Globalisation has come centre stage in political debates around the world as the benefits of global supply chains to local workforces have been called into question by national populist movements. But, a new report from the OECD argues that enhancing international cooperation on skills policies is one way of ensuring countries reap the fruits of international industry.
Skills Outlook 2017 reports that in OECD countries, one third of jobs in the business sector rely on demand from foreign countries.
Countries can achieve stronger productivity growth when workers are equipped with the right mix of skills to succeed in an international workplace, the research has found, and education and training providers can play a vital role in the development of these skills.
“Countries could co-operate in the design of education and training programs”
It is likely there will be more opportunities for providers in other countries to help meet this need.
“Rather than competing to attract talent, countries could co-operate in the design of education and training programs,” the report says.
“I think the key is really as soon as we start to unbundle content, provision and accreditation, we’re going to see huge opportunities for providers to play a role,” Andreas Schleicher, OECD director for education and skills, told The PIE News.
But Schleicher doubts international cooperation on skills training will be accepted everywhere. “People who resist that are the people who guard the accreditation systems at the moment, and high end universities, they have no interest really in that,” he said.
Technology could be the way to break down traditional barriers to skill training access, he said.
“I think the next education providers will be the ones that deliver digital content … and who actually develop new ways of accreditation,” he said.
“We can already see that if you look at employers like Google, they pay less and less attention to formal qualifications, and more and more attention to skills.”
Another potential barrier to cross border training is the recognition of qualifications, the report found.
It urges countries to improve skills in developing economies and facilitate the recognition of these skills by other countries.
“We’re going to see huge opportunities for providers to play a role”
Schleicher added at the launch event, co-hosted by the University of Bath Institute for Policy Research, that in OECD countries, the skills of migrants are “under-utilised”.
“How do we know what a Syrian electrician can really do? We do not have the metrics.”
However, while building workplace skills through education and training is vital, there is also a need for coordination with other players, such as trade and investment policy makers, in order to meet upskilling needs.
“I certainly agree the first place to start is with skills, education and training policies, that’s without a doubt,” said Andrew Wyckoff, OECD director for science, technology and innovation.
“[But] in a global value chain world, it takes a little bit more than that and there’s really a confluence of factors you need to begin to think about if you want to upgrade your skills.
“It’s more than just education and training and these include policies such as efforts coming from industry themselves.”
