OECD Skills Strategy 2019

Foreword
Acknowledgements
Abbreviations and acronyms
Executive summary
	The 2019 OECD Skills Strategy introduces a number of improvements
	The structure of the report
Chapter 1.  Re-engineering skills systems
	Overview
	The skills implications of megatrends
		Digitalisation
		Globalisation
		Demographic trends
		Migration
	Developing relevant skills over the life course: Making skills systems responsive
		Making each stage of learning a foundation for success in the next
		Enabling policies to support learning in adulthood
		Supporting teachers to become lifelong learners
		Financing adult learning
		Harnessing the power of technology as a tool for learning
	Using skills effectively in work and society: Making the most of everyone’s potential
		Making full use of everyone’s skills
		Making the most of migrants’ skills
		Activating skills to build more inclusive and cohesive societies
		Making intensive use of skills in work
		Aligning skills with the needs of the economy and society
		Aligning skills policies with industrial and innovation policies
	Strengthening the governance of skills systems: Tackling increased complexity
		Promoting co-ordination, co-operation and collaboration across the whole of government
		Engaging stakeholders throughout the policy cycle
		Building integrated information systems
		Aligning and co-ordinating financing arrangements
	The role of governments: New challenges and shared responsibilities
Chapter 2.  Updating the OECD Skills Strategy
	The 2019 OECD Skills Strategy
		Why is the OECD Skills Strategy being updated?
		What is new?
			A revised OECD Skills Strategy framework
			Analysis of the skills implications of megatrends
			New OECD Skills Strategy dashboard
			Key policy findings and good practice examples for developing relevant skills, using skills effectively, and strengthening the governance of skills systems
	The 2019 OECD Skills Strategy framework
		Developing relevant skills over the life course
		Using skills effectively in work and society
		Strengthening the governance of skills systems
	References
Chapter 3.  The skills implications of megatrends
	The world is changing rapidly, transforming the skills needed for success in today’s world
	Megatrends are making skills more important than ever for economic success and social well-being
		Digital transformation
			Implications of the digital transformation for the skills needed for economic success
			Implications of the digital transformation for the skills needed to increase well-being
		Globalisation and global value chains
			Implications of GVCs for the skills needed for economic success
		Population ageing
			Implications of population ageing for the skills needed for economic success
			Implications of population ageing for the skills needed to increase well-being
		Migration
			Implications of migration for the skills needed for economic success
			Implications of migration for the skills needed to increase well-being
	Megatrends have a number of important implications for the skills countries need in the future as well as for how skills are distributed, developed and used
		Skills for the future
		The imperative of a lifelong learning approach
		The imperative of creating more equitable opportunities and outcomes
			Reducing gender disparities in skills outcomes
			Stemming growing income inequality
		The imperative of making better use of technology as a learning pathway
	References
Chapter 4.  Developing relevant skills over the life course
	Introduction
	Assessing performance in developing relevant skills
		Countries whose youth and students develop strong skills typically also have highly skilled adult populations
		Performance at one stage of life does not perfectly predict performance in another – some countries improve, while others fail to capitalise on early successes
		A strong culture of adult education can be developed in all countries regardless of the skills of their populations
		There is no trade-off between excellence and equity
	Raising aspirations for lifelong learning: Setting the vision and supporting informed learning choices
		The challenge: Uneven participation in learning
		Good practices
			Setting the national vision for skills and lifelong learning
			Skills assessment and anticipation
			High-quality information on skills levels, and the benefits of skills and learning opportunities
		Policy recommendations for raising aspirations for lifelong learning
	Providing a good start for lifelong learning: Building a strong foundation in early learning and formal education
		The challenge: The enduring impact of social and family background
		Good practices
			Laying the foundations: The critical importance of high-quality early learning
			Building a solid base: Compulsory schooling
			Consolidating skills for work and life: Post-initial education and the transition to adulthood
				Vocational education and training
				Tertiary education
		Policy recommendations for providing a good start for lifelong learning
	Making lifelong learning affordable and sustainable: Strengthening financing arrangements for adult learning
		The challenge: Raising skills investments and making incentives work
		Good practices
			Financial incentives for individuals
			Financial incentives for employers
		Policy recommendations for making lifelong learning affordable and sustainable
	Making lifelong learning visible and rewarding: Strengthening systems of skills validation and certification
		The challenge: Creating better systems to recognise and certify skills
		Good practices
		Policy recommendations for making lifelong learning visible and rewarding
	Making lifelong learning accessible and relevant: Responding to the needs of individuals and employers
		The challenge: Designing more flexible learning opportunities
		Good practices
		The challenge: Developing relevant skills
		Good practices
		Policy recommendations for making lifelong learning accessible and relevant
	References
Chapter 5.  Using skills effectively in work and society
	Introduction
	Assessing performance in using skills effectively
		Countries with inclusive labour markets tend to see strong overall labour market performance
		More highly skilled countries are more likely to have citizens who use their skills intensively at home and in daily life
		Not all countries that perform well at developing skills also do a good job of ensuring that these skills are used intensively at work
		The adoption of high-performance work practices can help promote the intensive use of skills at work
		Minimising skills imbalances entails not only developing relevant skills but also recruiting new talent with relevant skills and improving the allocation of labour
		Policies to promote innovation can strengthen demand for higher levels of skills
	Promoting labour market participation: Reducing barriers to work and activating displaced workers
		The challenge: Persistently high long-term unemployment and low activation of some groups
		Good practices
			Addressing barriers to work
			Activating displaced workers
		Policy recommendations for promoting labour market participation
	Promoting social participation: Raising awareness of the benefits of civic engagement, and supporting the use of skills in society and daily life
		The challenge: Supporting the use of skills in daily life and civil society
		Good practices
			Raising awareness about the benefits of using skills outside of work in daily life and civil society
			Facilitating and incentivising the use of skills in society
		Policy recommendations for promoting social participation
	Expanding the pool of available talent: Attracting the right skills from abroad, improving the transparency of procedures for skills recognition, and providing language training
		The challenge: Attracting relevant skills from abroad and making full use of them in the labour market
		Good practices
			Attracting the right skills from abroad
			Improving the transparency of procedures for skills recognition and providing language training
		Policy recommendations for expanding the pool of available talent
	Making intensive use of skills in the workplace: Improving work organisation and management practices to make full use of employees’ skills
		The challenge: Skills proficiency does not guarantee skills use
		Good practices
			Improving work organisation and management practices
		Policy recommendations for making intensive use of skills in the workplace
	Reducing skills imbalances: Improving the alignment between the supply and demand of skills
		The challenge: Misalignment between demand for and supply of skills can be costly
		Good practices
			Facilitating labour mobility and flexible labour markets
			Mapping occupational requirements to skills requirements
		Policy recommendations for reducing skills imbalances
	Stimulating demand for high-level skills: Supporting firms’ innovative activities, and removing obstacles to growth
		The challenge: Moving to higher value-added and innovation-intensive activities needs more support
		Good practices
			Supporting firms’ innovative activities
			Removing obstacles to growth
		Policy recommendations for stimulating demand for high-level skills
	Notes
	References
Chapter 6.  Strengthening the governance of skills systems
	Introduction
	A whole-of-government approach to skills policies
	The challenge: Promoting co-ordination, co-operation and collaboration across the whole of government
		Good practices
		Policy recommendations for promoting co-ordination, co-operation and collaboration across the whole of government
	The challenge: Engaging stakeholders throughout the policy cycle
		Good practices
		Policy recommendations for engaging stakeholders throughout the policy cycle
	The challenge: Building integrated information systems
		Good practices
		Policy recommendations for building integrated information systems
	The challenge: Aligning and co-ordinating financing arrangements
		Good practices
		Policy recommendations for aligning and co-ordinating financing arrangements
	Note
	References
Annex A. OECD Skills Strategy Dashboard
	Characteristics
	Indicator selection
	Method for calculation of aggregate indicators
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