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This research aimed to identify and map innovative practices for the adjustment and implementation of Active Labour Market Policies (ALMPs) during the [Coronavirus Disease 2019] COVID-19 crisis. Looking at the European Union, the EU Neighbourhood and Central Asia, it analysed solutions for design and delivery, emerging challenges, new target groups and skill sets, and building resilience among jobseekers and workers. The report also investigated how Public Employment Services (PESs) can deal with pandemic-related increases in the demand for services and new delivery methods. It is part of a wider study commissioned by the [European Training Foundation] ETF and led by Fondazione Giacomo Brodolini on ALMPs, labour market transitions, and skills development in ETF partner countries during the crisis. The report aimed to examine: what has been done to financially support businesses and individuals; what measures have been introduced or adapted to foster employment and skills development during the crisis; and how PES have adapted their services.

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Widespread layoffs resulting from the coronavirus [COVID-19] pandemic have put the labor market challenges facing workers, especially those without a college degree, into sharp focus. Workforce training can support the economic outcomes of displaced and unemployed workers, but only if it is carefully designed to connect directly to durable, high-quality jobs. State policies can support effective, employer-connected training programs and overall economic growth by providing targeted financial support for training participants, training providers, and employers who provide training themselves. In Indiana and Washington, state policymakers have combined different funding streams to encourage collaborative partnerships and ensure that all workers have opportunities to make their next career step.

This report begins by framing state workforce training policies in the context of a growing body of research on certificate and other workforce training programs. It then proposes a structural taxonomy of three types of state policies that support workforce training, which focus respectively on program participants, training providers, and employers. Next, case studies of Indiana and Washington are used to provide examples where participant-, provider-, and employer-focused workforce training policies are combined to better support training access, utilization, and business engagement. The report concludes with six state policy recommendations as well as suggestions for supporting state workforce training efforts through federal recovery spending.

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The OECD annual report on jobs and employment in OECD countries reviews recent trends, policy developments, and prospects. The 2021 edition of the OECD Employment Outlook [available in VOCEDplus at TD/TNC 145.163] focusses on the labour market implications of the [Coronavirus Disease 2019] COVID-19 crisis. Country notes are available for Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

In some countries, employers used job retention programmes to cut hours while allowing workers to keep their pay and jobs; there, it is likely that the full impact of the pandemic is yet to be felt. In others, there have been unprecedented increases in unemployment, but many workers will return to their jobs (or to new ones) as economies re-open and activity picks up.

By the fourth quarter of 2020, the proportion of the Canadian labour force experiencing an unemployment spell of 6 to 12 months had risen by more than 370 per cent compared to pre-pandemic levels. Low educated groups have been hard-hit. At its peak in April and May of 2020, the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS) supported 27.6 per cent of employees. While coverage has since declined to 14.2 per cent of employees in 2021, this is still a higher percentage than in most other countries.

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Active Labour Market Programmes (ALMPs), which form important components of employment support policies around the world, have been found to improve mental health and wellbeing of participants. However, it remains unclear how these health effects compare with the effects of different types of employment for men and women. Using 1991-2019 panel data in the UK, we find that unemployed women derive similar mental health benefits from ALMPs compared with employment. Unemployed men also benefit from ALMPs but obtain significantly more health benefits from formal employment. Such benefits are particularly pronounced in full-time, permanent and upper/middle-status jobs. Further analyses reveal that programmes that deliver human capital training have larger mental health benefits than employment assistance ALMPs. These findings provide a more nuanced understanding of the mental health impacts of ALMPs compared with different types of employment, and highlight the need for a more gender-sensitive design in labour market interventions.

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This theoretical training package is designed to improve the basic capacity of employment services staff members in order to provide better services to their clients - jobseekers and employers. The module consists of 18 units to cover concepts of public employment service (PES) including labour market programmes, emergency employment services, policy and regulations of PES, etc. The overall training package is designed to be delivered in two parts: theoretical and practical. This theoretical package is designed to allow trainees to learn key concepts before participating in the face-to-face training session and build their initial knowledge on PES practice. The practical component of the training package is available in VOCEDplus at TD/TNC 147.376.

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The Australian labour market is in the midst of significant structural changes. Emerging technologies, such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), are changing the demands for skills and tasks within jobs. Additionally, the economic crisis induced by [Coronavirus Disease 2019] COVID-19, in conjunction with other factors, have accelerated these adjustments. Three major issues for the Australian labour market are (1) skill shortages, (2) job transitions, and (3) AI adoption at the firm-level. This thesis by compilation addresses each of these issues in a series of four standalone papers. The first paper puts forward a range of indicators to detect skill shortages from a time series dataset of online job advertisements (ads). The second paper develops a machine learning model that accurately predicts skill shortages from job ads data and employment statistics.

The third paper conducts an in-depth case study of the journalism jobs crisis in Australia, examining both the changes in labour demand (using job ads) and labour supply (using employment statistics) from 2012-2020. Last, the fourth paper develops a novel method to measure the similarity between sets of skills from real-time job ads data. These similarity measures are then combined with other labour market variables to build a 'Job Transitions Recommender System' that accurately predicts transition pathways between occupations, validated against a longitudinal household survey. The same skills set similarity method is then used to construct a measure of new technology adoption in labour markets, showcasing AI.

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The Reach, Train and Employ (RTE) pilot project was designed with the goal of establishing a tested model supporting job security in the social services industry for people over fifty and at risk of long-term unemployment. It comprised delivery of the Certificate III in Individual Support (Ageing and Disability) alongside a suite of wrap around supports to assist students to; engage and complete the qualification; enhance their wellbeing; and find paid employment in the social services sector. The project ran from March 2020 to June 2021 and involved 37 individuals residing in the areas of Melton, Brimbank, and Bacchus Marsh. This Final Evaluation Report has been produced by the Workforce Innovation and Development Institute (WIDI). It presents key findings from the developmental and outcomes evaluation related to program logic activity and identified short, medium, and longer-term outcomes. It collected data from project participants (2 cohorts), teachers, course program managers, industry employers, consortium representatives, and from Project Steering Committee related documentation.

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The OECD annual report on jobs and employment in OECD countries reviews recent trends, policy developments, and prospects. The 2021 edition of the OECD Employment Outlook [available in VOCEDplus at TD/TNC 145.163] focusses on the labour market implications of the [Coronavirus Disease 2019] COVID-19 crisis. Country notes are available for Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

In some countries, employers used job retention programmes to cut hours while allowing workers to keep their pay and jobs; there, it is likely that the full impact of the pandemic is yet to be felt. In others, there have been unprecedented increases in unemployment, but many workers will return to their jobs (or to new ones) as economies re-open and activity picks up.

At the onset of the pandemic, unemployment among 15 to 24-year-olds in Spain surged, by over 10 percentage points in just four months to reach 42 per cent. This is more than three times the increase observed for those aged 25 and over. This strong increase in youth unemployment has been driven by new entrants who, in the context of limited hiring, have not been able to get their first job. In May 2021, the youth unemployment rate stood at 36.9 per cent. The peak take-up of job retention schemes (JRS) in Spain was in line with the OECD average at around 20 per cent of pre-pandemic employment, but lower than in other countries with a tradition of these schemes, such as Germany, France and Italy.

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Active labour market policies aim at supporting people entering and, importantly, remaining in the labour market. Initiatives to this end have often been characterised by a mixture of 'human capital' and 'work-first' approaches, although both have had a relatively limited effect on achieving job sustainability for those most distant from the labour market. This paper explores a distinctive approach to supporting job entry and sustainable employment that we have called 'career-first'. The career-first approach to labour activation draws on three separate traditions of thinking: labour market, career development, and the capability literatures. Common ground is found in these three perspectives so each complements the weaknesses of the others. A career-first approach may be able to help deliver benefits to the individual, their family, and the wider society.

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The National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) commissioned research into what helps people with disability find and keep a job. The research focused on employment support for people with: autism; intellectual disability; and psychosocial disability. The research was conducted in partnership with the University of New South Wales, the Brotherhood of St. Laurence and the Disability and Health Unit at the University of Melbourne. It included four separate parts: (1) an evidence review of how employment programs are described; (2) a systematic review of national and international randomised controlled trials (RCTs) of employment programs to find out which programs work best; (3) identification of current employment programs in Australia and interviews with academics and senior government and non-government staff working in employment for people with disability; and (4) mapping the evidence.

The review found 14 different types of employment programs that help people with disability find and keep a job. These were grouped into three categories: (a) supply side: programs designed to build the skills of an individual looking for work so they become (more) ready and able to find a job; and these types of programs can also provide support to employers to employ a person with disability; (b) demand side: programs designed to create work opportunities for people with disability; (c) and bridging: programs that match a person with disability to appropriate work opportunities and provide support to both the person and their employer to access and maintain that employment. Some employment programs may sit in more than one category.

This systematic review of national and international RCTs of employment programs aimed to find out which programs work best. It systematically assessed vocational interventions aimed at improving employment participation of people with autism, intellectual disability and/or psychosocial disability. Therefore, it sought to directly inform the NDIA on what interventions can best support National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) participants in the target populations. Studies were included if they met all of the following criteria: (1) reported on the primary outcome of interest for this systematic review - open or supported employment at the follow-up closest to the end of the intervention, but no longer than 12 months post-intervention; (2) took place in a high-income country; and (3) had a vocational component aimed at increasing participation in open or supported employment. Secondary outcomes of interest from eligible studies were also included: sustained employment; job satisfaction (measured using validated tool); and work readiness (measured using validated tool).

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