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This report analyses the main challenges for labour market and social policies in Slovenia and considers the available policy options from the perspective of OECD countries' experience. It finds that Slovenia has one of the most equal income distributions in the world and a tradition of social dialogue. However, its unemployment insurance and employment service system are not sufficient to deal effectively with the present economic crisis and the country is also faced with rapid population ageing and a low employment rate among 55-to-64 year olds. This report makes recommendations to deal with these issues.

This review provides policy recommendations on how to improve the Korean pension system, building on the OECD’s best practices in pension design. It details the key features of the Korean pension system and identifies its strengths and weaknesses based on cross-country comparisons. The Korean pension system consists of a mandatory pay-as-you-go public scheme, occupational schemes and voluntary individual schemes. The review also covers the first layer of old-age social protection in Korea. This review is the eighth in the series of OECD Reviews of Pension Systems.

This review provides policy recommendations on how to improve the Slovenian pension system, building on the OECD’s best practices in pension design. It details the Slovenian pension system and identifies its strengths and weaknesses based on cross‑country comparisons. The Slovenian pension system consists of a mandatory defined benefit pay‑as‑you‑go public scheme and supplementary private schemes. The review also describes the first layer of old‑age social protection in Slovenia and discusses possible ways to improve communication about pensions. The OECD Reviews of Pension Systems: Slovenia is the seventh in the pension review series.

Encouraging entrepreneurship and facilitating the rapid growth of innovative SMEs is an effective means of creating jobs, increasing productivity and alleviating poverty. This publication describes recent trends concerning SMEs and entrepreneurship in OECD economies and beyond. It reports on a range of policy initiatives taken to enhance the vitality and competitiveness of the SME sector—which comprises over 95% of all enterprises and accounts for two thirds of private sector employment. Among the themes covered in this edition are regulatory and administrative burdens; entrepreneurship education and training; SME access to financing, technology, innovation and international markets; women’s entrepreneurship; and local policy issues. This third edition also includes the Istanbul Ministerial Declaration on Fostering the Growth of Innovative and Internationally Competitive SMEs.  

Science, technology and innovation foster competitiveness, productivity and growth. Over 200 indicators in the OECD Science, Technology and Industry (STI) Scoreboard show how OECD and major non-OECD economies are starting to move beyond the crisis, increasingly investing in the future.
The charts and underlying data in the OECD STI Scoreboard 2015 are available for download and selected indicators contain additional data expanding the time and country coverage of the print edition.

Economies and societies are undergoing digital transformations that bring both opportunities and challenges and countries’ preparedness to seize the benefits of a digital world is largely dependent on the skills of their population. This edition of the OECD Skills Outlook aims to understand how policies, and in particular those that affect skills development and use, can shape the outcomes of digital transformation and translate into more equally shared benefits among and within countries’ populations. Ensuring people can benefit from new technologies and are not left behind requires a comprehensive and co-ordinated policy effort. This package of co-ordinated policies needs to simultaneously promote digitalisation where the latter increases productivity and well-being, and otherwise cushion its negative impacts.

Lifelong learning is key if individuals are to succeed in labour markets and societies shaped by megatrends such as increases in life expectancy, rapid technological changes, globalisation, migration, environmental changes and digitalisation, as well as sudden shocks like the COVID-19 pandemic. In a fast-changing and uncertain world, lifelong learning can help individuals adapt and become resilient to external shocks. While government support remains valuable to ensure that major structural changes do not lead to deep tears in the social fabric, creating a culture of lifelong learning gives individuals themselves agency to manage change. This calls for evidence on the best ways to support lifelong learning journeys, so that individuals can “learn how to learn”. This edition of the OECD Skills Outlook 2021 explores how policies, particularly those that govern skills development and use, can best promote lifelong learning for all. The report exploits comparative quantitative data to highlight the key role played by socio-emotional and motivational factors in shaping successful engagement with lifelong learning. While such factors are essential to sustain lifelong learning in general, the pandemic has further increased their relevance.

Skills are vital for building resilient economies and societies. By helping individuals develop a diverse range of skills and empowering them to apply these skills effectively, skills policies play a crucial role in responding to emerging threats, such as environmental degradation and harmful applications of technologies used to collect, generate, and exchange information. This edition of the Skills Outlook highlights the importance of supporting individuals in acquiring a wide range of skills, at varying levels of proficiency, to promote economic and social resilience. Additionally, the report acknowledges the role of attitudes and dispositions in enabling skills development and effective skills use. It also emphasises the need for policy makers to monitor the costs associated with policies aimed at promoting the green and digital transition, and how the transition affects inequalities. Training opportunities that respond to emerging labour market needs and efforts to facilitate their uptake can promote a just and inclusive green and digital transition. In turn, education systems that equip young people not only with skills but attitudes to manage change can ensure that the green and digital transition is sustainable in the longer term.

The OECD Skills Strategy provides a strategic and comprehensive approach for ensuring that people and countries have the skills to thrive in a complex, interconnected and rapidly changing world. The updated 2019 OECD Skills Strategy takes account of the lessons learned from applying the original skills strategy in 11 countries since 2012, while also incorporating new OECD evidence about the skills implications of megatrends, such as globalisation, digitalisation, population ageing, and migration. The Strategy also incorporates new learning from across the OECD about skills policies that work in these three broad components: developing relevant skills over the life course, using skills effectively in work and society, and strengthening the governance of skills systems.

Skills are central to Austria’s future prosperity and the well-being of its people. The OECD Skills Strategy Diagnostic Report: Austria identifies 14 skills challenges for Austria. The project and this report build on both the insights from workshops as well as latest international comparative analysis from OECD and national sources. The report provides cases illustrating how other countries have tackled similar challenges, which can be used as input to potential policy options on how to tackle these challenges. The challenges are described under each of the main pillars of the OECD Skills Strategy. The first 11 challenges refer to specific outcomes across the three pillars of developing, activating and using skills. The next three challenges refer to the “enabling” conditions which strengthen the overall skills system. Success in tackling these skills challenges will boost performance across the whole skills system.

Skills are central to Korea’s future prosperity and the well-being of its people. The OECD Skills Strategy Diagnostic Report: Korea identifies 12 skills challenges that need to be addressed to build a more effective skills system in Korea. These challenges were identified through: 1) the OECD’s recent data and research; 2) the national data and research; 3) a diagnostic workshop 4) fact-finding interviews with key stakeholders in Korea. The report has also benefited from ongoing dialogue and consultation with a wide range of Korean stakeholders. The first nine challenges refer to specific outcomes across the three pillars of developing, activating and using skills. The next three challenges refer to the “enabling” conditions that strengthen the overall skills system. Success in tackling these skills challenges will boost performance across the whole skills system. All of the challenges identified are strongly interlinked, and their connections with each other are identified throughout the report. Failure to look beyond policy silos will have implications for specific groups in Korea, such as youth, as well as for the economy and society’s ability to recover following the economic crisis and build a solid foundation for future prosperity.

Skills are central to Portugal’s future prosperity and the well-being of its people. The OECD Skills Strategy Diagnostic Report: Portugal identifies 12 skills challenges for Portugal. The first nine challenges refer to specific outcomes across the three pillars of developing, activating and using skills. The next three challenges refer to the “enabling” conditions that strengthen the overall skills system. Success in tackling these skills challenges will boost performance across the whole skills system. All of the challenges identified are strongly interlinked, and their connections with each other are identified throughout the report at the end of each challenge. Failure to look beyond policy silos will have implications for specific groups in Portugal, such as youth, as well as for the economy and society’s ability to recover after the economic crisis and build a solid foundation for future prosperity.