Description
Country
Focus area
The VDAB (Flemish service for employment and vocational education), the Flemish PES, publishes a yearly study on professions for the Flanders region. The study lists all professions for which there is a shortage in workers and what causes these shortages. There are three possible causes for shortages identified in the list: quantitative shortage, there are too few candidates available due to a lack of young people choosing to train for them or the lack of training programmes; qualitative shortage: candidates do not have the required skills; specific working conditions such as weekend work, low pay, physically demanding.
Implementation level
At what level is the initiative implemented?
Regional
Legal base
Legal base (E.g. Law, regulation, implementing provision, other)
Bringing labour market supply and demand together is one of the primary tasks of the VDAB (Flanders PES). This is the legal base for their yearly labour market analysis of professions with worker shortages
Starting period
TIMESPAN: In what year did the initiative commence?
1989
Perspective
PERSPECTIVE: is the initiative based on evidence derived from skill forecasts or foresight activities?
NO
Policy area
To which POLICY AREAS(s) does the initiative apply?
Funding
How it is funded?
Funded by regional government
The regional Flanders government funds the VDAB
Skill mismatch
Skill mismatch target
What type(s) of skills MISMATCH does the initiative aim to addresses?
Skill shortages (employers cannot fill their vacancies due to a lack of skills in the labour market)
Skill gaps (worker's skills are below the level of proficiency required by their employers and jobs)
Skills matching focus
How does the initiative address skills mismatches?
Jobseekers can use the list to make a decision to upskill or reskill in an in demand profession
The initiative addresses skill shortages and serves as input for initiatives and policy to remedy those shortages such as the competent database.
Skills delivered
What types of skill does the initiative deliver?
Job search skills
Career management skills
Methods
Methods
What methods of undertaking skills assessments and / or skills anticipation does the policy instrument utilise?
Expert panels
The qualitative component of the analysis consists of consultation with sector organizations and VDAB experts on the topic.
Real-time labour market information (e.g. big data analysis of job advertisements, CVs)
The quantitative component of the analysis consists of a statistical analysis of the job vacancies and jobseekers registered with VDAB
Use of skills intelligence
How is labour market information / skills intelligence used within the initiative?
Please select the most important options and explain how the labour market information (LMI) has been used (maximum 50 words)
Based on the study the VDAB in cooperation with RVA (National Service for Employment) draws up a list of relevant training programmes which registered job seekers can follow free of charge to obtain the necessary skills to qualify for a profession in which there are worker shortages
The VDAB uses the study as input for its own policy implementation which entails the priority deployment of resources (training courses, collaborations) on the professions for which vacancies are most difficult to fill
List of professions with worker shortages informs job seekers about professions in which there are shortages and therefore higher chances to find a job. Based upon this information job seekers can decide to reskill or upskill by enrolling in one of VDAB training programmes
The Flemish government, the department of Work and Social Economy, uses the information to make policy in the field of work and vocational training.
Stakeholders
Main responsible body
Main body or organisation with overall responsibility for the initiative.
Regional PES
VDAB (Flanders PES)
Other involved organisations
Which other organisations have a role in the initiative?
Regional ministry
The Flemish government has a role in the initiative as end user of the yearly study
Regional PES
The initiative has been developed and implemented by the VDAB
Training Providers
Based on the list training programmes that train for professions with worker shortages are selected.
Other
sectoral organizations have a role in the expert panels used as part of the yearly study
Beneficiaries
Who are the intended beneficiaries?
Other
The intended beneficiaries of the initiative are unemployed job seekers and employers in sectors experiencing shortages of skilled workers. Additionally the Flanders regional government, the department of Work and Social Economy, uses the information to make policy.
Sustainability
Success factors
SUCCESS FACTORS in the implementation
There is no available information on success factors in the implementation.
Monitoring and evaluation
MONITORING and EVALUATION: Is progress measured regularly? What are the indicators used to measure progress of the policy instrument? Have any evaluations been conducted?
The last time the initiative was evaluated was in 2014 when the Belgian Court of Auditors published a research report on the quality of the policy information List of professions with worker shortages produced by the yearly VDAB study among other things.
Updates
UPDATES: whether there have been any major updates of the initiative since it has been implemented?
Yes
The yearly study on professions with worker shortages has existed since 1989, since the start of the yearly study the methodology of the study has continuously been finetuned. Most significant has been the qualitative component of the analysis in which sectoral organizations are included. Additionally when the competent database was introduced (2016), the study became input for the database.
Effectiveness
EVIDENCE ON EFFECTIVENESS: How effective is the policy instrument?
Since the yearly study by VDAB is a main initiative that provides information on skills shortages the effectiveness of the measure is found in its use for other programmes.
Sustainability
SUSTAINABILITY: How sustainable is the policy instrument? Do you expect the instrument to continue over the next few years and why?
The study is part of the core business of the VDAB and it is expected that for the Flanders Region the yearly study will remain to the main source of information on skills shortages.
Other instruments in Belgium
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