Uses of skills assessment and anticipation exercises

In this chapter, a review is made of the policy uses that are made of the information produced by skills assessment and anticipation exercises. This highlights the wide spectrum of applications in the areas of employment, education and training, and migration policy. Moreover, the information is used not just by government ministries, but also by the social partners. That said, there are important barriers that hinder such information from being more fully or effectively exploited for policy purposes. Some of these relate to methodological issues inherent to the exercises themselves, while others are concerned with a lack of stakeholder involvement, the absence of consensus around skills needs, poor dissemination to a wider audience and the scattered nature of the policy response.