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

A New Ambition 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 We can and must do better – everyone needs to ‘step up’ 2

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

The Value of Skills 4 Earnings by Educational Attainment (25-64 year olds) OECD Countries in the EU CountryBelow Upper SecondaryUpper SecondaryTertiary Austria Belgium Czech Republic Denmark Finland France Germany Hungary Ireland Italy Netherlands Poland Portugal Spain Sweden United Kingdom Source: OECD (2008) Education at a Glance (most recent data for individual countries)

The Value of Skills in the Recession 5

A New Ambition 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 We can and must do better – everyone needs to ‘step up’ 6

EU and OECD Countries: International Skills Benchmarks 7 Below Upper Secondary (Low Skills) Upper Secondary (Intermediate Skills) Tertiary (High Skills) Country% QualifiedRankCountry % Qualified RankCountry% QualifiedRank Czech Republic9.5 1 Czech Republic Canada Japan Slovak Republic Japan USA Poland New Zealand Slovak Republic Austria USA Canada Hungary Finland Poland Germany Scotland36.2 n/a Switzerland Switzerland Korea Sweden Sweden Norway Germany Japan Australia Finland USA Ireland Austria Norway Denmark Hungary Finland Belgium Norway Denmark England32.1 n/a Korea Korea UK Denmark Netherlands Sweden Netherlands France Wales30.1 n/a New Zealand Luxembourg Netherlands Scotland28.4 n/a Italy Switzerland

8 Below Upper Secondary (Low Skills) Upper Secondary (Intermediate Skills) Tertiary (High Skills) Country% QualifiedRankCountry % Qualified RankCountry% QualifiedRank England31.1 n/a Canada Iceland France Wales38.0 n/a Spain UK Greece Northern Ireland28.3 n/a Australia England36.8 n/a France Wales31.9 n/a UK Luxembourg Belgium Belgium Germany Ireland Ireland Greece Luxembourg Scotland35.4 n/a Poland Iceland Northern Ireland34.9 n/a Hungary Northern Ireland36.8 n/a Iceland Austria Greece Australia Mexico Italy New Zealand Slovak Republic Spain Spain Czech Republic Mexico Mexico Portugal Turkey Turkey Italy Portugal Portugal Turkey Source: OECD, Education at a Glance 2009, data relates to Note: Distribution of the 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. EU and OECD Countries: International Skills Benchmarks

A New Ambition 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 Challenges and opportunities are growing more urgent, with major changes in our economy and labour market: demographics, globalisation, technological and social change We can and must do better – everyone needs to ‘step up’ 9

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

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

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 Remember