Michel Cournoyer

Severely Materially Deprived People in Europe – Around 41 million in 2015

In 2015, 8.2% of the population or around 41 million people in the European Union (EU) were severely materially deprived, meaning that they had living conditions constrained by a lack of resources such as not being able to afford to pay their bills, keep their home adequately warm, or take a one week holiday away … Continue reading →

Europe – Between a half and two thirds of EU firms with difficulties finding skilled workers face the problem for reasons other than lack of skills

The global crisis has increased unemployment in the EU to unprecedented levels, yet many employers claim they have difficulties finding skilled workers to fill their vacancies. This report shows that most vacancy bottlenecks arise because of factors other than general skill deficits, including job offers of poor quality. Genuine skill shortages affect a small group … Continue reading →

A Training Gap, Not a Skills Gap – Interview with Professor Peter Cappelli

Knowledge@Wharton: One of your chapters in the book is called “A Training Gap, Not a Skills Gap.” You have some figures showing that in 1979, young workers received an average of two and a half weeks of training per year. By 1991, only 17% of young employees reported getting any training during the previous year, … Continue reading →

Robots and the future of work – Interview with Professor Richard Freeman (video)

Higher Education Workforce in Australia – Only 5% of university leaders rate their employee value proposition as being “very high”

On 2 February 2016 AHEIA released the Australian Higher Education Workforce of the Future Report, which was commissioned in association with the DVCs Corporate group of Universities Australia to put the spotlight on how to enable universities to compete in a globally competitive market. The report looks at the university environment as affected by environmental … Continue reading →

Aging Finland – 34,000 immigrants needed instead of the current 18,000 in order to stop the decrease working-age population

Finland does not apply quotas or a points-based system to labour migration. Instead, Finland applies the determination of the availability of labour when issuing a residence permit for an employed person. However, the proportion of labour subject to the determination of the availability of labour is relatively low and the majority of labour uses other … Continue reading →

Labour Market Reforms – ILO/IZA Conference on assessing its effects

The ILO invited a panel of leading experts in labour market, social and economic issues for a panel discussion which was moderated by the DG to discuss the transformational changes taking place in the world of work as part of the Future of Work initiative. Source: ILO/IZA Conference on “Assessing the Effects of Labour Market … Continue reading →

Europe – Companies in dual-VET systems are generally more pleased with the skills supply

The survey appears to indicate that companies in countries with dual VET systems are generally more satisfied with the skills of VET graduates than companies in Member States with mainly school-based VET systems. A possible explanation provided was that work-based learning is an efficient way of providing both professional and transversal skills – the two … Continue reading →

New National Skills Strategy in Ireland – Skills demand in the economy, a report

In January 2016, the Government published a new National Skills Strategy – Ireland’s Future – which sets out the Government’s commitment to improving and using skills for sustainable economic growth. It outlines how Ireland can develop a well-skilled, adaptable workforce that contributes to, shares in, and benefits from opportunities of economic expansion. A critical success … Continue reading →

New Zealand – An inquiry into “new models of tertiary education”

Some aspects of tertiary education in New Zealand have transformed nearly beyond recognition in just the last few decades – for example, the ability of nearly every student to access almost unlimited content in real time via the internet. Other aspects, such as a university lecture, would be readily recognisable to medieval scholars. The big … Continue reading →

Europe – Nine new forms of employment with charts

Across Europe, new forms of employment are emerging that are different from traditional standard or non-standard employment in a number of ways. Some transform the relationship between employer and employee, some change work organisation and work patterns, and some do both. This report identifies nine forms of employment that are new or have become increasingly … Continue reading →

Interprovincial Mobility In Canada – Increase in relative real average annual wages in Alberta had a significant impact

The relatively stronger wage growth observed in Alberta during the 2000s led a significant number of young men to move to that province, thereby filling some of the job vacancies observed during that period. A new study found that from 2001 to 2006, average real annual wages and salaries earned by unmarried men aged 17 to 34 grew faster in Alberta than in … Continue reading →

Engineering Employers Federation in UK – The lack of technical skills among applicants cited by 67% of employers

2016 is set to be a challenging year for UK manufacturers. More than two-fiths of companies surveyed for EEF’s Executive Survey 2016 believed that there are more risks than opportunities for their business in the coming year. This has had an impact on overall recruitment plans. After two years of very positive recruitment intentions, our … Continue reading →

Self-Employment in UK – Recent trends with charts

No one source of data gives us a comprehensive picture of the income of the self-employed. However, by looking at a range of sources, we can form some tentative conclusions: The self-employed as a group have seen falling income since the recession But this is mostly down to the changing composition of self-employment Those individuals … Continue reading →

Basic Income Experiment – Frans Kerver’s case

Frans Kerver was working 12-hour days before the money started coming in.  For nine years, the 53-year-old freelance copywriter living in Groningen, the Netherlands, would rise at 7 a.m. and fall asleep at 1 a.m. His wife and three kids rarely saw him.When Kerver began receiving a basic income last July, everything changed. Universal basic income … Continue reading →