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This report looks at a range of local employment and economic development issues in Saskatchewan and the Yukon, Canada, with a focus on Indigenous peoples. The report provides a comparative framework to understand the role of the local level in contributing to more and better quality jobs, and practical recommendations to help federal, provincial/territorial, and local policy makers in Canada build effective and sustainable partnerships that join-up efforts across employment, training, and economic development policies. Co-ordinated policies can help workers find suitable jobs, while also stimulating entrepreneurship and productivity, which increases the quality of life and prosperity within a community as well as throughout the country.

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The contents are as follows: Executive summary; Reader's guide; Policy context for employment and skills in Canada; Federal employment policies and programmes; Saskatchewan's employment and skills system; Yukon's employment and skills system; Overview of the case study areas in Saskatchewan and Yukon; Key findings from the OECD Local Job Creation Dashboard; Towards an action plan for jobs: recommendations for better supporting local employment and economic development. Show less

The leveraging training and skills development in [small and medium size enterprises] SMEs project is an international effort to look at policy issues related to the: low access to training in SMEs; barriers encountered by SMEs to training; and formal and informal ways SMEs access knowledge that is relevant for their business operations. The project examines how formal and alternative ways of training and skills development relate to specific outputs for the firm and employees, for the industry and for the local area where they are located. In particular the role of skills and training ecosystems at the local level is analysed. This policy review of vocational education and training in East Flanders, Belgium was prepared within the framework of the project. Show less

Access to training and the effective utilisation of skills in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) has long been an area of interest to public policy makers and economic development practitioners. SMEs often lack capabilities and infrastructure to make the most of their human capabilities, and as a consequence tend to have lower levels of training and skills development. It is against this back drop that the Department of Labour initiated this study with the OECD in conjunction with the Ministry of Economic Development, Tertiary Education Commission, Industry Training Federation and Business New Zealand. These organisations have a strong desire to see the results of the study feed into responses to help lift the performance of SMEs.

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How to stimulate growth and support job creation are two critical challenges that countries confront following the global financial crisis. The Local Economic and Employment Development (LEED) Programme of the OECD has developed international cross-comparative reviews on local job creation policies to examine the contribution of local labour market policy to boosting quality employment. Each country review examines the capacity of employment services and training providers to contribute to a long-term strategy which strengthens the resiliency of the local economy, increases skills levels and job quality. This report looks at the range of institutions and bodies involved in workforce and skills development in two states - California and Michigan. In-depth fieldwork focused on two local Workforce Investment Boards in each state: the Sacramento Employment and Training Agency (SETA); the Northern Rural and Training and Employment Consortium (NoRTEC); the Southeast Michigan Community Alliance (SEMCA); and the Great Lakes Bay Michigan Works. The report concludes with a number of recommendations and actions to promote job creation at the federal, state and local levels. The contents are: Executive summary; Reader’s guide; Policy context for employment and skills in the United States; Overview of the United States case study areas; Local job creation dashboard findings in the United States: California; Local job creation dashboard findings in the United States: Michigan; Towards an action plan for jobs in the United States: recommendations and best practices.

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Better skills policies help build economic resilience, boost employment and reinforce social cohesion. The OECD skills strategy provides countries with a framework to analyse their skills strengths and challenges. Each OECD skills strategy diagnostic report reflects a set of skills challenges identified by broad stakeholder engagement and OECD comparative evidence while offering concrete examples of how other countries have tackled similar skills challenges.

These reports tackle questions such as: How can countries maximise their skills potential? How can they improve their performance in developing relevant skills, activating skills supply and using skills effectively? What is the benefit of a whole-of-government approach to skills? How can governments build stronger partnerships with employers, trade unions, teachers and students to deliver better skills outcomes? OECD skills strategy diagnostic reports provide new insights into these questions and help identify the core components of successful skills strategies. This report [for Peru] is part of the OECD's ongoing work on building effective national skills strategies.

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In recent times the ambit of skills policy has broadened. The recent preoccupation with supply side issues (e.g. increasing the number of citizens with higher level qualifications), in particular, is being questioned. Demand side matters (e.g. how employers develop and use skills) are now increasingly recognised as being of equal significance. This paper addresses two questions: (1) How can skills demand and skills utilisation be best measured at the local level? (2) What efforts to improve skills utilisation at the local and regional level have been undertaken in OECD countries in recent times?

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Skills are critical to economic growth and social well-being. Although initial vocational training at upper secondary level provides useful skills, in many jobs where demand is fast-growing - ranging from healthcare technicians to junior managers - such basic vocational training is no longer enough. Indeed, higher level professional, managerial and technical skills are increasingly required. Based on a series of 20 country studies, this synthesis report looks at how OECD countries are responding to this growing demand for skills, and the further steps they need to succeed. The report underlines many challenges: while some countries have thriving post-secondary vocational sectors, others have found it difficult to find a place for shorter (one-or two-year) programmes in competition with better known academic qualifications. The engagement of the social partners - employers and trade unions - is as vital as it is sometimes elusive. Vocational training qualifications are sometimes outdated or lack currency in the labour market. This study identifies good practices and puts the spotlight on those countries that are making progress.

Edited excerpt from publication. Show less

Better skills policies help build economic resilience, boost employment and reinforce social cohesion. The OECD skills strategy provides countries with a framework to analyse their skills strengths and challenges. Each OECD skills strategy diagnostic report reflects a set of skills challenges identified by broad stakeholder engagement and OECD comparative evidence while offering concrete examples of how other countries have tackled similar skills challenges.

These reports tackle questions such as: How can countries maximise their skills potential? How can they improve their performance in developing relevant skills, activating skills supply and using skills effectively? What is the benefit of a whole-of-government approach to skills? How can governments build stronger partnerships with employers, trade unions, teachers and students to deliver better skills outcomes? OECD skills strategy diagnostic reports provide new insights into these questions and help identify the core components of successful skills strategies. This report [for Slovenia] is part of the OECD's ongoing work on building effective national skills strategies.

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This paper reviews Iceland’s performance in skills accumulation against the backdrop of a rapidly changing economic environment and discusses directions for further improvements. Since the late 1990s, the government has considerably raised expenditure on education, which is now among the highest in the OECD relative to GDP [gross domestic product]. Nonetheless, Iceland continues to have one of the largest shares of those in the working age population who have not attained upper secondary or higher qualifications, and educational achievements of 15-year olds are not outstanding relative to the country’s advanced state of economic development. This is all the more unsatisfactory because spending per student in the compulsory education sector exceeds the OECD mean considerably, even after controlling for differences in per capita GDP. Measures to improve outcomes include curriculum adjustments and an enhancement of teaching evaluation and quality. While ensuring that students acquire a satisfactory basic set of competencies, there is room for reducing the average duration of primary and secondary education, which is quite long by international comparison. In contrast to upper secondary attainment, that for the tertiary sector is above the OECD average, and higher education has to cope with an enormous rise in participation. With a view to maintaining quality in the face of these developments, the government has introduced legislation that is welcome. However, it does not address the issue of tuition fees, which are authorised in the private but not in the public sector.

Published abstract. Show less

Better skills policies help build economic resilience, boost employment and reinforce social cohesion. The OECD skills strategy provides countries with a framework to analyse their skills strengths and challenges. Each OECD skills strategy diagnostic report reflects a set of skills challenges identified by broad stakeholder engagement and OECD comparative evidence while offering concrete examples of how other countries have tackled similar skills challenges.

These reports tackle questions such as: How can countries maximise their skills potential? How can they improve their performance in developing relevant skills, activating skills supply and using skills effectively? What is the benefit of a whole-of-government approach to skills? How can governments build stronger partnerships with employers, trade unions, teachers and students to deliver better skills outcomes? OECD skills strategy diagnostic reports provide new insights into these questions and help identify the core components of successful skills strategies. This report [for Spain] is part of the OECD's ongoing work on building effective national and local skills strategies.

Published abstract reprinted by permission of the copyright owner. Show less