May 2015

Andreas Schleicher

Skills Outlook 2015Youth, Skills and Employability

Young people in OECD countries

Many young people struggle in their transition to the labour-market

Youth who are neither employed nor in education (NEET)

Luxe

mbourg

Icelan

d

Netherl

ands

Switzerl

and

Norway

SwedenAus

tria

German

y

Denmark

Finland

Canad

a

Austra

lia

Sloven

ia

Czech

Repub

lic

New Zea

land

Estonia

BelgiumIsr

aelOECD

United

Kingdo

m

United

StatesFran

cePola

nd

Portug

alKore

a

Slovak

Repub

licIre

land

Hunga

ry

Mexico Ita

lySpa

in

GreeceTurk

ey0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

2013 2008%

As a percentage of population, 15-29 year-olds

Young workers in routine jobs

Share of workers who consider they have little freedom to change the order of their tasks

Sweden

Finland

Norway

German

y

Austria

Estonia

Denmark

Japan

Flanders (B

elgium)

Czech

Republic

Netherla

nds

United States

Canada

Poland

Australi

aOECD

France

England/N

. Irelan

d ..

Spain

Slovak R

epublic

Korea

Italy

Ireland

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

16-29 year-olds 30-54 year-olds%

Youth who are badly prepared

Share of individuals with low numeracy skills

Korea

Japa

n

Finland

Netherl

ands

Flande

rs (Belg

ium)

Czech

Repub

lic

Estonia

Austria

Sweden

Slovak

Repub

lic

Denmark

German

y

OECD Averag

e

Norway

Poland

Austra

lia

Canad

aFran

ceIre

land

Spain

Englan

d/N. Ir

eland

(UK)

Italy

United

States

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

3516-29 year-olds 30-54 year-olds

%

7

Share of young NEET by parents’ place of birth

Canada

Australi

a

German

y

Austria

Netherla

nds

England/N

. Irelan

d (UK)

United States

Norway

Sweden

Estonia

Flanders (B

elgium)

France

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

Native-born offspring of immigrants Offspring of native-born%

8

What can we do to strengthen young people’s skills and employability?

Make a better use of young people’s skills at

work

Integrate youth into the labour market

Improve young people education and skills

Build a comprehensive approach

Skills Scoreboard: strengths and weaknesses

Make a better use of young people’s

skills at work

Integrate youth into the labour

market

Improve young people education

and skills

Make a better use of young people’s

skills at work

Integrate youth into the labour

market

Improve young people education

and skills

Make a better use of young people’s

skills at work

Integrate youth into the labour market

Improve young people education

and skills

France IrelandItalySpain

Denmark Korea Norway Poland

AustriaCheck Rep. Slovak Rep. Sweden UK, US

Australia Belgium Canada Estonia Finland Germany Japan Netherlands

Improve young people education

and skills

Make a better use of young people’s

skills at work

Integrate youth into the labour

market

Preparing youths

Ensure that all youths leave school with relevant skills

11

Gap in literacy and problem-solving skills between young NEETs and employed youth

Englan

d/N. Ir

eland

(UK)

Sweden

Netherl

ands

Finland

Flande

rs (Belg

ium)

Estonia

German

y

Korea

-14

-12

-10

-8

-6

-4

-2

0

Literacy Problem solving in technology-rich environments%

New graduates (<2-years) with low numeracy skills (<226 points)

Japan

Korea

Austria

Denmark

Netherl

ands

Sweden

Finland

Czech

Rep

ublic

Slovak R

epublic

Flanders

(Belg

ium)

Poland

Australi

a

OECD Ave

rage

Norway

German

y

Canad

aSpain

France

Irelan

dIta

ly

England/N

. Irela

nd (UK)

United S

tates

0

5

10

15

20

25

240

250

260

270

280

290

300

Share of new graduates with low numeracy skills Average numeracy score (right axis)

Score%

Students and their experience with the labour market

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

Students combining studies and work (as a share of studying youth)

Studying youth (as a share of total youth)%

18

Gap in numeracy skills between post-secondary VET students and students in academic programmes who have spent the same number of years in education

Austra

liaAus

tria

Canad

a

Czech

Repub

lic

Denmark

Estonia

Finland

France

German

yIre

land

Japa

nKore

a

Norway

Poland

Spain

Sweden

United

States

Flande

rs (Belg

ium)

OECD avera

ge-40

-30

-20

-10

0

10

20

30

40

Level 1 and below Level 2 Level 3 Levels 4 and 5

Percentage points

Students in upper secondary vocational education who are participating in work-based learning

German

y

Australi

a

Netherla

nds

England/N

. Irelan

d (UK)

Austria

Denmark

Norway

Finland

Estonia

Sweden

Poland

Spain

Czech

Republic

Flanders (B

elgium)

Japan

Korea

France

Slovak R

epublic Ita

ly0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

apprenticeship working outside of apprenticeship studying only%

22

Below level1 Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4 Level 50

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

16-29 year-olds 30-54 year-olds%

Share of workers in routine jobs by level of numeracy skills

Austria

Sweden

France

Korea

Slovak Republic

Czech Republic

Japan

United States

Australia

Netherlands

ItalyFinland Germany

0.06

0.03 Denmark

Ireland

Norway Poland

United KingdomSpain

Estonia

Skills Scoreboard: Is the development of skills inclusive?

Inequity

Equity

Low performance at school

Strong link between social background and student performance

Strong influence of migration background

Ensure that all young people leave school with relevant skills

• Take a holistic approach to skills

• Provide multiple pathways within the education system. Give disengaged youth a second chance to reintegrate into the education system

• Develop work-based learning programmes across different types of education, including universities

• Design high quality vocational education and training programmes that develop cognitive and social and emotional skills, and labour market experience

• Base career guidance services on relevant assessment of the market returns of various career paths

• Engage employers and other stakeholders in the education system at all levels .

Reengage youths

Identify and help NEETs to reengage

Youth who risk of falling under the radar NEET who are not looking for a job

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

Unemployed NEETs Inactive NEETs Share of inactive NEETs in total NEETs%%

Youth who are NEET and not looking for a job (inactive) or looking for a job (unemployed), 2013

Skills scoreboard: How close are NEETs to the labour market?

AustriaSweden

France

Korea

Slovak Republic

Czech Republic

Japan

United States

Australia

Netherlands

Italy

Finland

Germany

0.060.03

Denmark IrelandNorway

Poland

United Kingdom

Spain

Estonia

Close

Far

High share of inactive NEETs

Share of NEETs with poor skills

Share of NEETs without baseline qualifications

Share of long-term unemployed NEETs

28

Identify and help the NEETs to re-engage

• Develop a system of mutual obligations between youth and institutions

• Encourage employment through efficient job-search assistance and training, monitoring and financial incentives

• Target places in training programmes and job subsidies to youth with low skills and those who face specific barriers in the labour market .

Reengaging youths

Remove institutional barriers to youth employment

31

Remove institutional barriers to youth employment

• Design skills-friendly tax policies to foster employment of low-skilled youth

• Continue to lower the gap in employment protection legislation between temporary and permanent contracts

• Encourage end-of-study internships within a framework that combines flexibility and obligations to firms .

Using skills

Make better use of young workers skills

Young workers on temporary contracts As a share of total employment in each age group, 2013

Australia

Estonia

United Kin...

Turkey

Denmark

Slovak Repu...

Norway

HungaryOECD

Japan

GreeceKorea

Czech Repu...

Canada

Luxembourg

BelgiumIre

land

Iceland

Austria

FinlandChile

Switzerla

ndIta

ly

Germany

Netherlands

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

15-24 year-olds 25-54 year-olds%

35

Use of skills at work, by type of employment contract

OECD Average

England/N. Ireland (UK)

Flanders (Belgium)

United States

Sweden

Spain

Slovak Republic

Poland

Norway

Netherlands

Korea

Japan

Italy

Ireland

Germany

France

Finland

Estonia

Denmark

Czech Republic

Canada

Austria

Australia

Indefinite minus fixed-term (unadjusted)

Indefinite minus fixed-term (adjusted)

-2 0 0 20 40

Numeracy

%

-2 0 0 20 40

ICT

%

-2 0 0 20 40

Problem Solving

%

Skills Scoreboard: do workplaces promote skills?

Austria

Sweden

France

KoreaSlovak Republic

Czech Republic

Japan

United States

Australia

Netherlands

Italy

Finland

Germany

0.060.03

Denmark

Ireland

Norway

Poland United Kingdom

Spain

Estonia

To a large extent

To a small extent

Task discretionLearning by doing

Use of problem-solving skills at work

Use of co-operation skills at work

39

Skills mismatchby type of mismatch and age group

Youth (16-29) Prime-age workers (30-49)

Older workers (50-65)

0

5

10

15

20

25

Over-qualified and mismatched by field of study

Youth (16-29) Prime-age workers (30-49)

Older workers (50-65)

0

5

10

15

20

25

Mismatched by field of study only

Youth (16-29) Prime-age workers (30-49)

Older workers (50-65)

0

5

10

15

20

25

Over-qualified only

Youth (16-29) Prime-age workers (30-49)

Older workers (50-65)

0

5

10

15

20

25

Literacy over-skilled only

40

Wages and mismatch, by type of mismatch and age group

Mismatched by field of study

Over-skilled Under-skilled Over-qualified Under-qualified-25

-20

-15

-10

-5

0

5

10

15

20

2.52916804622328

-1.59956957151017

-21.4405405108698

-6.59294204459797

-3.83570771059888

-0.545009332920598

0.650016820882872

-8.04253905144018

-16.6024997330647

7.73917606214474

-3.77260037261344

7.0972967738434

10.106454699346

-16.9561417458736

10.3900257931245

Youth (16-29) Prime-age workers (30-49) Older workers (50-65)

As a percentage change in wages due to mismatch, 2012

41

Share of individuals interested in entrepreneurship, European countries

Average

15–24 years

25–39 years

40–54 years

More than 55 years

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

Very/Quite feasible Not very/Not feasible Don't know/Not applicable

42

Making a better use of young workers’ skills

• Remove barriers to geographical mobility to allow for local matching of jobs and skills

• Develop (inter)national qualification frameworks and formal recognition of skills acquired through non-formal and informal learning

• Promote more effective work organisation and human resource management strategies

• Remove barriers to entrepreneurship

• Invest in tools for assessing and anticipating skills needs .

43

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