The objective of this study is to inform the discussion on the skills that require development to meet the needs of the present and future labour market in the Greater Cambridge Greater Peterborough (GCGP) region. This report presents evidence based on data from the Employer Skills 2015 survey carried out by the UK Commission for Employment and Skills. Research findings will be used to inform policymaking at the local and national level. Analyses are conducted for four industry sectors that were considered particularly relevant for the local labour market in the region, namely Life Sciences, Information and Communications, Health and Social Work and Construction. The analyses are guided by four high-level research questions examining: (1) the level of skills demand; (2) the main causes for difficulties in meeting the skills demand; (3) what employers are doing to meet the skills demand; and (4) the impact of unmet skills demand/skills gaps on employers. Whenever feasible, analyses are focused on comparing situations between sectors, occupations and areas in the GCGP region, and comparing the local labour market situation with the rest of England., The analyses indicate that: (1) overall, employers in the GCGP region report having a similar share of vacancies and hard-to-fill vacancies as in the rest of England; (2) skills shortages are reported at both ends of the skills continuum - high-level and low-level skills; and (3) finally, the skills gaps and hard-to-fill vacancies have greater impact on employers in the GCGP region than in the rest of England, in particular in the Life Sciences and Construction sectors.

This report presents a framework that engages education policymakers and workforce planners in innovative ways. It assesses the scale and breadth of emerging trends across local job markets and intersects these data with regional innovation hubs to enhance the capacity of policymakers to design data-driven policies tailored to the strengths of individual ecosystems. Highlights include discussion of: New innovation cities: New innovation cities are making a grand entrance on the innovation hub scene and offer promising opportunities for startup pipelines and new job creation. Skill combinations and transferability: Innovation jobs and the skills required of an innovation workforce will be markedly different from those of the past. Employers are in the market for a combination of foundational STEM and tech-specific skills along with non-STEM skills, the portability of which offers workers opportunities to enrich their skill portfolios without starting over. New policy lenses: Increasing visibility into skill portability opens new policy lenses for identifying skill-based entry points and meaningful pathway progressions to quality jobs. Targeted interventions: Solving the STEM pipeline problem requires a multi-pronged approach to level the playing field, including shifting from generic STEM policies toward targeted interventions.

Different EU documents, including the 2012 Council Recommendation on validation of non-formal and informal learning and the 2016 Council Recommendation on Upskilling Pathways, promote skills audits as one means to support individuals in their transition periods. In these documents skills audits are suggested as a practice to identify and document knowledge, skills and competence of individuals with a view to further inform decisions about career orientation, education or training. However, there is limited evidence about the extent to which skills audits are used and what they entail in practice. The purpose of this study was to improve the knowledge base about skills audits, to identify main types of skills audits, the methods and approaches used for skills audits as well as to assess the extent to which standards are used as part of the process. Considerations about effectiveness of skills audits were also analysed., The research shows that while there is a high number of practices that fall under the definition of skills audits as presented in the 2012 Council Recommendation on validation, the term skills audit itself and its translation is not used in practice. Most skills audits have a common thread. The four main types of skills audits are those for self-development, educational advancement, labour market integration, and talent management in companies. The relationship between validation and skills audits is not always clear to stakeholders. In addition, the level of integration between validation (which encompasses identification, documentation, assessment and certification) and skills audits varies, depending on the type of audit. The evaluations reviewed and the interviews carried out systematically highlighted the positive effect of skills audits on the activation and motivation of beneficiaries. Skills audit are reported as an important instrument through which individuals gain an insight into their own skills and capabilities, thus increasing awareness of individuals' potential and triggering activation mechanisms. This is an important precondition for all other effects of this type of practices.

Focusing mainly on the rural areas, as well as the islands and more remote areas of Scotland, the Skills action plan has adopted a broad and holistic definition of rural skills. This includes the skills required within the traditional rural sectors (farming, fishing, and forestry), as well as in other industries such as energy, manufacturing, creative industries and tourism. The plan seeks to focus on developing the skills required for jobs in rural areas - both now and in the future. Rural Scotland faces challenges which could affect employers' ability to recruit people they need to sustain and grow their business, and could also affect individuals' opportunities to take up, sustain and progress in, quality work. Challenges may have both a direct impact on skills, such as the supply of people and qualifications, the nature of employment and the structure of the business base, and an indirect impact, such as the supply of housing, digital connectivity, access to transport and childcare, and wider issues of talent attraction and retention. The Skills action plan for rural Scotland is seeking to determine and develop the skills required in rural Scotland, analysing all evidence available and working with stakeholders to implement the plan. Colleges have a key role to play in rural areas, in developing a highly educated and skilled workforce by providing a broad base of education, and vocational and work-based learning opportunities.

The Australian Industry Group's 2018 Workforce Development Needs Survey report has identified critical skill issues facing Australian businesses with 75 per cent of employers reporting skill shortages and 99 per cent are impacted by low levels of literacy and numeracy. Similar surveys have also been conducted in 2012, 2014 and 2016 enabling a time series comparison. The 2018 survey attracted responses from 298 companies employing a total of 111,209 employees., The survey found clear pressure points affecting employers: (1) skills shortages: most often in the technician and trades worker category, with difficulties recruiting for STEM skills, and new shortages for roles in business automation, Big Data and artificial intelligence solutions; (2) literacy and numeracy: an increase in low levels of literacy and numeracy is disturbing at a time when the workforce increasingly requires foundation skills that include not only literacy and numeracy but digital literacy and advanced soft skills; and (3) leadership and management: employers are prioritising technology capability improvements for managers, 62 per cent of whom believe a lack of leadership and management skills is having a high impact on the business (up from 56 per cent in 2016); this reflects the major changes needed in the way work is done and managed as entire business processes and organisational cultures are upended in the digital economy. The survey showed employers are intensifying their actions to implement strategies that alleviate some of these pressures. A greater percentage of employers than previous years (52 per cent) intend to increase expenditure on training in 2018. They are recognising in the age of digitalisation all workers will need digital skills at various levels.

For those of us who developed the concepts and collected the colorful vignettes and chapters included here, the collection represents a treasure trove of knowledge and experiences for employers, educators, parents, policymakers, and others seeking to understand and use modern apprenticeships. This collection offers a chorus of voices emanating from different countries and populations, echoing commitment to bright, sustainable workforce futures through a well-crafted approach to this talent development model. The collection answers questions posed to us over several years by businesses of all sizes, community-based organizations, and schools looking for a way to build strong pipelines of skilled labor, stimulate economies in struggling regions, provide options for adults seeking career changes, and stimulate engagement for students filled with curiosity about the promise of work-based learning. We endeavored to shatter myths, remove barriers, and erase fears of attempting apprenticeship, particularly for small and medium-size businesses and parents who are naturally concerned about meaningful and gainful career choices for their children. This reader intends to show the possibilities modern apprenticeship affords contemporary societies and to inspire many to reframe the boundaries of traditional thinking. Policymaking can be an important precursor to disrupting well-established societal norms but cannot make any significant impact without the passion and commitment of the people it touches. Many of the chapters and vignettes are emblematic of this process. As articulated throughout the reader, policymakers are offering up legislation and initiatives to generate interest and facilitate the implementation of modern apprenticeship programs. But modern apprenticeship is mainly picking up steam because of the evolutionary employers and apprentices who embrace, engage, and enjoy the work they do. The vignettes, in particular, drive the argument that middle- and high-skill apprenticeships present opportunities that defy the concept of traditional apprenticeships and further fuel innovation. From beekeepers whose scientific techniques protect our food supply, to mental health practitioners serving remote indigenous communities in need of essential services, to veterans finding meaningful employment in agricultural science and environmental preservation, to diverse young people working in the oil and gas industry, all are modern apprenticeships destined to shatter myths and beg replication.

This study explored the current digital skills demand and supply situation in Australia’s workforce. The research investigated the skills impact of digitalisation on two industry sectors—transport and logistics, and public safety and correctional services—as well as the wider workforce. The research culminated in a proposed Australian workplace digital skills framework to help identify digital skills gaps among Australian industries and workforces to enable the development of appropriate training programs.

This study explores the school-to-work transitions of youth aged 16 to 25 based on the 2006 cohort of the Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth (LSAY Y06). Five pathways were identified using sequence analysis combined with cluster analysis. While the majority of the young people in the study sample followed a mostly simple higher-education-to-work pathway or early entry to full-time work, the remaining quarter of the sample experienced varied and complex transitions including frequent switching between higher education and VET activities, episodes of part-time work and repeatedly disengaging from the labour market. In pathway 2, VET gave an early route to full-time work that resulted in full-time work for 97.4% at age 25

Using the Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (Canadian sample) the paper examines overskilling among Indigenous off-reserve peoples and compares the outcomes to the other Canadian born. We construct several measures of skill mismatch in literacy and numeracy finding no statistically significant difference between aboriginal and non-aboriginal Canadian-born populations. In general, skill mismatch has pernicious consequences for the mismatched workers, and our results support previous literature, which found no evidence of economic discrimination of Canadian aboriginals after controlling for their skill level and standard socio-demographic characteristics.