rethinking our current approach: starting with the problem
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Wendy Cunningham & Laura Sanchez Puerta Skills & Employability for the 21 st Century Workshop World Bank June 8, 2009. Rethinking our Current Approach: Starting with the Problem. Challenge. Assist clients to improve - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
Rethinking our Current Approach: Starting with the Problem
Wendy Cunningham & Laura Sanchez PuertaSkills & Employability for the 21st Century WorkshopWorld BankJune 8, 2009
Challenge
Assist clients to improve Employability: a person’s ability to get and
keep a job (employment or entrepreneurship) Efficiency in job matches: workers find high
quality jobs conditional on internal and external factors
Two questions What are the constraints (to employability/
efficiency)? What are the interventions to address these
constraints?
Assumptions for this presentation Take as given
Macroenvironment Investment Climate Labor Regulation Formal Education System
Focus on programs/interventions Methodology: evolving constraints-
incentives framework, applied in LAC and Africa
A bit of search theory
Has in mind a job & wage he is willing
to acceptHas a set of skills
Has in mind a set of skills she needs
Has in mind a wage, she is willing to offer
4
A bit of search theory
Has in mind a job & wage he is willing
to acceptHas a set of skills
Has in mind a set of skills she needs
Has in mind a wage, she is willing to offer
5
Where is the breakdown?
Propose 5 categories of constraints to market clearing
I. Skills Mismatch constraintsIs the missing factor Technical skills General skills Life skills
Caribbean: Employers’ assessment of most desired skill set
45%
47%
68%
77%
79%
82%
86%
86%
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Computer skills
Dependability
Taking individual responsibility
The ability to work well on teams
Communication skills
Problem solving / efficiency
Work ethic
Honesty/integrity
Source: Blom and Hobbs( 2007)
Constraints Intervention
I. Skills Mismatch constraintsIs the missing factor Technical skills General skills Life skills
Demand-driven, comprehensive voctec+life skills+internship training programs
Information on returns to skill investments
2nd chance education programs
Caribbean: Employers’ assessment of most desired skill set
45%
47%
68%
77%
79%
82%
86%
86%
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Computer skills
Dependability
Taking individual responsibility
The ability to work well on teams
Communication skills
Problem solving / efficiency
Work ethic
Honesty/integrity
Source: Blom and Hobbs( 2007)
Constraints Intervention
II. Job Matching constraints
Many workers use informal mechanisms to find jobs (Peru)
asked an employer
em-ploy-ment agencyasked
friendwant ads
Source: Cunningham et. al. 2008.
Constraints Intervention
II. Job Matching constraintsMore importantly (?) many
employers use informal employee search mechanisms (Sierra Leone)
frien
ds
emplo
ymen
t age
ncy
want a
ds
emplo
yers/
ees
walk-in
s0
20
40
60
Source: Peeters, et. al. 2009
Constraint Intervention
II. Job Matching constraintsMore importantly (?) many
employers use informal employee search mechanisms (Sierra Leone)
Employment offices with social workers (for both clients)
Web-based job information boards
frien
ds
emplo
ymen
t age
ncy
want a
ds
emplo
yers/
ees
walk-in
s0
20
40
60
Source: Peeters, et. al. 2009
Constraints Intervention
III. Signaling Skills to the LM It is costly to hire workers
(because it is costly to fire them)
Few good ways to signal skills School certificate Held a previous job
Constraints Intervention
III. Signaling Skills to the LM It is costly to hire workers
(because it is costly to fire them)
Few good ways to signal skills School certificate Held a previous job
Skills certification/ Skills Qualifications Framework
Training center accreditation
Constraints Intervention
IV. Capital Constraints
Constraints to starting a business? Financial capital Social capital Human capital
Constraints Intervention
IV. Capital ConstraintsConstraints to starting a
business? Financial capital Social capital Human capital
Micro-finance
Entrepreneurship mentoring
Entrepreneurship training
Bundled?
Constraints Intervention
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
15 18 21 24 27 30 33 36 39 42 45 48 51 54 57 60 63 66 69
Formal Informal Self employed Unpaid
Share of each age group in each sector, 1st quintile (Brazil)
Source: Cunningham, et. al. 2008
V. Insufficient Labor Demand No growth/restrictive labor
legislation Too costly to hire
Constraints Intervention
V. Insufficient Labor Demand No growth/restrictive labor
legislation Too costly to hire
Public works/service + training (SR)
Wage subsidy for low productivity workers
Constraints Intervention
Pulling it all together: Evidence-based ALMP in response to employment barriers
Constraint ALMP with some evidenceTechnical , General, Life skills mismatch
Job training+, life skills, information about returns to skill investments
Poor matching Employment offices
Poor signaling Skills certification, training program accreditation
Lack of entrepreneurial capital (skills, social, $)
Mentoring, entrep training, micro-finance
Insufficient labor demand Public works/service, wage subsidies
18
Conclusions & Next Steps We can conclude
Many different constraints may interrupt the job match process
Probably more than one constraint at play in any country/for any target group … what are they?
We have some ideas about interventions Moving forward
Develop diagnostic tools & identify the constraints that are most important in specific contexts
Continue to build the knowledge base of effective interventions
We welcome your feedback When applying the framework to
your region Are there constraints that we missed? Is there diagnostic literature that we
missed? Are there interventions that we should
be aware of?
Wendy: [email protected]
Laura: [email protected]
References Betcherman, Gordon, Martin Godfrey, Susana Puerto, Friederike Rother, and Antoneta
Stavreska “A Review of Interventions to Support Young Workers: Findings of the Youth Employment Inventory” SP Discussion Paper #715 (World Bank)
Blom and Hobbs( 2007) School and Work in the Eastern Caribbean: Does the Education System Adequately Prepare Youth for the Global Economy? (World Bank: Washington, DC)
Cunningham, Wendy, Lorena Cohan, Sophie Naudeau, and Linda McGinnis. 2008. Supporting Youth at-Risk: A Policy Toolkit for Middle-Income Countries (World Bank)
Cunningham, Wendy, Linda McGinnis, Rodrigo Garcia-Verdu, Cornelia Tesliuc, and Dorte Verner (2008) Youth at-Risk in Latin America and the Caribbean: Understand the Causes, Realizing the Potential (World Bank: Washington, DC).
Peeters, Pia, Wendy Cunningham, Arvil van Adams, and Gayatri Acharya (2009) Youth Employment in Sierra Leone: Sustainable Livelihood Opportunities in a Post-Conflict Setting (World Bank: Washington, DC)
Puerto, Olga (2007). “Learning from International Experience: The Youth Employment Inventory” (World Bank: Washington, DC)
Sanchez Puerta, Laura. 2008. “Managing Labor Market Risks and Creating Better Jobs: Alternative Designs for Income Protection and Active Labor Market Policies” (manuscript)
Katz, Elizabeth. 2008. “Programs Promoting Young Women’s Employment: What Works?” http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTGENDER/Resources/GenderYouthEmploymentKatz.pdf