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

2. 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.

3. 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

4. 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

5. 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

6. 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

7. Suggested changes to VET system

8. 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

9. 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)

10. 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

11. 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

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