Description
Country
Focus area
The Skills Development Opportunities Act has significantly extended and improved possibilities for funding of advanced training. Further adjustments for employer and employee needs were implemented with the act for promoting vocational further education in the process of structural change and for further developing educational funding. The policy is linked to skills forecasting as training is funded if their work can be replaced by technologies or is otherwise affected by structural change.
Link
Reference/weblink
Implementation level
At what level is the initiative implemented?
National
Legal base
Legal base (E.g. Law, regulation, implementing provision, other)
Law.
Starting period
TIMESPAN: In what year did the initiative commence?
2019
Perspective
PERSPECTIVE: is the initiative based on evidence derived from skill forecasts or foresight activities?
Yes, if according to projections/forecasts the jobs are at risk due to structural change they can be funded
Policy area
To which POLICY AREAS(s) does the initiative apply?
Funding
How it is funded?
Funded by national government
Skill mismatch
Skill mismatch target
What type(s) of skills MISMATCH does the initiative aim to addresses?
Underqualification (individuals' qualifications/credentials are below their job's needs)
Skill gaps (worker's skills are below the level of proficiency required by their employers and jobs)
Skills obsolescence (some or all of an individual's skills are no longer relevant to the current employer or in the labour market generally)
Skills matching focus
How does the initiative address skills mismatches?
With the Act the federal employment agency supports employees’ qualifications. For companies with up to 10 members of staff up to 100% advanced training costs are covered.
Skills delivered
What types of skill does the initiative deliver?
Basic literacy and numeracy skills
Basic digital skills
More advanced digital skills
General employability skills (team working, communication, etc.)
Methods
Methods
What methods of undertaking skills assessments and / or skills anticipation does the policy instrument utilise?
Other
LMI of the German PES whuích is involved in the process of promoting further training.
Use of skills intelligence
How is labour market information / skills intelligence used within the initiative?
Indirectly to define which jobs are at risk because of structural change.
Stakeholders
Main responsible body
Main body or organisation with overall responsibility for the initiative.
National ministry
Federal Ministry for Employment and Social Affairs (BMAS).
National PES
The German PES is involved.
Other involved organisations
Which other organisations have a role in the initiative?
Social partner: employer organisation
Deliver opinions on draft laws before they are passed.
Social partner: trade union
Deliver opinions on draft laws before they are passed.
Other
Associations (deliver opinions on draft laws before they are passed).
Beneficiaries
Who are the intended beneficiaries?
Adults with low basic skills
Benefit from the promotion of further training.
Adults in employment with upskilling potential
Benefit from the promotion of further training.
Adults in employment with reskilling potential
Benefit from the promotion of further training.
Employed adults at risk of job displacement
Benefit from the promotion of further training.
Sustainability
Success factors
SUCCESS FACTORS in the implementation
The Act opened further training instruments of the German PES to the employed.
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?
In an answer to an interpellation in the Bundestag in March 2020, the Federal Government stated that the German PES recorded around 29600 entrants to further vocational training measures as part of employee training from January to October 2019. In the same period of the previous year this number was 27000 (https://dip21.bundestag.de/dip21/btd/19/178/1917878.pdf).
Updates
UPDATES: whether there have been any major updates of the initiative since it has been implemented?
Yes
In 2020 the Government undertook additional steps to strengthen and widen the subsidies through the “Work of Tomorrow Act”.
Effectiveness
EVIDENCE ON EFFECTIVENESS: How effective is the policy instrument?
No official evaluaton is available yet. According to the research instiute of the German PES (IAB, December 2020), the Qualification Opportunities Act did not result in a significant jump in the number of promoted further training courses for employees yet(https://www.iab.de/de/informationsservice/presse/presseinformationen/kb…).
Sustainability
SUSTAINABILITY: How sustainable is the policy instrument? Do you expect the instrument to continue over the next few years and why?
Against the background of skilled workers shortage and changing skills needs due to digitisation the instrument might become more relevant in the future.
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