Cedefop newsletter

The meeting attracted about 60 participants from all European Union Member States with a tripartite representation, from governments, employers and trade unions, thus presenting a unique opportunity to share viewpoints from different stakeholder perspectives.

The forum's main theme was the regulatory frameworks, policies and practices in the EU Member States regarding the role and use of apprenticeships in upskilling and reskilling low-skilled adults.

Cedefop Executive Director Jürgen Siebel noted that, in fact, the potential of adult apprenticeship is yet to be explored, adding that apprenticeships are the most suitable form of vocational education and training (VET) also for adults, given that, thanks to their characteristics, they align demand and supply.

Analysing the state of affairs in various EU countries, discussants pinpointed the challenges as regards apprenticeships for adults, but also pointed out that some Member States have highly flexible systems in place that allow tailoring apprenticeship delivery to the heterogeneous needs of adults.

Furthermore, they marked the opportunities that adult apprenticeships open up when it comes to integrating migrants and refugees into the host countries' labour markets and supporting the transition to a greener economy.

The policy recommendations reached during the discussions cover two main areas:

1. The conditions to make apprenticeship a possibility for adults

• Removing barriers to access to quality training provision;
• outreach and guidance to help adults understand the benefits;
• non-financial incentives to motivate;
• financial incentives and targeted and individualised support to companies;
• flexibility in the organisation and delivery of training;
• shaping apprenticeship to the distinctive characteristics of adults.

2. The conditions to engage more learners and companies

• Understand the motivation of adults and companies in using apprenticeship for up- and reskilling;
• clearly identify the real needs which apprenticeship may tackle;
• systematically engage trade unions and employers alongside public authorities and collaboration between public and private employment.

The event closed in a positive note, with Cedefop Deputy Director Mara Brugia stressing that, 'with the involvement of social partners and the potential benefits it can bring about, apprenticeship can be a real vector towards building together the future that is ahead of us.'

For more on Cedefop's Fourth (PLF) on apprenticeships, including presentations and other material, click here.

The meeting was held online on 18 and 19 October and attended by 44 participants, including core and alternate experts from 27 countries, as well as invited speakers from the Czech Republic and the European Commission.

Antonio Ranieri, Head of Cedefop's Department of vocational education and training (VET) and skills, opened the meeting marking the significance of career guidance at times of transition such as the current one, while Aline Juerges from the European Commission's Directorate General of Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion shared insights on the Individual Learning Accounts Recommendation and the forthcoming European Year of Skills 2023.

The European Training Foundation's (ETF) Florian Kadletz shared flash details on the upcoming launch on 8 November of the Global Careers Month initiated by the Inter-Agency Working Group on Career Guidance (IAG WGCG), that includes Cedefop, the ETF and the International Labour Organization (ILO).

CareersNet coordinator, Cedefop's Cynthia Harrison, introduced the plenary discussion on the country in focus, Czechia, with national experts presenting the theme ‘Continuity and discontinuity in lifelong guidance and career development policy.’

The session brought together perspectives on building career services in the country, presenting national and regional views, also from across education, training and the labour market sectors.

It was followed by small group discussions in which, drawing on the Czech presentations, participants reflected on how to support continuity for better career support policies by:

• Developing suitable outcomes-oriented monitoring and evaluation methods informed by field experts, including effectiveness studies required to plan and utilise limited public resources.
• Working towards a shared vision of career guidance across sectors especially critical to sustain systems despite changes in government.
• Activating representative fora and professional associations to represent the voices of clients and career practitioners to incorporate better these perspectives in policy.
• Balancing needs and expectations among decision-makers, clients, and other stakeholders for a better fit within the labour market context.

The network members also discussed their work on the EU+ Inventory of lifelong guidance systems and practices 2022 edition, scheduled to go online later in 2022 and during the first quarter of 2023. The experts shared new experiences in bringing together key guidance stakeholders to work on the Inventory, while Cedefop presented the records' added value, for example, for working papers and to illustrate trends, and to monitor Inventory progress.

An intensive feedback session was also held for core experts and a network working group tasked with proposing targeted updates on the 2015 European systems and policy guidelines for lifelong guidance.

For more on the sixth annual meeting of Cedefop's CareersNet, click here.
 

In the last quarter of 2021, it was almost three times higher compared to the pre-pandemic period. And, while there was some slowdown of the OJA market observed in the first half of 2022, the overall figures are still more than twice as high compared to the same period of 2019.

Figure 1: OJA trend (2019-22 quarters, in millions)

Source: Skills OVATE. Own calculations.

A mix of factors were likely driving OJA trends:

• The teleworking arrangements introduced by many employers in response to social distancing measures contributed significantly to changing of recruitment practices. Online recruitment – not only OJAs, but also online interviews that follow them – has become more common.
• Unemployment remains exceptionally low across Europe. It has fallen significantly below pre-pandemic and even pre-financial crisis (2008) levels. Many employers continue experiencing difficulties in attracting talent and have started advertising jobs more intensively, using the power of the internet to reach candidates in their region, nationally and internationally.
• The favourable job market conditions encourage many employees to search for better job opportunities elsewhere, increasing job turnover and leading employers to publish more vacancies and to keep more vacancies open for longer.

Cedefop expert Jiri Branka notes that 'None of these major trends influencing online job advertising is directly linked to new jobs creation. While OJAs have been considered a possible leading indicator of future employment developments, shifts in recruitment and job-search practices appear to (at least temporarily) decouple job posting and employment trends post COVID-19. The OJA trend is more aligned to new hires (people who became recently newly employed).'

Figure 2: Change in OJAs and employment, index measures (Q1 2020 = 100)

*Recently employed refers to the number of people who took employment in the last 3 months.

Source: Skills OVATE and Labour Force Survey. Own calculations.

Manual, medium and even low-skilled jobs account for the lion share in the growth of OJAs. While over half of OJAs (54%) were for office and high-skilled jobs (science and engineering, business and administration, ICT, social and legal), the growth in online job advertising is clearly driven by manufacturing, construction, and maintenance jobs. Manufacturing labourers, cleaners and helpers, drivers and plant operators are among the fastest-growing occupations. The pandemic also increased online search for and recruitment of medical professionals, who were previously mostly recruited via other channels.

Figure 3: Change in occupational composition of OJAs

Source: Skills OVATE. Own calculations.

Changes in types of skills demanded appear less profound. Work attitudes and values – such as adaptability, responsibility, or coping with pressure – remain the most sought-after qualities. At the higher end of the job market, management, finance, marketing, and sales skills became more prominent. Demand for digital skills grew slightly less, but they remained important. Designing and creative skills, as well as leadership skills also grew in importance, while demand for skills related to serving and attending people, and perhaps surprisingly also for skills related to electro-engineering trades, increased more slowly. The latter does not necessarily mean that such skills are less sought after. With substantial skills shortages in the care and technical sectors, employers might have changed their approach to marketing their workplaces, placing more emphasis on employability skills and less on the skills most jobseekers would expect to be part of the job.

Figure 4: Skill demand in OJAs (order of most demanded skill groups)

Source: Skills OVATE. Own calculations.

Note for figures 3 and 4: ‘Before COVID-19’ covers period of 2019 to Q1-2020, while ‘COVID-19 and recovery’ concerns data from Q2 2020 until Q2 2022.

Skills OVATE now includes data up to June 2022. Previous reports and analysis using the OJA data can be found here.

The online event took place in the context of Cedefop’s 'Transparency and transferability of learning outcomes (2021-24)' project and attracted more than 90 experts, who had the opportunity to debate the relationships and impact of the numerous policy initiatives and tools.

Opening the workshop, Cedefop Executive Director Jürgen Siebel stressed how skills and lifelong learning remain a key topic in the EU policy agenda referring also to the proposal of the President of the European Commission to make 2023 European year of skills, and added:

'Learning outcomes must be the glue of European tools and initiatives in the pursuit of increasing the transparency of skills, of qualifications and of systems.'

Cedefop experts Jens Bjørnåvold and Zelda Azzara, in their keynote speech, gave an overview of European and national policy developments taking place over the last two decades, while highlighting the need to understand more of the combined impact of such policies on individuals.

Common understanding and continuity

In the panel discussions as well as in six break-out sessions, participants noted that while some European and national policy tools and initiatives have succeeded in reducing barriers to lifelong learning, others have been less successful. They also pointed to the need to ensure common understanding of concepts and continuity of work over time.

Among others, they concluded that while mutual trust is critical, for example as regards quality assurance, tools and initiatives must increasingly become more accessible to citizens, in particular those groups most at risk.

As Head of Cedefop's Department for VET and Qualifications Loukas Zahilas noted, the discussions and feedback harvested during the workshop will help shape the next steps of Cedefop's 'Transparency and transferability of learning outcomes' project.