The Skills Gap / What Can Government Do

In Greece and South Africa, more than half of young adults are out of work. In much of the Middle East, the figure is 25 percent; in the United States, it’s about one in six. Yet at the same time, businesses complain that they can’t find enough workers: 40 percent of employers surveyed by McKinsey as part of our recent report on youth unemployment said skill shortages were a primary reason for vacancies in entry-level jobs.

What’s going on? To get to the bottom of this paradox, a team from the McKinsey Center for Government, led by Mona Mourshed, surveyed 2,700 employers, 4,500 young adults, and 900 education providers in nine countries: Brazil, Germany, India, Mexico, Morocco, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, the United Kingdom, and the United States. We found that youth, employers, and educators have sharply different perspectives on youth skills and work readiness: for example, 72 percent of educators were confident that their graduates were adequately prepared for the workforce—but less than half of employers and graduates agreed.

Our research shows that educators, employers, families, and students all play a critical role in combating youth unemployment. In this post I’d like to focus on what governments can do. We examined more than 100 education-to-employment programs in 25 countries, serving industries from retail to aeronautics and shipbuilding, and found three ways in which government can help to improve education-to-employment systems around the world.

1. Collect and disseminate data.

2. Initiate sector-wide collaborations.

3. Create an education-to-employment system integrator.

Chosen excerpts by Job Market Monitor. Read the whole story at 

via Education to Employment: What Can Government Do About the Skills Gap? | LinkedIn.

Related Post

The Grand Disconnect – Employers, education providers, and youth

“Around the world, governments and businesses face a conundrum: high levels of youth unemployment and a shortage of job seekers with critical skills” writes Mona Mourshed, Diana Farrell, and Dominic Barton in a McKinsey in Its report Education to Employment Designing a system that works. (Adapted choosen excerpts by Job Market Monitor to follow) How can a country successfully move … Continue reading »