Reader’s guide
The OECD is engaging with ASEAN economies to help them prepare evidence-based approaches to job creation, employment and productivity. This includes applying an OECD gap assessment in three case study areas, including 1) Taguig City; 2) Cebu City; and 3) Davao City. In these areas, in-depth work based on quantitative analysis, as well as document reviews and interviews with key stakeholders was undertaken to analyse local employment and economic development activities.
In each city, interviews were conducted with a wide set of stakeholders. In July 2016, local roundtables were held in each of the case study areas to discuss their key challenges as well as recent policy initiatives that have been introduced to foster human capital development. These meetings brought together a range of stakeholders, including relevant department officials in the fields of employment, economic development, and training; employers; and other local community and social development organisations.
OECD gap assessment
As part of the project, the OECD has drawn on its previous research to develop a set of best practice priorities which is used to assess local implementation practice through a gap assessment tool (see Box 1). The gap assessment enables local policy-makers to gain a stronger overview of the strengths and weaknesses of the current programme and policy efforts whilst better prioritising future actions. A value between 1 (low) to 5 (high) is assigned to each of the indicators corresponding to the relative strengths and weaknesses of local policy approaches based on best practices in other OECD countries. These indicators are established by looking at a range of quantitative and qualitative data at the local level.
1. Co-ordination between employment, skills and economic development policies – Better aligning policies and programmes to local economic development
1.1. Degree of flexibility in designing and implementing policies and initiatives.
1.2. Degree of integration between employment, skills and economic development.
1.3. Degree of utilisation of local data in evidence-based policy making.
1.4. Capacities of employment services at the regional and local level.
2. Creating productive economies – Adding value through skills and avoiding the low skills trap
2.1. Extent to which training is available in a broad range of sectors, flexible and accommodating the needs of workers and unemployed individuals.
2.2. Degree of employer engagement in orienting skills development to demand and extent to which training meets business needs.
2.3. Degree of support to employers/SMEs in maximising skills utilisation, improving work organisation, human resource management, workforce planning and skills development.
3. Supporting entrepreneurship and economic development – Targeting policy to local employment sectors and investing in quality jobs
3.1. Extent to which programmes and services are adapted to local business demographics and profiles, addressing SME needs.
3.2. Policies to support and internationalise SMEs.
3.3. Degree of development of local entrepreneurial/innovation ecosystems, and extent of knowledge-sharing.
4. Ensure growth is inclusive – seizing economic and skills development opportunities to strengthen the vulnerable in the labour market
4.1. Extent to which effective policies are in place to support the labour market integration of disadvantaged groups and degree of flexibility in adapting programmes to different target groups.
4.2. Extent to which there are evidence-based tools used to measure disadvantage on the labour market and support multi-stakeholder approaches to tackling youth participation in the labour market.