This report summarises the advantages and disadvantages with various financial incentives to promote adult learning based on international and Australian experience. Drawing from these insights, as well as analysis of individual and firm-level barriers, the report provides policy recommendations for how Australia could reform its financial incentives to boost participation.
With digitalisation, deepening globalisation and population ageing, the world of work is changing. The extent to which individuals, firms and economies can harness the benefits of these changes critically depends on the readiness of adult learning systems to help people develop relevant skills ...
In a rapidly changing world of work, adults in Australia are being challenged to upskill, retrain and consider alternative career paths. This report assesses the career guidance services that are currently available to mid-career adults in Australia and puts them into an international perspective.
The present report examines how governments use financial incentives to promote a better alignment between labour market needs, on the one hand, and the supply of skills, on the other.
Lifelong learning is key if individuals are to succeed in labour markets and societies shaped by megatrends such as increases in life expectancy, rapid technological changes, globalisation, migration, environmental changes and digitalisation, as well as sudden shocks like the COVID-19 pandemic.
Glasgow City Region - composed of eight Local Authorities - is Scotland’s largest integrated economic area, accounting for a third of Scotland's jobs and economic output. Over the last two decades, the unemployment rate has decreased to a record low, and the share of degree holders has increased significantly. Despite its overall economic success and high growth potential, Glasgow City Region faces several challenges. The region’s productivity levels compare poorly with other UK cities and major OECD metropolitan regions, and income deprivation and economic inactivity are high. As the economy has recovered from the COVID-19 pandemic, the pressure on the labour market has increased, resulting in labour shortages. The challenges for Glasgow City Region’s labour market call for greater efforts to enhance and future-proof the skills and employability systems in the region. This OECD report reviews and offers recommendations on three of the most pressing challenges facing the Glasgow City Region: i) reinforcing re- and upskilling opportunities for individuals in work and aligning skills supply with demand, ii) enhancing labour market inclusion of the economically inactive, and iii) strengthening school-to-work transitions of young people.
COVID-19 is likely to leave long-lasting effects on local labour markets. It is accelerating a pre-existing trend towards automation, as firms look even more to new technologies to pandemic proof their operations.
Tunisians are facing the worst crisis in a generation, as COVID-19 hit an economy that was already slowing down. Macroeconomic policy through fiscal stimulus and monetary easing limited the depth and severity of the recession, but the pandemic has exacerbated structural weaknesses, in particular low investment and job creation, high unemployment and informality, mismatch between skills demand and supply, and outward migration of high-skilled professionals.
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused severe human suffering and triggered a deep recession in Brazil. Economic policies reacted in a timely and decisive manner to the crisis, supporting millions of Brazilians. But a strong and inclusive recovery from the recession will require long-lasting improvements in economic policies. Improving fiscal outcomes remains one of Brazil’s principal challenges given a high debt burden, to which the pandemic has added significantly. Public spending will need to become more efficient, including by building on past progress in the fight against corruption and economic crimes. Social protection can be strengthened through a better focus on the most effective policies and benefits, which could allow significant reductions in inequality and poverty. Stronger growth will hinge on raising productivity, which has been virtually stagnant for decades. This requires addressing underlying policy challenges, including reducing regulatory burdens, reforming taxes, strengthening judicial efficiency and fostering a stronger integration into the global economy. Raising productivity implies reallocations and structural changes in the economy, which should be accompanied by well-designed training and education policies. Training with a strong focus on local skill demand can help workers master the transition and seize new opportunities to move into better jobs. SPECIAL FEATURES: BOOSTING PRODUCTIVITY; SKILLS POLICIES TO FACILITATE STRUCTURAL ADJUSTMENT
