SKILLS NEEDS ANALYSIS IN THE CONSTRUCTION SECTOR OF LVIV OBLAST results of THE quantitative survey of employers and employees IRYNA FEDETS

Quantitative SURVEY: purpose and context Objective: Identifying skills needs in the construction sector of Lviv oblast Finding the gaps between the demand and supply of skills Discovering the factors that contribute to skills mismatch and the ways companies and VET schools solve this problem Survey to provide data on a particular sector in a pilot region: Lviv oblast: one of the pilot regions of the ETF’s support of VET decentralization in Ukraine, better business climate, active in investment, borders EU Construction sector: on the rise during 2015 and 2016, employs a wide range of workers: not only graduates of VET schools but also engineers, marketing specialists etc.

CONSTRUCTION Sector tendencies Construction companies report the increase of demand for their products and services over the recent year, but expect no significant growth for the following year This corresponds to statistics that shows rates of growth of the sector slowing down

Difficulties with recruitment for employers Most construction companies reported difficulties in filling in vacancies over last year Construction vacancies hardest to fill in: welders, electricians, and bricklayers Top reasons for difficulties in recruitment of skilled workers vary for different occupations: Lack of skills (76%) Competition with other countries (60%) Construction and other blue-collar workers Competition with other countries (35.5%) Demand for higher salaries (29%) Superintendents, foremen Demand for higher salaries (from 19% to 29%) Competition with other countries (from 10% to 23%) White-collar occupations

Skills gap Construction and other blue-collar workers Most employers say that construction workers and other blue-collar employees at their companies lack professional (technical) skills 76% of employees say that their skills level fully corresponds to demands of their job Professional (technical) skills (69%) Learning skills (31%) Construction and other blue-collar workers No lack of skills (32%) Problem solving (23%) Superintendents, foremen No lack of skills (from 56% to 79%) Other skills lacking: problem solving, foreign languages White-collar occupations

Reasons for skills gap Employers mostly consider inadequate quality of education and training and employees’ lack of desire to learn as reasons for lack of skills

Suggested changes to VET system

Training of employees Two thirds of employers said their company provides continuous trainings and professional development of employees in order to meet the job requirements. They are mostly on-the-job trainings and mentorship and training courses Top reason for not providing trainings is lack of financial capacity at the company

Recommendations 1 – national policy Simplifying doing business, lowering the costs and resources companies spend to comply with regulations to let companies invest more in personnel, company growth Labor regulations should allow businesses more freedom in salary and employment decisions, fines should be lowered to avoid corruption and not punish for mistakes Payroll tax rates should encourage transparent employment practices. Employers and local communities should be able to see how budget costs are spent on VET system VET Councils should have clear rights and responsibilities. Regional authorities should be able to make decisions about the regional order of students at VET schools Regional authorities should be able to obtain information on skills needs from businesses (for example, by conducting surveys)

Recommendations (continued) 2 – Public-private partnership Mechanisms for cooperation and the exchange of information between businesses, VET system and regional authorities on skills needs should be developed VET schools should be able to change their curricula based on information on skills needs 3 – FORMAL EDUCATION AND ON-THE-JOB TRAINING VET education should provide practical and up-to-date skills for students Companies should discuss skills expectations and training needs with employees Companies should consider cost-sharing options for training of employees

Next steps and application of the results Focus groups survey: Next stage of the skills needs analysis Focus group discussions will provide detailed information on the opinions of stakeholders on the factors that cause the skills mismatch Stakeholders: employers, employees, representatives of VET schools and local authorities During focus groups discussions stakeholders will also give their recommendations, including on changes to the VET system and public-private partnership Application of the results of the survey The findings of the survey help to reveal and explain mismatch of skills and point out to solutions for businesses, VET system and local authorities to solve this problem The survey can be repeated and expanded to other sectors and regions

Skills needs analysis in the construciton THANK YOU! Iryna fedets National expert Skills needs analysis in the construciton sector of lviv oblast