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The OECD skills strategy provides countries with a framework to analyse their strengths and weaknesses as a basis for taking concrete actions according to three pillars that comprise a national skills system: (1) developing relevant skills from childhood to adulthood; (2) activating the supply of skills on the labour market; and (3) using skills effectively in the economy and society. An effective skills strategy ensures policy coherence across the three pillars while strengthening the enabling conditions of effective governance and financing, which underpin the skills system as a whole. The OECD is working with countries to support the development of effective skills strategies at the national and local level. Putting the OECD skills strategy's integrated paradigm into practice requires whole-of-government collaboration across ministries and government levels, as well as co-operation with and among stakeholders, such as education institutions, social partners and civil society.

This diagnostic report identifies 12 skills challenges that need to be addressed to build a more effective skills system in Korea. These challenges were identified through: (1) the OECD's recent data and research; (2) the national data and research; (3) a diagnostic workshop held in November 2013; and (4) fact-finding interviews with key stakeholders in Korea. The report has also benefited from ongoing dialogue and consultation with a wide range of Korean stakeholders. The first nine challenges refer to specific outcomes across the three pillars of developing, activating and using skills. The next three challenges refer to the 'enabling' conditions that strengthen the overall skills system. Success in tackling these skills challenges will boost performance across the whole skills system.

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Job displacement (involuntary job loss due to firm closure or downsizing) affects many workers over their lifetime. Displaced workers may face long periods of unemployment and, even when they find new jobs, tend to be paid less and have fewer benefits than in their prior jobs. Helping them get back into good jobs quickly should be a key goal of labour market policy. This report is the fourth in a series of reports looking at how this challenge is being tackled in a number of OECD countries. It shows that Sweden has been relatively successful in minimising the adverse effects of displaced workers, mainly due to the longstanding tradition of collaboration between the social partners to share responsibility for restructuring by creating special arrangements and practices that provide help to workers much faster than in other OECD countries. Despite this positive institutional framework, there is room to improve policies targeted to displaced workers as remarkable inequalities still exist in both the Swedish labour market and in the way workers are treated.

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This report provides background evidence to facilitate debate around the issue of inequality that has risen across the globe, including in most G20 countries. The middle class has been squeezed in many advanced and some emerging economies, with incomes stagnating or even declining. The share of national income going to labour has declined in almost all G20 countries, with productivity rising much faster than real wages in a number of advanced G20 economies. Within the labour share, the highest earners have captured an increasingly large portion, while those at the bottom have seen their shares decline significantly. Rising inequality raises concerns because it can have a corrosive effect on social and political cohesion. Further, a growing body of research also demonstrates that high inequality may lead to slower as well as less sustained economic growth. Pro-equity policies, especially those that target the middle class and poor, can also be pro-growth if properly designed and implemented. Given the commitment of the G20 to raise overall economic growth, the G20 Sherpas and the Employment Working Group have requested the international organisations to present concise evidence of recent trends in inequality and labour income shares and to identify possible causes as a basis for developing potential policy responses.

This report undertakes this task and pays particular attention to both the overall trends and common patterns in the G20 as well as to the important differentiation across G20 countries. The paper is organized as follows: section two reviews the implications of changes in the labour share and inequality for the economy and growth. Section three reviews recent trends in income inequality and the labour share in G20 countries. It also identifies the inter-linkages between these two measures. Section four assesses the weight and patterns of different components contributing to rising inequality, such as labour income and redistribution, as understanding the different elements behind the changes is essential to determine appropriate areas for policy actions. Section five discusses the underlying causes of changing income inequality and labour shares.

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Today's children will need a balanced set of cognitive, social and emotional skills in order to succeed in modern life. Their capacity to achieve goals, work effectively with others and manage emotions will be essential to meet the challenges of the 21st century. While everyone acknowledges the importance of socio-emotional skills such as perseverance, sociability and self-esteem, there is often insufficient awareness of 'what works' to enhance these skills. Teachers and parents don't really know whether their efforts at developing these skills are paying off, and what they could do better. Policies and programmes designed to measure and enhance socio-emotional skills vary considerably within and across countries. This report presents a synthesis of the OECD's analytical work on the role of socio-emotional skills and proposes strategies to raise them. It analyses the effects of skills on a variety of measures of individual well-being and social progress, which covers aspects of life that are as diverse as education, labour market outcomes, health, family life, civic engagement and life satisfaction. The report discusses how policy makers, schools and families facilitate the development of socio-emotional skills through intervention programmes, teaching and parenting practices. Not only does it identify promising avenues to foster socio-emotional skills, it also shows that these skills can be measured meaningfully within cultural and linguistic boundaries.

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People today are living longer than ever before, while birth rates are dropping in the majority of OECD countries. Given this context, social welfare spending needs to be adapted in order to become sustainable in the long term. Older workers play a crucial role in the labour market. Now that legal retirement ages are rising, older workers will work longer and employers will have to provide them with work opportunities. But older workers who lose their job may well experience long term unemployment as it is less likely for them to find a new job. What can countries do to help? How can they give older people better work incentives and opportunities? How can they promote age diversity in firms? This report on Poland is one of a series of reports that analyse and assess the best policies for fostering employability, job mobility and labour demand at an older age.

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The contents are as follows: The 'live longer, work longer' challenge for Poland; The labour market situation of older workers in Poland; Making work rewarding for older workers in Poland; Encouraging employers in Poland to hire and retain older workers; Strengthening the employability of older workers in Poland. Show less

Global growth continues to disappoint, registering below trend rates, while unemployment and underemployment continue to plague many G20 economies. Against this backdrop, G20 Leaders have repeatedly emphasized the importance of increasing growth and ensuring that it produces more and better quality jobs and have set the ambitious goal of raising G20 aggregate [gross domestic product] GDP by more than two per cent by 2018, in order to add more than two trillion US dollars to the global economy and create millions of additional jobs. This report is meant to contribute to achieving the Leaders' growth and employment goals and to provide useful inputs to the discussion between finance and labour and employment ministers.

Section one presents a brief update on recent economic and labour market developments in the G20. Section two then turns to the question of the relationship between growth and employment and investigates whether the relationship has changed since the crisis. This is done primarily through an analysis of the employment elasticity indicator, which provides an assessment of the 'employment intensity' of economic growth. Section three discusses changes in employment quality and type in G20 economies. In section four, the report examines a number of channels through which growth and employment interact and discusses how to make the feedback positive and stronger, recognizing that policy priorities will depend on individual country circumstances.

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This report analyses the incorporation of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in higher education in Latin America, focusing mainly on what is commonly referred to as 'e-learning'. Access to and quality of higher education, financial constraints and relevance to the needs of the labour market are all crucial challenges facing the higher education system in the region. The study attempts to understand how ICTs and new learning and teaching practices can help to meet these challenges. The report also provides the results of a questionnaire showing the degree of implementation and the impact of e-learning on a group of higher education institutions in Latin America and includes a set of policy recommendations in this area.

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International labour migration has emerged as a major global issue and ranks high on international, regional and national policy agendas. Patterns of migration are evolving rapidly, with the result that most countries are countries of origin, transit or destination. In 2013, there were 232 million international migrants in the world, about three per cent of the global population, compared with 174.5 million in 2000. In discussing the contribution of labour mobility to economic growth, the paper is organised as follows: section two reviews mega migration trends; section three reviews the economic impact of migration; section four reviews good practices in making the most of international labour mobility including the transferability of skills; and section five discusses key policy issues including that of harnessing the full potential of migrants' skills to support inclusive economic growth and reducing the costs of labour migration.

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The 2015 edition of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Employment Outlook provides an in-depth review of recent labour market trends and short-term prospects in OECD countries. Chapter 1 looks at recent labour market developments focusing on minimum wages, while Chapter 2 draws on the OECD's International Survey of Adult Skills and considers skills and wage inequality. Chapter 3 looks how policies to get job seekers back into work can help make labour markets more inclusive, while Chapter 4 examines job quality in terms of earnings mobility, labour market risk and long-term inequality. Finally, Chapter 5 discusses how job quality in emerging economies can be enhanced.

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The 'OECD local job creation' series focuses on the role of employment and training agencies in contributing to job creation and productivity. It explores how OECD countries are implementing labour market and skills policy and putting measures in place at the local level to stimulate quality employment, inclusion and growth. The review in Sweden has focused on local activities in Gavle and Stockholm. Both regions face unique but inter-connected employment and skills challenges. This review has analysed how much flexibility local employment and training agencies have in the management of their policies and programmes. The chapters are: Policy context for employment and skills in Sweden; Overview of the Swedish case study areas; Local job creation dashboard findings in Sweden; Towards an action plan for jobs in Sweden: recommendations and best practice.

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