Vocational education and training - VET

An eagerness for humanitarian jobs can be seen among students who are turning en masse towards the field of international aid, from here on seen as a fully‐fledged professional vocation. There has therefore been an emergence of numerous university courses dedicated to humanitarian work; however they do not necessarily meet the expectations of the international development actors themselves. Furthermore, work and jobs to be completed are strictly divided thus restricting recruitment to very specific roles which are mainly management positions. The main reasons for an employee leaving an NGO are: better pay and conditions elsewhere (50%), weak values of leadership and culture (40%), absence of career and development opportunities (38%), burnout, disillusionment and irritation (29%).
In French. De la disparition du corporatisme ?
http://www.iris-france.org/docs/kfm_docs/docs/obs

The OECD Skills Strategy provides an integrated, cross-government framework to help countries understand more about how to invest in skills in a way that will transform lives and drive economies. It is designed to provide a basis on which governments can begin converting “better skills policies” into jobs, growth, and “better lives”.

The report stresses the role of strong private sector led growth in creating jobs and outlines how jobs that do the most for development can spur a virtuous cycle. The report finds that poverty falls as people work their way out of hardship and as jobs empower women to invest more in their children. Efficiency increases as workers get better at what they do, as more productive jobs appear, and as less productive ones disappear. Societies flourish as jobs foster diversity and provide alternatives to conflict. (50 mb)

See also Jobs and human development

http://www-wds.worldbank.org/external/default/WDSContentServer/WDSP/IB/2012/11/09/000386194_20121109010301/Rendered/PDF/735750WP0Box370sandHDFINAL00PUBLIC0.pdf

This paper focuses on the determinants of the labor market situation of young people in developed countries and the developing world, with a special emphasis on the role of vocational training and education policies. We highlight the role of demographic factors, economic growth and labor market institutions in explaining young people's transition into work. We then assess differences in the setup and functioning of the vocational education and training policies in major world regions, as an important driver of differential labor market situation of youth. Based on our analysis we argue in favor of vocational education and training systems combining work experience and general education and give some policy recommendations regarding the implementation of education and training systems adapted to a country's economic and institutional context.

This paper relies on randomized assignment of the entrepreneurship track to identify impacts on labor market outcomes one year after graduation. The analysis finds that the entrepreneurship track was effective in increasing self-employment among applicants, but that the effects are small in absolute terms. In addition, the employment rate among participants remains unchanged, pointing to a partial substitution from wage employment to self-employment. The evidence shows that the program fostered business skills, expanded networks, and affected a range of behavioral skills. Participation in the entrepreneurship track also heightened graduates' optimism toward the future shortly after the Tunisian revolution.
http://ftp.iza.org/dp7079.pdf

It is valuable to consider a richer framework for analyzing how recent changes in the earnings and employment distribution in the United States and other advanced economies are shaped by the interactions among worker skills, job tasks, evolving technologies, and shifting trading opportunities. We propose a tractable task-based model in which the assignment of skills to tasks is endogenous and technical change may involve the substitution of machines for certain tasks previously performed by labor. We further consider how the evolution of technology in this task-based setting may be endogenized. We show how such a framework can be used to interpret several central recent trends, and we also suggest further directions for empirical exploration.
http://www.nber.org/papers/w16082.pdf?new_window=1

The real demographic challenge for Canadian policymakers is adapting to a population growing “younger,” after taking increased life expectancies into account. In the report, the authors propose an alternative approach to population aging, which measures years to live instead of years since birth. Since 1950, Canadian life expectancy, on average, has increased. For example, a 65-year-old in 2010 had the same life expectancy as a 59.5 year-old in 1950. “Canadians are experiencing increases in longevity and are willing to work longer than previous cohorts” . “Public policy should aim to provide Canadians with the instruments to better manage retirement decisions.”

This report highlights the challenges of skill development in India and presents new approaches that could be adopted to overcome these challenges. The purpose of the report is to encourage discussion that will evolve bigger and better ideas of overcoming the barriers in the skills development sector.

This document focuses on human development. It argues that to advance the global jobs agenda what is needed are the right investments in people, the right skills for people to secure good jobs, the right protection for people against risks arising from volatile economies, and the right mechanisms to help people transition safely and smoothly from one job to another.

See also World Development Report 2013: Jobs (50mb)

http://siteresources.worldbank.org/EXTNWDR2013/Resources/8258024-1320950747192/8260293-1322665883147/WDR_2013_Report.pdf