Skills Demand Analysis - Understanding changing skills demand in countries

Skills are the currency of the XXI century.

Information on what skills are needed are the checks to get them.

Why do we need to constantly monitor skills demand changes?

Skills demand is changing rapidly everywhere in the world. This is due to a many different factors, such as technology, digitisation of economies, globalisation, demography, migration and climate change.

The nature and intensity of change is not yet fully known and probably it will be different from country to country depending on its capacity to adapt, innovate and make best use of emerging opportunities while mitigating risks.

In November 2018, ETF organised an international conference on “Skills for the future: managing transition” to understand how technology and other global drivers of change impact work and the demand for skills in transition and developing countries, and; how countries manage change for the benefit of the citizens. One of the conclusions of the conference was that managing transition requires (i) well informed and innovative Human Capital Development public policies; (ii) new patterns of interaction and collaboration among actors; and (iii) strong capacity for monitoring changes in skills demand for informing adaptation of education and training in a lifelong learning perspective.

Conclusions of 2018 ETF Future of Skills conference

The international community has been working intensively during the last years to understand changes in skills demand due to rapid technological change. However, as highlighted during the discussions in the Conference, this work focuses mainly on advanced economies. Although the results of this work are a valuable source of inspiration, they are not sufficient to inform HCD policy making and the adaptation of education and training provision in transition and developing countries. More focused information is necessary to understand the dynamics of change in skills demand in countries with diverse economic structures, variable levels of technological development and degrees of sophistication of production processes as well as variable degrees of integration in global value chains.

The Skills Lab is the key ETF instrument to provide information on changing skills demand and skills relevance in different countries, which are essential for the elaboration of innovative Human Capital Development policies.

What is the Skills Lab?

The ETF Skills Lab is an initiative that provides regular and in depth analysis of changing skills demand in transition and developing countries.  It does so by using a series of methodologies which provide specific information on different aspects of skills demand.

More specifically, the Skills Lab:

1. creates evidence on skills (skills needs, skills gaps, skills mismatch) drawn from the economic and social realities of the different countries. 
2. facilitates exchange of knowledge and good practice in skills identification mechanisms, tools and analysis among experts from ETF Partner Countries, EU and international organisations.
3. develops or refines methodological instruments to analyse skills needs in transition and developing countries.
4. Disseminates intelligence and methodologies to the international community of researchers, practitioners, officials, policy analysts and policy advisors.

What exactly does the Skills Lab look at?

The Skills Lab explores changes in skills demand from two perspectives.

On the one hand it explores the changing skills demand by companies, and the economy overall, in their effort to make best use of emerging opportunities and become/remain competitive and innovate (the economic perspective). Particular emphasis is given to the identification of changing skills demand generated by new occupations or modernisation of old occupations or obsolete occupations as well as emerging skills mismatch (vertical and horizontal, quantitative and qualitative).

Specific issues addressed include:

• Implications of the digitisation of the economies for skills demand
• Implications of the greening of the economies for skills demand
• Identification of changing skills demand in specific economic sectors (traditional and non traditional)
• Identification of skills requirements for the implementation of smart specialisation strategies
• Identification of skills requirements for SMEs growth
• Impact on skills of changing labour market dynamics

On the other hand it explores the skills needs of individuals to permanently adapt to changing labour markets and work places and become or remain employable and entrepreneurial (the employability perspective).

Particular focus is given in:

• Monitoring developments in the supply of skills taking into account demographic trends, educational attainments of the population and population groups 
• Identifying skills requirements of vulnerable groups (NEETs, unemployed, low qualified)
• Understanding changing skills need due to migration flows and refugees.

How does the Skills Lab work?

The world is too big for us alone. We work in PARTNERSHIP with other organisations, EU Member States and ETF partner countries, because we want to tap and build upon on-going work and co-create knowledge at country and international level.

To do so, the Skills Lab builds on a NETWORK OF EXPERTS.

The NETWORK OF EXPERTS is a sustainable and agile platform which creates a stable, long-term pool of skills experts. It gathers researchers from ETF partner countries, EU Member States and other international organisations who generate information on changing skills needs and share them to build on each other’s knowledge. The Network  includes researchers and analysts from the academia, research institutions or analysis and research units of Ministries or public employment services, as well as professionals from qualification authorities and sectoral bodies.

Who can benefit from the Skills Lab findings?

The results of the analyses of the Skills Lab contribute to provide information on Skills relevance and anticipation, in continuity with the wealth of knowledge accumulated throughout the years on Skills Anticipation & Matching (https://openspace.etf.europa.eu/pages/skills-anticipation-and-matching-e-toolkit – ONLINE TOOL FOR SKILLS ANTICIPATION AND MATCHING) and in line with the new ETF Strategy 2021-2027 (https://www.etf.europa.eu/sites/default/files/document/ETF%20STRATEGY%202027%20FINAL.pdf), which aims at reinforcing the ETF role as a Global Knowledge Hub for Human Capital Development.  

On the one side, its findings contribute to ETF Monitoring processes, as they identify achievements and challenges of the educational systems in partner countries. On the other side, the Skills Lab also informs ETF policy advice to the EU services for targeting support to the partner countries in the field of HCD.

Therefore, in this perspective, the main beneficiaries of the Skills Lab are:

• ETF partner countries, in particular education and training and employment institutions, agencies, social partners, research institutions and other relevant stakeholders, as they can use information for the adaptation and improvement of their national education and labour market systems
• EU institutions, as they can conduct better informed policy dialogue with countries and get plan projects and programmes based on solid evidence
• EU Member States and other donors, including international financing institutions, as they can also use information to leverage funds and plan their support to countries.

What are the products of the Skills Lab in 2023?

The Skills Lab uses different methodologies to generate regular information on changing skills demand in ETF transition and developing countries.

In 2023, about 20 countries are covered by the Skills Lab ongoing work:

• The Skills Lab Network of Experts - The Skills Lab Network of Experts will be instrumental to deliver the actions mentioned above and will therefore represent a key strand of work for the period 2023-2027. In particular, the Network will generate an agile platform where a stable, long-term pool of skills experts from ETF partner countries, EU member states, third countries and other international organizations will regularly meet to exchange and generate information on changing skills needs, sharing their knowledge and building on each other’s experience. In 2023, the Network will organize 4 webinars, 1 live event in Torino, 1 call for innovative research proposals, several peer learning events, 1 peer learning visit in one EU Member States and several communication activities. 
• Skills for the future - Cross country studies on emerging skills demand in specific economic sectors (https://openspace.etf.europa.eu/pages/skills-future-cross-country-studies-emerging-skills-demand-specific-economic-sectors): the studies observe and analyse how new technologies and other drivers are changing the jobs and related skills in specific sectors in ETF partner countries and how the education and training systems adapt to such change. Implemented in 8 pilot countries (Israel, Turkey, Morocco, Armenia, Ukraine, Albania, Tunisia and Egypt), the project has covered agri-food, agri-tech, automotive, constructions, health and care, and energy sectors. In 2023, a cross-country reports with findings will be also published
• Platform work in the SEMED region: the study identifies changes in the work organisation and working conditions driven by digitalisation: opportunities, challenges and policy implications. It covers all SEMED countries. Under Darya, the same study will also be covering Central Asian countries. 
• Skills needs through the use of Big Data (https://openspace.etf.europa.eu/pages/skills-needs-through-use-big-data-0): the study provides information on skills needs by using Big Data gathered via online jobs portals. The project is based on a specific Big Data methodology developed by the ETF and is implemented in a number of countries including Tunisia, Egypt, Ukraine, Georgia, Kenya. In 2023, Morocco or Algeria will be added to the list. Dashboards are accessible here: https://solutions.lightcast.io/?pc=x$fhADtD*cu$BjY9
• EU Skills and Job Survey - In 2023 we will conclude the implementation of the European Skills and Jobs Survey, which looks into the skills needs of workers. A summary report and country portraits will be produced for each surveyed country. A set of thematic products will be prepared, including an analytical thematically-focused report which aims at further exploiting the data and producing relevant evidence, based on the data collected, to support ETF and EU actions in the participating countries (in particular in the areas of skills mismatch and digitalization). Infographics and country portraits will be available in English and local languages.

• Policy Lab on energy - Following the discussions in house on the need to streamline the use of findings of knowledge creation, also to the benefit of policy advise to countries, the Policy Lab will be the innovative action carried out by the Skills Lab. In concrete, the Lab will make use of the findings emerged from the energy studies in different countries and will stimulate a discussion across countries and with a number of stakeholders on the implications for policy making; this will be a foresight exercise where we will invite stakeholders and also Skills Lab Network members to provide inputs and reflection on skills reforms to support energy transition. 

• Future of skills in the Craft sector - After investing for two years on the country portraits and the in depth country studies in the craft sector, 2023 will be dedicated to use the findings to boost policy dialogue at high level among international organizations and main international partners active in the field. The organization of an international roundtable on craft will be the opportunity to share knowledge and prepare the material for a joint publication with other international organisations. 

• Skills for the green transition - After two years of mapping and preliminary analysis on issues related to skills for the green transition, in 2023 special attention will be used to the dissemination of results and high level discussions on greening and skills. This will be done through a series of specific outputs, including for instance guidelines for training and employment programmes and the elaboration of the content of the ETF corporate conference, which will focus on greening. Other dissemination activities and dialogue with main actors active in the field will also be sought.

• Monitoring of UFM Ministerial Declaration on Employment and Labour in cooperation with DG EMPL – in continuity with previous years and in line with the new UfM ministerial declaration (Marrakesh, May 2022), in 2023 –2024 the ETF is entrusted to continue the monitoring of the priorities included in the declaration.

• Regional employment overviews - Production of short briefing note and PPT with data on labour market situation and employment in the 4 regions

• Contribution to DIGI ENE Digital Skills for LLL – this is an initiative that brings together different ETF projects. The implementation is foreseen in Azerbaijan and other pilot countries, to be further discussed. Skills Lab will contribute with the creation of knowledge about digital skills needs of workers in different countries.

• Lebanon support the finalization of the labour market information system - Upon request of the Ministry of Labour ETF has been asked to support the finalization of the labour market information system