Closing Italy’S Skills Gap Is Everyone’S Business

by Andreas Schleicher
Director, Directorate for Education in addition to Skills

Italy is the birthplace of Leonardo, Galileo in addition to Armani. For centuries, skilled Italians create got been recognised for their contributions to the world’s art, science, in addition to culture. Influenza A virus subtype H5N1 relatively modest country, with scarce natural resources, Italy today is alongside the world’s leading industrialised economies in addition to is habitation to millions of firms, including many modest in addition to medium sized enterprises (SMEs), who play a prominent role inwards many primal global value chains. So the skills of Italy’s population matter. Not entirely for their ain country, exactly every bit good for their contribution to the futurity prosperity in addition to well-being of the global community. 

Italy’s futurity prosperity depends upon the skills of its people

Today, Italy is facing a skills gap. OECD Surveys measurement the skills of fifteen year-olds (PISA) in addition to adults betwixt the ages of sixteen in addition to 64 years former (Survey of Adult Skills, PIAAC) create got detected a meaning shortfall inwards skills  compared with other countries. Despite progress achieved over the past times decade, immature Italians’ PISA scores inwards literacy in addition to scientific discipline are nevertheless relatively depression compared with the OECD average. Adults display an fifty-fifty larger skills gap compared to their peers inwards other OECD countries. In 2012, some xiii meg adults betwixt 25-64 scored at the bottom of the PIAAC ranking,  while inwards some southern regions ii out of iii adults were establish to live on functionally illiterate. Poor skills are paralleled past times stagnant productivity growth, which indicates that Italy may live on trapped inwards a low-skilled equilibrium inwards which both the furnish of, in addition to the demand for, skills are weak.

Implementing recent reforms requires concerted efforts  

Italy has lately embarked on a major reform endeavour aimed at boosting the development, activation in addition to occupation of people’s skills. For example, the 2014 Jobs Act introduced a major overhaul of labour marketplace position settings to favour open-ended contracts (over fixed-term ones) in addition to strengthen active labour marketplace position policies. The next year, the Good School Act made work-based learning compulsory for all high schools, inwards monastic say to provide students with existent life experiences in addition to a much broader make of learning opportunities. But Italy did non halt there, in addition to inwards 2015 lay inwards position Industry 4.0, a 3-year programme that provides firms with targeted back upwards to assistance them transition to digital technologies in addition to boost their demand for skilled workers. 

Implementation of these reforms has met with many challenges. They tin sack entirely live on addressed past times generating synergies alongside dissimilar skills policies, engaging to a greater extent than with primal stakeholders in addition to improving the multilevel governance of the national skills system. 

Italy faces 10 skills challenges

Today, the OECD Secretary General is inwards Rome to launch the OECD Skills Strategy Diagnostic Report for Italy, together with a high-level panel of Ministers in addition to undersecretaries. The written report applies the framework of the OECD Skills Strategy to position 10 skills challenges for Italy every bit it seeks to maximise its futurity skills potential. It includes a rich laid of comparative information in addition to evidence in addition to offers concrete examples of how other countries are tackling like skills challenges. 

With regards to developing relevant skills, the written report focuses on:  

1. Equipping immature people across the province with skills for farther pedagogy in addition to life; 

2. Increasing access to 3rd pedagogy piece improving character in addition to relevance of skills;

3. Boosting the skills of depression skilled adults.

When activating people’s skills, Italy volition involve to tackle the challenges of:  

4. Removing supply- in addition to demand-side barriers to the activation of skills inwards the labour market;

5. Encouraging greater participation of women in addition to youth inwards the labour market.

Italy every bit good needs to brand improve occupation of the skills it has by: 

6. Making improve occupation of skills inwards the workplace;

7. Leveraging skills to promote innovation.

Finally, Italy urgently needs to improve its overall skills organization by: 

8. Strengthening multilevel governance in addition to partnerships to improve skills outcomes;

9. Promoting skills assessment in addition to anticipation to cut skills mismatches;

10. Investing to improve skills outcomes.

Each of these 10 skills challenges are good known inwards Italy. By adopting a systemic approach to their analysis, this written report underscores the involve for renewed efforts to adopt a whole-of-government skills strategy that cuts across ministerial silos in addition to gives an active role to primal stakeholders, including civil society.  To unopen its skills gap, Italy needs to mobilise everyone’s energies to ensure that skills policies are implemented effectively in addition to assistance deliver inclusive growth. 

Taking activeness today

The diagnostic stage of the OECD National Skills Strategy projection inwards Italy has brought together many dissimilar ministries in addition to a large issue of stakeholders to assemble insights in addition to root generating a mutual narrative nearly the skills challenges facing Italy today. Developing concrete plans for activeness volition hateful edifice on the many reforms already underway in addition to the continued twenty-four hours of the month of all stakeholders.

The OECD stands ready to back upwards Italy every bit it builds the skills that volition empower its people to generate a novel moving ridge of well-being, prosperity in addition to conception that volition create goodness everyone, everywhere.

Links

OECD Skills Strategy Diagnostic Report: Italy

OECD National Skills Strategy

Survey of Adult Skills (PIAAC)

For to a greater extent than on skills in addition to skills policies unopen to the world, visit: http://www.oecd.org/skills/

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