Michel Cournoyer

US – The United States is not adequately developing and sustaining a workforce with the skills needed to compete in the 21st century says the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine

The United States needs a skilled technical workforce to remain competitive in the global economy and to ensure that its workers participate in the nation’s economic growth. There are significant opportunities as well as major challenges in this regard. Notably, rigorous evidence indicates that the returns to investments in technical skills in the labor market … Continue reading →

Future of Work – Future Skills by the Australian Industry Skills Committee

The Australian Industry Skills Committee (AISC) commissioned the Future Skills and Training Resource to gather and analyse data on Australian and international megatrends, their potential impact on Australia’s future workforce and the implications for vocational education and training.  It complements existing data sources and Industry Reference Committee (IRC) intelligence. It is a practical resource intended to … Continue reading →

Workforce Development in US – Fed’s Capstone Conference 2017

Investments for workforce development require a foundation of institutional supports that will ensure accountability. This panel, representing diverse perspectives from the public, private and nonprofit sectors, will explore the institutions, policies and norms needed to establish, reinforce and facilitate new and increased investments. via Investing In America’s Workforce 2017 – YouTube

Working Poor in Europe – The increase in non-standard forms of employment in many countries appears to have contributed to rising it

The ‘working poor’ are a substantial group, the latest estimate putting 10% of European workers at risk of poverty, up from 8% in 2007. This report describes the development of in-work poverty in the EU since the crisis of 2008, picking up where an earlier Eurofound report on this subject, published in 2010, ended and … Continue reading →

Persons at Risk of Poverty or Social Exclusion in EU – Decreased to 23.4% last year, only 0.1 percentage points above its 2009 low-point

In 2016, 117.5 million people, or 23.4% of the population, in the European Union (EU) were at risk of poverty or social exclusion. This means that they were in at least one of the following three conditions: at-risk-of-poverty after social transfers (income poverty), severely materially deprived or living in households with very low work intensity. … Continue reading →

Digital Skills – Effective use of ICTs in life and for work requires adequate skills OECD says

Effective use of ICTs in life and for work requires more specialist and generic skills in ICTs complemented by better foundational skills. “IT staff” ranks second among the top ten jobs that employers have difficulties filling, notably in services, although shortages of ICT specialist skills seem limited to only a few countries, at least in … Continue reading →

Skills in UK – 94% of employers say that life skills are at least as important as academic results research finds

Schools’ main focus is on developing children’s core academic knowledge and skills in literacy, numeracy, and range of curriculum subjects. But there are other skills that are increasingly seen as important to children’s wider development: ‘essential life skills’ such as confidence, social skills, self-control, motivation, and resilience. These are the attitudes, skills and behaviours that … Continue reading →

Wages of New Hires in US – Stronger growth for women compared to men

There is substantial interest in measuring not just the quantity of new jobs but the quality as well. Existing surveys by the Bureau of Labor Statistics describe the number of new jobs created each month, as well as wages of incumbent workers, but not wages (or other characteristics) of newly created jobs. This paper aims … Continue reading →

School-to-Work Transition in France – No improvement for young people with lower secondary qualifications only

Against the background of a weak economic recovery, access to employment for young people in the 2013 cohort was slightly more favourable than for the preceding cohort. In 2016, three years after they had left the education system, one young worker in five was looking for a job; in the case of those with only … Continue reading →

Postes Vacants au Québec, T2 2017 – Une hausse de 17 000 (+25,0 %) en un an

Le nombre de postes vacants au Québec a connu une hausse de 17 000 (+25,0 %), et le taux de postes vacants s’est accru de 0,4 point de pourcentage pour s’établir à 2,4 %. La tendance récente d’une croissance supérieure à la moyenne du nombre de postes vacants dans la province a contribué à faire croître la part du Québec dans le nombre … Continue reading →

Job Vacancies in Canada, Q2 2017 –  460,000, up 67,000 (+17.2%) from last year

The number of job vacancies totalled 460,000 in the second quarter, up 67,000 (+17.2%) from the second quarter of 2016. The overall job vacancy rate rose 0.4 percentage points to 2.9%. Increases in job vacancies were broadly based across provinces and industrial sectors. This was the third consecutive quarter with year-over-year increases in both the number of job vacancies and the job vacancy … Continue reading →

Service Sector Basic Skills Gap in US – 62% of workers have limited literacy skills, and an even higher 74% have limited numeracy skills.

Across the United States, millions of men and women with limited reading, math, or digital problem-solving skills are holding down jobs across the service sector. Employed in retail shops and restaurants, hotels and hospitals, these workers not only help fuel the country’s economy — they keep daily life in America humming smoothly along. In the … Continue reading →

Higher Education – Separating learning from credentialing

If we want more educational innovation and lower costs, as well as higher-quality educational outcomes, then it is time to break the legacy connection between teaching students and certifying their academic achievements and move to a model where students have alternative ways of demonstrating their knowledge and skills. Across modern economies, innovators and entrepreneurs are … Continue reading →

The future of work is there for us to make ILO says

Future of Work in US – 58% say there should be limits on the number of jobs that businesses can replace with machines

Americans are apprehensive about a future in which machines take on more of the work now done by humans, and most are supportive of policies aimed at cushioning the economic impact of widespread automation, according to a new Pew Research Center survey. The vast majority of Americans (85%) say they would support restricting workforce automation … Continue reading →