Corporate HRD and Skills Development for ... - Unesco-Unevoc

BACKGROUND 1:
Skills Development for Employment:
Scope and Strategies
Joachim Wagner
Towards Knowledge- and Skills-Based Economies and Societies:
New Objectives and Challenges Concerning Human Resources Development and Training
A critical challenge society faces at the start of the twenty-first century is the attainment of full
employment and sustained economic growth in a global economy and society. This challenge has
recently become even more complex and demanding. Economic, social, and technological change is
gathering pace and demands continuous policy and institutional adaptation in order to meet new
needs and to seize the opportunities that are rapidly opening up in a world economy. It has been
increasingly recognized that people’s endowment of skills and capabilities, and their investment in
education and training, constitute the key to economic and social development. Skills and training
increase productivity as well as incomes. They also facilitate everybody’s participation in the
economic and social fabric of society 1 .
However, the difficulties involved in putting into effect employment and growth-oriented policies
that give high priority to education and training are formidable. Some countries are investing heavily
in their human resources, e.g. advanced countries and rapidly industrializing countries (e.g. the
Republic of Korea, Singapore, and others). Other countries, particularly poor countries, have not
been able to maintain investments at sufficiently high levels to meet their burgeoning needs.
Unless these poorer countries, supported by the international community, implement effective
policies for education and training for all, the skills gap is likely to grow even wider. According to the
International Labour Organization (ILO), the overall goal of the global economy should be to provide
opportunities for all people to obtain decent and productive work under conditions of freedom,
equity, security, and human dignity. This requires the attainment of four strategic objectives that are
vital to social progress: employment creation, supported by increased and effective investment in
human resources development, learning and training for the employability, competitiveness, growth
and social inclusion of all; promoting fundamental rights at work; improving social protection; and
strengthening social dialogue. The ILO’s framework of decent work addresses both the quality and
quantity of employment. It provides the basis for a new type of human resource development and
training policies.
1 ILO Report, ISBN 92-2-112876-8, ISSN 0074-6681
2