HOW TO EXPAND APPRENTICESHIPS TO

NEW PLAYERS?

OECD-LEED 12TH ANNUAL MEETING –

VENICE

Presentation by Jonathan Barr, Policy Analyst, OECD

2

Source : OECD estimates based on national labour force surveys.*data for 2015 not available (replaced by 2014 data)

Youth unemployment remains high

Youth unemployment rate, 2007, 2011 and 2015 As a percent of all youth aged 15/16-24 in the labour force

Austra

liaAus

tria

Belgium

Canad

aChile

Czech

Repub

lic

Denmark

Estonia

FinlandFran

ce

German

y

Greece

Hunga

ry

Icelan

dIre

landIsr

ael

ItalyJa

panKore

a

Luxe

mbourg

Mexico

Netherl

ands

New Zea

land

Norway

Poland

*

Portug

al

Slovak

Repub

lic

Sloven

iaSpa

in

Sweden

Switzerl

andTurk

ey

United

Kingdo

m

United

States

OECD coun

tries*

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

2007 2011 2015

Importance of VET for employmentIc

elan

d 18

Norw

ay 2

5Sw

itzer

land

21

Swed

en 2

5Ge

rman

y 30

Neth

erla

nds 2

5Au

stria

31

Denm

ark

25La

tvia

34

Braz

il 19

Slov

enia

38

Israe

l 38

Luxe

mbo

urg

22Po

land

45

Belg

ium

37

Aust

ralia

18

Fran

ce 2

9Fi

nlan

d 29

Chile

1 24

Unite

d Ki

ngdo

m 2

7Ne

w Z

eala

nd 1

6Cz

ech

Repu

blic

43

OEC

D av

erag

e 28

Russ

ian

Fede

ratio

n 33

Esto

nia

32Po

rtug

al 1

9Ca

nada

25

Mex

ico

16Un

ited

Stat

es 2

7Sl

ovak

Rep

ublic

49

Irela

nd 3

6Ja

pan

Hung

ary

41Ita

ly 2

8Sp

ain

28Ko

rea

12Tu

rkey

25

Gree

ce 2

420

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100Below upper secondary education Upper secondary or post-secondary non-tertiary education Tertiary education%

Employment rates among 25-64 year-olds, by educational attainment (2012)

Participation in apprenticeship programmesa,b

As a proportion of total youth aged 16-29 years, 2012

a) The estimates are shown in a lighter colour where based on less than 30 observations for the total and less than 15 observations by gender.b) The results refer to England and Northern Ireland for the United Kingdom and exclude the population of the Moscow municipal area for the Russian Federation.Source: OECD Survey of Adult Skills (PIAAC), 2012.

Apprenticeships are a useful VET pathway to work but need to be expanded

Japan

United St

atesKorea

United Kingdom

CanadaIta

lySp

ainFra

nce

Australia

Russian Fe

d.

Germany

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16Total Men Women

OECD/G20 outcomes on quality apprenticeships

Ensuring access to high-quality programmes

Making apprenticeships more valuable to

youth

Making apprenticeships

more attractive to employers

• Large variations across the OECD in terms of:1. duration of programmes

2. percentage of time spent on the job training

3. completion rates

No one size fits all model/framework

• At the local level, effective apprenticeships programmes can help to achieve key economic development objectives.

• Apprenticeship programmes can stimulate quality employment opportunities in service-based occupations by providing skills development opportunities that are tied to the workplace.

• The potential role for local public agencies and governments to enhance apprenticeships can often be overlooked at the national level

The importance of the local level

The role of the national and local level in promoting apprenticeship programmes

   National level

 Local level

    

Scope of policy

influence

Set legislative and regulatory quality framework through curriculum and qualifications standards

  Provides incentives for

participation through tax credits, grants, and subsidies

  Coordination role by

bringing together national social partners

  Collects and

disseminates data and labour market information on trends and future occupations

 

Forges partnerships with local employers to promote benefits of participation and link them to services

  Ensures public actors are

speaking with “one voice” by building strong partnerships with between employment, training, and economic development actors

  Leverages public procurement

policies  

Provides information, advice and guidance to youth and employers based on local job information

  Builds capacity among training

providers to deliver programmes in an innovative manner

• High levels of employer involvement = critical success factor for effective apprenticeship systems

• Employers can take “ownership” of the system

• Promoting the benefits of apprenticeship to employers while also exerting moral pressure on employers not participating to rethink their approach.

Encouraging employer leadership

• City governments can also act as a central coordinating body, to coordinate outreach to avoid duplication and “engagement fatigue” among local employers.

• Importance of local leadership from elected officials, mayors and local employment services and economic development organisations

• Local leaders can engage business include breakfast meetings, media and marketing campaigns, as well as letters to individual employers.

Public sector leadership can stimulate engagement with apprenticeships

• Public policy can be used to shape the demand for skills and the number of apprenticeship places offered by employers.

• Local government can use their spending power and funding policies to ensure that employers provide apprenticeships.

• Recent research has found that these types of arrangements can positively impact the probability of employers offering apprenticeships by 10-35% (Leiser and Wolter, 2015).

• Furthermore, this impact is primarily concentrated on SMEs who are less likely to participate in apprenticeship programmes through traditional training arrangements.

Steering the outlook of firms through public procurement

Percentage of employees participating in work-based training

Belgium

Bulgaria

Czech Republic

Denmark

Germany

Estonia

GreeceSp

ainFra

nce

CroatiaIta

ly

Cyprus

Latvi

a

Lithuania

Luxe

mbourg

HungaryMalta

Netherlands

Austria

Poland

Portugal

Romania

Slove

nia

Slova

kia

Finland

Sweden

United Kingdom

Norway

EU280

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

From 10 to 49 employees From 50 to 249 employees 250 employees or more

• Networks are critical – both place-based and by sector

• Using intermediary bodies to increase participation (e.g. Australia and Norway)

• Beyond networking, specific public policy support and outreach measures are needed to actively engage and encourage SMEs to participate in apprenticeship frameworks.

• In many cases, public policy actors need to convince SMEs of the “business case” for changing prevailing practices, which may encourage low-quality working conditions.

How to best target SMEs?

• Need for flexibility for local training institutions to adjust programmes to local labour market considerations and employers.

• Training institutions can take a lead role as an anchor institution at the local level by reaching out to employers to align their programmes and curriculum to demand.

• It is important to balance the development of flexible training delivery arrangements within a national system that emphasises quality apprenticeships.

Flexibility within VET is critical

Service delivery innovation in Canada at Mohawk College

Employing back-to-back education modules

blended and online learning to reduce the time apprentices are away from the workplace and accommodate employer workload priorities

enabling apprentices to complete portions of their workplace hours by expanding the in-school

component to include real world, living lab work experiences and co-op placements

Thank you Jonathan.barr@oecd.org