) the percentage of young people in the population is gradually declining in every Member State of the EU; and (2) the characteristic stages in the transition from full-time education to employment are slowing down, i.e. young people are staying in education longer, taking more time to move from education to work, and starting families later in their lives. Although these trends are common, national characteristics and policies influence the stages of transition to adult life. The report contains the following chapters: Introduction; Education is taking longer; A longer transition between education and work; Putting off starting a family; Living conditions, health, ideals … are young adults very different from their elders? Show less

This Staff Working Document accompanies the Commission Communication proposing the draft 2012 Joint Report of the Council and the Commission on the implementation of the Strategic Framework for European cooperation in education and training (ET 2020). ET 2020 The Strategic Framework for European cooperation in education and training adopted by the Council in May 2009 sets out four long-term strategic objectives that should guide European cooperation in the period up to 2020: (1) making lifelong learning and mobility a reality; (2) improving the quality and efficiency of education and training; (3) promoting equity, social cohesion and active citizenship; (4) enhancing creativity and innovation, including entrepreneurship, at all levels of education and training. In order to focus the work under ET 2020 on the most relevant key issues, the Council also identified, for each of the four strategic objectives, a number of mid-term priority areas, the first ones covering the years 2009 - 2011. The 2012 Joint Report will report on the progress made during this first ET 2020 cycle.

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This volume presents the proceedings from an international conference on labour markets which was organised by the Ministries of Labour and Finance in Finland with the support of the OECD and the European Commission. It puts forward thinking on new policy measures focusing on the specific experiences of the United States, Japan, Finland and Denmark. The volume includes highlights from the conference and most of the interventions. The papers, presented by politicians, high level officials from the European Commission and the OECD Secretariat, social partners and academics, are divided into six parts. Part one, 'Opening session' contains: A comprehensive strategy works: Finland's experience in the 1990s / Paavo Lipponen; Europe's employment and social challenge: competitiveness and cohesion / Anna Diamantopoulou. Part two, 'Assessing international strategies' contains: Putting Europe to work / Allan Larsson; Implementing the OECD jobs strategy: assessing performance and policy / Jorgen Elmeskov; A comment / Edmond Malinvaud. Part three, 'Experiences in selected countries' contains: Neither too hot nor too cold: the U.S. economy in the 1990s / Robert J. Gordon; The Japanese employment system in the 1990s / Tsutomu Tanaka; The Finnish experiences in the 1990s / Oertti Sorsa. Part four, 'Making work pay' contains: Tax policy, unemployment benefits and structural unemployment / Martii Hetemaki; A comment / Jan Horst Schmidt; Employment promotion and transfer payments / Georg Fischer and Manuel Sanchis i Marco; What do we know about policies to make work pay? An overview / Mark Pearson and Stefano Scarpetta; A comment / Tor Eriksson. Part five, 'Preventive approaches against labour market exclusion' contains: Removing barriers to employment for groups at the margin of the labour market / Markku Lehto; Active and preventive approaches: a note based on the recent Danish experience / Per Callesen; A comment / David Stanton. Part six, 'Active labour market policies' contains: Active labour market policies: continuity and change / Juhani Lonnroth; What works among active labour market policies: evidence from OECD countries' experiences / John Martin. Show less

The 'Rethinking education' communication aims to help Member States by setting out a range of fields in which the efficiency and effectiveness of education and training systems can be improved. In this context, given the importance of the teaching professions for learning outcomes, and the large proportion of national education budgets that is spent on them, it is essential to identify policies that reinforce the recruitment, initial education, induction and continuing professional development of teachers and trainers; the practice of school leadership; and the profession of teacher educators. The teaching professions include all those who teach, educate, manage learning, or educate educators in the following education fields: early childhood education and care; compulsory education; vocational education and training; and adult education. This document applies to all these professionals (except where otherwise stated) and highlights the evidence base for the corresponding policy proposals outlined in the communication 'Rethinking education'. The findings aim to support and encourage Member States to consider a number of priority areas for action and investment in teaching professions to achieve necessary reforms, taking into account the current socioeconomic crisis.

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The Bruges Communique is the latest revision of the Copenhagen Process for European co-operation on vocational education and training. Adopted on 7 December 2010 by the Education Ministers from 33 European countries (EU-27, Croatia, former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Turkey), together with representatives of employers and unions and the European Commission, it is a package of objectives and actions to increase the quality of vocational training in Europe by making it more accessible and relevant to the needs of the labour market.

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The present survey analysis summarises the findings of 93 interviews conducted among large European enterprises (81) and a number of labour- and business associations (12) on challenges and practices related to competence development. The survey is a key part of the preparations for the first upcoming European Business Forum on Vocational Training and services the following purposes: a knowledge base for drawing up the agenda and identifying suitable speakers; a basis for identifying workshop topics; input for the background notes that will help steer the debate on the most important issues related to competence development in workshops; and together with the Forum conclusions, it will provide input for a final assessment of challenges, trends, solutions and best practices in the area of competence development in large European enterprises.

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This publication results from major reviews of national career guidance policies carried out by the OECD and the European Commission (EC) during 2001-2003. Australia, Austria, Canada, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Korea, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain and the UK participated in the OECD review. The European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training (CEDEFOP) collected data from Belgium, France, Greece, Iceland, Italy, Portugal and Sweden for the EC, and the European Training Foundation (ETF) gathered data from Bulgaria, Cyprus, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia. A review by the World Bank was undertaken in 2003 in Chile, the Philippines, Poland, Romania, Russia, South Africa and Turkey. For each country, the reviews assessed how the organisation, management and delivery of career guidance services contribute to the implementation of lifelong learning and active labour market policies. Several common themes emerged from the reviews about deficiencies in national career guidance services. Many examples of good practice exist but there are major discrepancies between service organisation and delivery, and some key public policy goals. Practical solutions are provided for policy makers to address these issues. The publication covers the major policy domains involved in developing a comprehensive framework for lifelong guidance systems: meeting the career guidance needs of young people and of adults; widening access to career guidance; improving career information; staffing and funding career guidance services; and improving strategic leadership. For each of these policy areas, the publication: describes the key challenges for policy makers in trying to improve career guidance services; provides examples of good practice and of effective responses to these challenges, based on research conducted in 36 OECD and European countries; poses the questions that policy makers need to address in responding to these challenges; and provides practical options for improving policy. Show less

This survey has been commissioned by the European Commission’s Directorate General for the Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion to understand European citizens’ views and attitudes towards older people, the contribution of older people in the workplace and society, and how best to promote an active role of older people in society. This report covers the 27 Member States and five non-[European Union] EU countries; namely Croatia, Iceland, [Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia] FYROM, Norway and Turkey. The results are presented at an aggregate level for the EU27 excluding the five non-EU countries. The socio-demographic analysis focuses primarily on age, gender, occupation and relative affluence. The main themes addressed in this report are: (1) overall perceptions of age and older people - perceptions of and attitudes towards older people, the potential role for older people in society and the impact of the ageing population in the future; (2) older people in the workplace - attitudes towards older people in the workplace and potential barriers to continuing work; (3) retirement and pensions - attitudes towards the official retirement age and pension payments and whether any changes are appropriate; (4) voluntary work and support for older people - establishing the level of personal participation in voluntary work and care of older people; and (5) age friendly environment - identifying the countries/areas best adapted to the needs of older people and how improvements can be made in those most poorly adapted.

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