New Skills for New Jobs: Driving Economic Growth Through Skill Development

New Skills for New Jobs: Action Now ETUC Conference International Trade Union House, Brussels 2 September 2010 Professor Mike Campbell OBE Director of Research and Policy

A New Ambition We can and must do better everyone needs to step up We need a new Ambition, a new Common Sense : we need New Skills for New Jobs Our prosperity depends on Jobs and Productivity: Skills are vital to both 2

Economically Valuable Skills: The Benefits of Skills Development Economy Productivity/Competitiveness Employment/Reduced Economic Inactivity Individuals Employers Productivity Business performance Skills Job Entry and Sustainability Wage Return/Progression Job Quality/Satisfaction Development Society Health Improvements Crime Reduction Participation Social Cohesion/Mobility

The Value of Skills Earnings by Educational Attainment (25-64 year olds) OECD Countries in the EU Country Below Upper Secondary Upper Secondary Tertiary Austria 66 100 157 Belgium 89 100 133 Czech Republic 74 100 183 Denmark 82 100 125 Finland 94 100 149 France 85 100 149 Germany 90 100 164 Hungary 73 100 214 Ireland 86 100 166 Italy 79 100 165 Netherlands 84 100 148 Poland 84 100 173 Portugal 67 100 177 Spain 85 100 132 Sweden 86 100 126 United Kingdom 70 100 159 Source: OECD (2008) Education at a Glance (most recent data for individual countries) 4

The Value of Skills in the Recession 5

A New Ambition We can and must do better everyone needs to step up We need a new Ambition, a new Common Sense : we need New Skills for New Jobs Our prosperity depends on Jobs and Productivity: Skills are vital to both Yet Europe s inconvenient truth is that we are not sufficiently skilled 6

EU and OECD Countries: International Skills Benchmarks Below Upper Secondary (Low Skills) Country Upper Secondary (Intermediate Skills) Tertiary (High Skills) % Qualified Rank Country % Rank Country % Qualified Rank Qualified 1 1 1 Czech Republic 9.5 Czech Republic 76.8 Canada 48.3 2 2 1 Japan USA 11.3 12.1 Slovak Republic Poland 72.9 67.6 Japan New Zealand 41.0 41.0 3 3 3 4 4 4 Slovak Republic Canada Poland Switzerland Sweden Germany Finland Austria Hungary Norway Korea Denmark Netherlands New Zealand Scotland 13.0 13.4 13.7 14.6 15.4 15.6 19.5 19.9 20.8 21.1 22.1 24.5 26.8 28.4 28.4 Austria Hungary Germany Switzerland Sweden Japan USA Norway Finland Denmark Korea Netherlands France Luxembourg Italy 62.6 61.2 60.1 55.5 53.3 47.6 47.6 44.7 44.2 43.3 43.3 42.4 41.9 39.2 38.7 USA Finland Scotland Korea Norway Australia Ireland Denmark Belgium England UK Sweden Wales Netherlands Switzerland 40.3 36.4 36.2 34.6 34.2 33.7 32.2 32.2 32.1 32.1 31.8 31.3 30.1 30.8 29.9 5 6 7 8 9 5 6 7 8 9 9 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 5 n/a 6 7 8 9 9 11 n/a 12 13 n/a 14 15 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 n/a 7

EU and OECD Countries: International Skills Benchmarks Below Upper Secondary (Low Skills) Country Upper Secondary (Intermediate Skills) Tertiary (High Skills) % Qualified Rank Country % Rank Country % Qualified Rank Qualified n/a 19 16 England France 31.1 31.3 Canada Wales 38.3 38.0 Iceland Spain 29.8 29.0 18 n/a 17 UK Australia Wales Belgium Ireland Luxembourg 31.7 31.8 31.9 32.0 32.4 34.3 Greece England UK Belgium Ireland Scotland 36.9 36.8 36.5 35.9 35.4 35.4 Northern Ireland France Luxembourg Germany Greece Poland 28.3 26.8 26.5 24.3 22.7 18.7 19 20 20 n/a n/a 18 n/a 21 18 21 22 20 22 23 21 23 n/a 22 Iceland 35.5 Northern Ireland 34.9 Hungary 18.0 24 n/a 23 Northern Ireland Greece 36.8 40.4 Iceland Australia 34.7 34.4 Austria Mexico 17.6 14.9 n/a 25 24 25 24 25 Italy 47.7 New Zealand 30.6 Slovak Republic 14.1 26 26 26 Spain Mexico 49.3 66.7 Spain Mexico 21.7 18.4 Czech Republic Portugal 13.7 13.7 27 28 27 28 27 27 29 29 29 Turkey Portugal Source: OECD, Education at a Glance 2009, http://statlinks.oecdcode.org/962009061P1G001.xls , data relates to 2007. Note: Distribution of the 25-64 year old population by highest level of education attained. Japan is adjusted compared to the published 2009 data based on the historical proportions published by OECD as data on low skills is no longer collected. 71.3 72.5 Turkey Portugal 17.9 13.8 Italy Turkey 13.6 10.8 30 30 30 8

A New Ambition We can and must do better everyone needs to step up Our prosperity depends on Jobs and Productivity: Skills are vital to both We need a new Ambition, a new Common Sense : we need New Skills for New Jobs Yet Europe s inconvenient truth is that we are not sufficiently skilled Challenges and opportunities are growing more urgent, with major changes in our economy and labour market: demographics, globalisation, technological and social change 9

A New Ambition Make the Case for Skills Develop a balanced and coherent Action Programme 10

Proposed Lines of Action Provide the right incentives for individuals and employers! Bring the worlds of education, training & work closer together! Action Now ! Better anticipate future skills needs and opening up to talent! Develop the right mix of skills! Better anticipate future skills needs and opening up to talent!

Action Now Agreement, Engagement and Sustained Commitment of the Social Partners The role of Trade Unions: Empowering the Workforce Reducing Skills and Jobs Inequalities Sector Councils Employer Ambition Business Strategy Management and Leadership Economic Policy and a high added value economy The VET Sector 12

Remember ....... A workforce with poor skills not only makes their own lives poorer, it makes all of our lives poorer .. and a highly skilled workforce will not only make their own lives richer, it will make all of our lives richer