28 June 2022      15:00 – 16:30 CEST (Paris time)     Zoom – Resigter here

WHAT’S THE ISSUE?

The story is the same everywhere: on the one hand employers complain that they can’t find the staff and skills they are seeking, while on the other hand many people struggle to gain a foothold in the labour market. Many vacancies remain unfilled, as employers shy away from costly job search, turnover and retention problems, and dissatisfied staff. Is this an “information problem”? Where jobseekers cannot demonstrate their skills to employers, while employers actually seek the skills jobseekers have? When do matches not come about, because there are some (small) skill gaps jobseekers have? These issues arise for many low- and middle-skill jobs, when skills are developed by workers as they go about their jobs and much of the learning is informal and remains unrecognised. What tools and systems are available to overcome these information problems to support matches where they should happen? How can small skill gaps be identified and filled in a fast and efficient manner to support the next match?

 

ABOUT THE EVENT

This workshop is an event of the OECD Local Development Forum organised in partnership with the Strada Education Network. It is part of a series of events to mark the 40th anniversary of the OECD Local Employment and Economic Development (LEED) Programme and will bring together policy makers and practitioners to discuss new tools that support skills identification, recognition and transferability. Many innovations are currently developed at a local level and this workshop will ask 1) what new solutions exist; 2) what works and what doesn’t; and 3) how can innovations that work locally be scaled-up?

 

AGENDA

Welcome

  • Karen Maguire, Head, Local Employment, Skills and Social Innovation Division / LEED Programme, OECD Centre for Entrepreneurship, SMEs, Regions and Cities

Panel discussion

  • Kristine Langenbucher, Head of Employment and Skills, OECD Local Employment and Economic Development (LEED) Programme (moderator)
  • Stephen Moret, President and CEO, Strada Education Network (discussant)
  • Martina Schwenk, Project Manager, Education and Next Generation, Bertelsmann Stiftung
  • Ronald Lievens, Researcher, Tilburg Law School, Public Law & Governance, Tilburg University
  • Alec W. Serlie, Executive & Career Coach at Alexander King Consultancy and Assistant Professor for Work & Organizational Psychology, Erasmus University Rotterdam
  • Tim Riches, Co-founder, Navigatr
  • Michelle Lord, Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Region of Learning Manager