The OECD skills and work blog is a platform that aims to share leading analysis related to the skills of the workforce, how skills are used at work, the mismatch between skills and jobs’ requirements, how countries assess and respond to changing skill needs and other issues related to skills and work.

Contributors include mainly experts in skills and labour markets in the Directorate for Employment, Labour and Social Affairs of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

Recent posts:

• Stronger co-ordination for more effective adult learning policies 9. March 2023 17:01
  by Magdalena Burtscher and Luca Marcolin In most OECD countries, responsibilities for adult learning are fragmented, which often translates into inconsistent policy efforts. As adult learning is a field between education, employment, and industrial policy, the response can only be more and stronger co-ordination between all the actors involved in the policy process. While the … More Stronger co-ordination for more effective adult learning policies
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• Equipping Health Workers with the Right Skills 9. January 2023 11:58
  by Katharine Mullock and Annelore Verhagen The COVID-19 pandemic further exacerbated long-standing global skills shortages in the health workforce. This joint report by the OECD and ILO seeks to address these shortages by helping countries assess future demands in both the number and skills of health workers, and prepare appropriate policy responses Skills shortages in … More Equipping Health Workers with the Right Skills
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• Global Careers Month: sign up for a month-long series of webinars on career guidance 24. November 2022 10:06
  The  Inter-Agency Career Guidance Working Group is organizing the first Global Careers Month, between 8 November and 13 December. During this period, the international agencies will promote a series of global and regional events, in partnership with national and regional and global association associations operating around career development for both young people and adults. Career … More Global Careers Month: sign up for a month-long series of webinars on career guidance
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• Can Alternative Credentials Help Correct Labour Market Imbalances? 21. November 2022 14:42
  By Patricia Navarro-Palau and Glenda Quintini Published on October 20, 2022 in Enfoque Educación. Latin American employers cannot find the workers they need. Workers lack the right skills, but they do not have time or resources to participate in training. Micro-credentials, a type of alternative credentials, could be a solution, given their targeted nature, as … More Can Alternative Credentials Help Correct Labour Market Imbalances?
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• Skills for Jobs database 2022: Key insights 21. September 2022 10:25
  Improving the match between the skills required by employers and those of workers is challenging. The OECD Skills for Jobs database is designed for policymakers, practitioners and the general public to understand where gaps are emerging between skill supply and demand. The third update out now covers 43 countries, leverages a new methodology for calculating the importance of skills in occupations based on online job vacancies, and includes information on more detailed digital skills. … More Skills for Jobs database 2022: Key insights
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• Equipping young people with the skills to thrive: the OECD Youth Recommendation 15. July 2022 6:55
  Young people have bounced back strongly in the labour market despite the sizable impacts of the COVID-19 crisis. As of May 2022, the unemployment rate for 15-24 year-olds across OECD countries stood at 10.4%, a rate lower than before the onset of the pandemic (12.0% in January 2020). However, there remain significant gaps in our approaches to equipping young people with the right skills. Despite the rapid digitalisation of OECD economies, data from the OECD Survey of Adult Skills show that more than half (57%) of 25-35 year-olds across the OECD have a low (or no) proficiency in problem-solving in technology-rich environments. In addition, young people’s work aspirations are not always in line with changes in the labour market:  two in five 15 year-olds (39%) in the 2018 PISA survey expressed an interest in working in a job at high risk of automation over the next decade. … More Equipping young people with the skills to thrive: the OECD Youth Recommendation
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• Strengthening career guidance for mid-career adults in Australia 20. June 2022 9:02
  Many mid-career adults could benefit from upskilling and reskilling, but do not participate in training as much as their younger peers. Career guidance can be a crucial tool in supporting this group navigating the ongoing changes in the labour market. A new OECD report assesses the existing system of career guidance for mid-career adults in Australia, and puts it into an international perspective. … More Strengthening career guidance for mid-career adults in Australia
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• Recognition of prior learning (RPL): a strategic component of national upskilling policies 22. April 2022 13:37
  By Michele Tuccio According to a new OECD Working Paper, the recognition of prior learning (RPL) should be a key building block of national skills policies. For the society, it works as an enabler of upskilling strategies. For individuals, it improves motivation to engage in further learning by recognising the value of past experience. Despite … More Recognition of prior learning (RPL): a strategic component of national upskilling policies
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• Inclusive career guidance for a changing labour market in Canada 28. February 2022 7:08
  Canada is performing well relative to other OECD countries with respect to the quality of career guidance, but there is room to make the provision of services more inclusive and consistent. In a context of considerable labour market change, particularly for low-skilled adults, effective career guidance for adults can facilitate their employment transitions by enabling them to make informed choices about upskilling, retraining and professional reorientation. The new OECD study “Career guidance for adults in Canada” assesses the existing system of career guidance policy and provision, and puts it into an international perspective. … More Inclusive career guidance for a changing labour market in Canada
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• Creating opportunities: Career guidance for low-qualified workers in Germany 24. February 2022 9:02
  The COVID-19 pandemic and pre-existing structural trends put pressure on the low-qualified workforce, particularly those in jobs at high risk of automation, to reskill and upskill. Career guidance stands to play a crucial role in supporting adults in navigating these ongoing changes. This is especially important in Germany, given the complexity of the continuing education and training landscape. A new OECD report on Career Guidance for Low-Qualified Workers assesses the effectiveness of Germany’s career guidance system, presents two examples of career guidance networks at federal state level and recommends ways to improve the visibility and access for this target group. … More Creating opportunities: Career guidance for low-qualified workers in Germany
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