Employment, Competitiveness and Skills

1
Employment, Competitiveness and Skills

• Marion Jansen
• Co-ordinator, Trade and Employment Programme
• International Labour Office
• Joint Conference Parliamentary Assembly of the
  Mediterranean (PAM) and the United Nations Trade
  and Productive Capacity Cluster
• Geneva, 5 May 2011

2
Successful Globalization Strategies

• Successful globalizers like South Korea, Taiwan
  and also Costa Rica have at certain stages of
  their development successfully coordinated
• investment policy
• trade policy
• technology policies and
• training and education policies.

as part of a deliberate strategy to foster
inclusive growth.
3
ILO trade related technical assistance

• builds bridges between the world of work, of
  production and technology, with the world of
  education and training
• through policy advice on coordination of relevant
  policies ( policy coherence )
• in line with the G20 Training Strategy prepared
  by the ILO
• including through its involvement in the UN-CEB
  Cluster

4
Combining ILO areas of expertise to advise on
high road to competitiveness
5
Example Enhancing Sustainable Tourism in Lao

• Joint implementation with other UN-CEB Cluster
  Agencies and financed by Swiss Government.

• ILOs contributions
• Enhance management practices
• Strengthen workplace cooperation
• Enhance skills and productivity of workers

6
Example Promoting Economic Diversification in
Ukraine

• Upon request by Ukraine Government as part of
  crisis response
• Application of ILO STED approach Skills for
  Trade and Economic Diversification

• ILO provided advice on
• Export promotion strategies to increase
  geographical diversification of exports.
• Economic policies to enhance business environment
  in priority sectors.
• Enhance inter-ministerial and public-private
  sector collaboration to improve skill-matching

7
STED a stepwise approach
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STED relevance for PAM countries

• STED to be implemented in Bangladesh and
  Macedonia in 2011.
• STED scoping mission to Kyrgyzstan upcoming

• Is there demand in PAM countries for
• Enhanced export diversification (more products,
  more markets, higher up the value chain)?
• Improved matching between skill demand and skill
  supply ?

9
Diversification an issue?Herfindahl index of
export product concentration
10
Value added an issue?Technology Content of PAM
countries manufacturing exports
11
Skill mismatch an issue?

• Evidence of skill mismatch in Morocco?
• High youth unemployment (30 among urban males
  age 15-24)
• Particularly high unemployment among highly
  skilled (48 among young urban males with
  tertiary education)
• 30 of companies consider skills as a major
  constraint (OECD average 11, world average 21)

• Evidence of skill mismatch in Syria?
• Youth unemployment higher for highly skilled
• 18 for young men with tertiary education
• 22 for those with vocational secondary
• 16 average for young men
• 36 of companies consider skills as a major
  constraint (OECD average 11, world average 21)

12
Employment, Competitiveness and Skills Action
Plan for PAM countries

• Take the  high road  to competitiveness and
  design trade, investment, technology and
  skills/education policies strategically
• Ensure co-ordination across policy domains
• Set incentives right
• Consider using (sub-)sectoral approaches
• Ensure optimal match between skill supply and
  skill demand
• Develop good policies and mechanisms to match
  supply to demand for skills
• Put in place institutions and services to help
  workers and enterprises adjust to change
• Maintain institutions and policies to anticipate
  and meet future labour market skills needs.

Through inter-ministerial and public-private
sector collaboration