3. Coverage and inclusiveness
A major challenge in most countries is to ensure that all adults have access to information and guidance to make informed career and training decisions. In Latin America, unemployed adults in particular use career guidance much less than those who are employed, despite having a greater need for support. This chapter presents survey findings on the use and inclusiveness of career guidance among adults in Latin America, the motivation for using career guidance, as well as the barriers to doing so. It describes the role of online career guidance platforms as well as more informal channels of career support, such as speaking with family and friends.
Career guidance has the potential to reduce high labour market inequality in Latin America by ensuring that all adults, regardless of their socio-economic group, have access to good information and advice to make well-informed educational, training and occupational choices. The key findings of this chapter are outlined as follows:
A substantial share of adults use career guidance services in the four Latin American countries covered by the SCGA. Some 42% of adults in these countries have spoken with a career guidance advisor over the last 5 years, and most of them had multiple interactions with advisors. On average across all countries where survey data is available, the coverage of career guidance services for adults was very similar (43%).
However, the use of career guidance services is below average for many groups who already face disadvantages in the labour market and train less. A particularity that stands out across the four Latin American countries is the much lower use of career guidance services among unemployed adults (26% use career guidance) versus employed adults (48%), with a gap of 23 percentage points (pp). In non-Latin American countries covered by the SCGA, the divide between these two groups is almost non-existent. Important gaps in the four Latin American countries covered by this study also exist between high- and low-educated individuals (16 percentage points), prime-age (25-54) and older adults (over 54) (11 percentage point), as well as those in formal and informal employment (7 percentage points), with the latter groups using services less.
The most common reasons to use career guidance services in Latin America are wanting to progress in one’s current job (40%), needing help to choose a study/training opportunity (29%) and wanting to change jobs (23%). Compared to the overall average of all nine countries in the survey (28%), adults in Latin American countries are substantially less likely to report “looking for a job” as a reason (21%).
Among adults who did not speak with a career guidance advisor over the past 5 years, 37% did not feel the need to, a share which is considerably lower than the average of all countries in the survey (50%). Another 33% of adults in Latin American countries reported not knowing these services existed. This percentage is higher than the average across all countries in the SCGA, which suggests a lack of information or availability of services in Latin American countries.
A large share of adults in Latin American countries looked online for information on employment, education and training, ranging from 78% in Mexico to over 90% in Chile. This is higher than the overall average across all nine countries in the SCGA (73%). Most career guidance users looked online for information in addition to talking to a counsellor.
Perhaps to compensate for a lack of formal career guidance opportunities, adults in Latin America are more likely to participate in informal career development opportunities (70% of adults versus 60% in all countries in the SCGA), like visiting a job fair or training provider. An important source of advice are family and friends, on whom at least 80% of adults in Chile, Argentina and Mexico rely “very much” or “to some degree”, which is higher than the average of all countries in the SCGA.
This chapter assesses the coverage and inclusiveness of career guidance in the four Latin American countries covered in this review: Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Mexico. Coverage is measured by the share of adults using career guidance services. Inclusiveness is measured by assessing how the use of career guidance varies according to socio-economic characteristics, employment status, contract type, sector and occupation.
Analysing the inclusiveness of career guidance systems is especially relevant in Latin America, where labour market inequalities are particularly high. Career guidance services that are offered at low or no cost for all adults can address inequalities by “levelling the playing field”: ensuring that high-quality support and information on the labour market, training and job opportunities are available to all adults.
This chapter analyses online survey data on the participation and inclusiveness of career guidance services, the main reasons why adults typically seek career guidance in the first place in Latin America, the key barriers they face to the use of career guidance services and the use of online information as well as more informal career support.
Some form of guidance services are available in each of the Latin American countries covered in this study. Career guidance is most often provided by private providers and privately paid, but the PES also offers services in each of the countries (see Chapter 4). A key question is whether existing services are accessible to all those who need them. To shed light on the coverage and inclusiveness of career guidance systems for adults, this report builds on the results of the 2020 OECD Survey of Career Guidance for Adults (SCGA), carried out in nine countries: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, France, Germany, Italy, Mexico, New Zealand and the United States (see survey methodology in Annex).
The use of career guidance is similar across all countries in the survey. According to the SCGA, 42% of adults have spoken with a career guidance advisor over the past five years on average across the Latin American countries covered in the survey – only 1 percentage point below the overall average (Figure 3.1). This means that the share of adults who use career guidance services in Latin American countries is very similar to the share in other countries in the SCGA. Adults in Argentina were most likely to speak with a career guidance advisor (43% of adults), while adults in Mexico were somewhat less likely to (41%).1
On average, adults in Latin American countries have more interactions with their advisors per year than the average across countries covered by the SCGA. The number of interactions between the adult and the advisor provides insights into whether there is continuity in the service delivery i.e. whether there is any follow-up after a first consultation. Most adults in Latin American countries who used career guidance services have multiple interactions with advisors (79% of adults). Figure 3.2 shows that only one in six adults (21%) who spoke with a career guidance advisor over the past year had a single interaction; 32% had two interactions, 23% had three interactions and 24% spoke with a career guidance advisor more than three times.
Note: Average – Latin American countries includes Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Mexico. Average includes Argentina, Brazil, Chile, France, Germany, Italy, Mexico, New Zealand and the United States.
Source: OECD 2020 Survey of Career Guidance for Adults (SCGA).
Note: Average – Latin American countries includes Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Mexico. Average includes Argentina, Brazil, Chile, France, Germany, Italy, Mexico, New Zealand and the United States.
Source: OECD 2020 Survey of Career Guidance for Adults (SCGA).
Inclusive career guidance systems are accessible to everybody and especially reach disadvantaged groups who are most in need of advice about labour market and training options. This includes unemployed people, adults with low levels of education, migrants with foreign qualifications, or older individuals with outdated skills.
Based on the results of the SCGA, Figure 3.3 shows the differences in the use of career guidance services by socio-economic and demographic groups in the Latin American countries covered by the survey. The largest gaps exist between employed and unemployed adults (23 percentage points), high- and low-educated individuals (16 percentage points), prime-age (25-54) and older adults (over 54) (11 percentage points), and those in formal and informal employment (7 percentage points). Smaller gaps are found between urban and rural areas (3 percentage points), men and women (3 percentage points), as well as permanent and temporary employees (3 percentage points). The data indicates that access to career guidance services is more limited for those adults who already face disadvantages on the labour market.
Compared with all countries covered by the survey, the most notable difference in the results for Latin American countries concerns the unemployed. Across the four Latin American countries in the survey, the gap in coverage between the employed and unemployed is very large (23 percentage points), compared to a much smaller gap across all nine countries in the survey (10 percentage points). In non-Latin American countries in the survey, unemployed adults use career guidance as much as employed adults, with no gap between the two groups. The data suggests that access to career guidance services for unemployed adults might be particularly limited in Latin American countries.
There are other notable differences: the gap in the use of career guidance services between high-educated and low-educated adults is slightly higher in Latin American compared with other countries covered by the SCGA. In contrast, the gap between adults in urban and rural areas, between men and women as well as permanent and temporary employees on average is slightly smaller in Latin American countries than other countries in the survey.
Note: Average of Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Mexico. The sample size of living in rural area is smaller than 50 observations in all four countries. The low educated group includes adults with a low or medium level of education (i.e. less than a bachelor’s degree).
Source: OECD 2020 Survey of Career Guidance for Adults (SCGA).
The use of career guidance services also varies by occupation, with people working in low-skilled occupations using career guidance services less than those in high-skilled occupations (Figure 3.4) On average across the four Latin American countries, the use of career guidance is lowest among adults in less-skilled occupations (e.g. elementary occupations,2 craft and related trade workers): in these jobs, just over 30% of adults have spoken to a career guidance advisor over the past five years. These also tend to be the occupations with a relatively higher risk of automation, according to OECD analysis (Nedelkoska and Quintini, 2018[1]).The use of career guidance services is highest among more skilled occupations, such as managers, technicians, professionals or skilled agricultural workers, where the share is 50% or more. This pattern is very similar across OECD countries with available data.
Note: Average – Latin American countries includes Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Mexico. Average includes Argentina, Brazil, Chile, France, Germany, Italy, Mexico, New Zealand and the United States. Elementary occupations include: cleaners and helpers; labourers in mining, construction, manufacturing and transport. Professionals include: science and engineering professionals, health professionals, teaching professionals, business and administration professionals, information and communications technology professionals, legal, social and cultural professionals. The sample sizes of starred occupations are smaller than 50 in these 9 countries.
Source: OECD 2020 Survey of Career Guidance for Adults (SCGA).
Adults in Latin America pursue career guidance for slightly different reasons than adults in other countries. The most common reasons are wanting to progress in one’s current job (40%), needing help to choose a study/training opportunity (29%) and wanting to change jobs (23%) (Figure 3.5). Compared with the overall average of countries in the survey, adults in Latin American countries are less likely to report “looking for a job” as the reason for seeking career guidance (21% versus 28%). This may reflect fewer opportunities for career guidance provided by the public employment service in Latin American countries, or less generous unemployment insurance. Jobseekers without generous unemployment insurance are under higher pressure to find a job quickly to be able to support themselves and their families, which might reduce the likelihood that they take the time to use career guidance services when looking for a job. Uncertainty about future prospects or being required to speak with a career guidance advisor were the least common reasons reported (13% and 12% of adults, respectively).
While uncertainty about future prospects was not a common reason for speaking with a career guidance advisor, adults who are more worried about their labour market prospects are more likely to seek career guidance. This is the case on average across the nine countries in the survey, but the pattern is substantially more pronounced in Latin American countries (Figure 3.6). Adults who are more negative about their labour market prospects were much more likely to speak with a career guidance advisor. Confidence about one’s future labour market prospects is a crucial indicator for whether a person speaks to a career guidance advisor in Latin America.
Note: Average – Latin American countries includes Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Mexico. Average includes Argentina, Brazil, Chile, France, Germany, Italy, Mexico, New Zealand and the United States. Respondents could choose more than one answer. Data refers to the last time the respondent spoke to a career guidance advisor.
Source: OECD 2020 Survey of Career Guidance for Adults (SCGA).
Note: Average includes Argentina, Brazil, Chile, France, Germany, Italy, Mexico, New Zealand and the United States.
Source: OECD 2020 Survey of Career Guidance for Adults (SCGA).
To make career guidance systems more inclusive, it is important to understand the barriers adults face in accessing these services. Among adults who did not speak with a career guidance advisor over the past 5 years, 37% did not feel the need to (Figure 3.7). These adults may already be established in their careers, not planning a change in their working lives or not interested in education and training opportunities. Another explanation is that they are not fully aware of or informed about the benefits of receiving professional career guidance. This share of adults is relatively low, however, compared to the average of all nine countries in the survey, where 50% of respondents did not feel the need to talk with a career guidance advisor.
About 40% of adults did not speak to a career guidance advisor either because they did not know such services existed (33%) or they did not find one (7%). Both of these shares are higher than the overall average (24% and 4%, respectively). The data suggests that there is a lack of information about career guidance services and more efforts are needed to advertise them more comprehensively in Latin America. It is also possible that adults are not aware of career guidance services because these services are not available nationwide or do not sufficiently cover all social groups.
8% of adults reported that career guidance services are too costly, which is considerably above the SCGA average (5%). This suggests that introducing financial incentives to use career guidance services might have a bigger impact in Latin America than elsewhere. Other reasons why adults did not speak with a career guidance advisor over the past 5 years were that they did not have time, either due to work obligations, or family and childcare responsibilities (7% and 5%, respectively). The remaining adults did not do so because career guidance services were delivered at an inconvenient time or place (2%), or because of the poor quality of career guidance advisors (1%).
In Latin America, informal workers, low-educated adults, and the unemployed tend to report not needing career guidance less than their more advantaged counterparts. These groups are likely aware of their greater vulnerability in the labour market, in terms of higher risk of job automation, lower job security and a lower likelihood of participating in training. However, of those adults who did not feel the need for career guidance, some are part of groups who would potentially benefit from career guidance services. In particular, 52% of older adults and 44% of temporary workers said that they did not feel the need to speak to a career guidance advisor – shares that are higher than among younger cohorts and permanent workers (Figure 3.8). Men and women as well as foreign and native-born adults were equally likely to respond that they did not feel the need for guidance (37%).
Note: Average of Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Mexico. The sample size of living in rural area is smaller than 50 observations in all four countries. The sample size of foreign-born is smaller than 50 observations in all four countries. The sample size of temporary contract is smaller than 50 observations in all four countries. The sample size of informal employment is smaller than 50 observations in all four countries. The low educated group includes adults with a low or medium level of education (i.e. less than a bachelor’s degree).
Source: OECD 2020 Survey of Career Guidance for Adults (SCGA).
Online information is a good complement to speaking with a career guidance advisor and a possible alternative where such guidance services are not available. It is also not affected by several of the barriers mentioned above (inconvenient time or place, high costs). Based on the SCGA, 84% of adults in the Latin American countries covered by the survey looked for information online over the past 5 years, which is higher than the average across all nine countries covered by the SCGA. Mexico had the lowest share of adults looking for information online (78% of adults) and Chile had the highest share at over 90% (Figure 3.9). These high numbers may be due to relatively high access to internet in this region.3 However, they could also be due to limited availability of subsidised opportunities to speak with a career guidance advisor (see Chapter 4).
Survey evidence suggests that online information complements rather than replaces speaking to a career guidance advisor. Among the 43% of adults who spoke with a career guidance advisor, nearly all (93%) also looked for information online; 40% of adults both looked for information online and spoke with a career guidance advisor (see Figure 3.10).
Note: Average includes Argentina, Brazil, Chile, France, Germany, Italy, Mexico, New Zealand and the United States.
Source: OECD 2020 Survey of Career Guidance for Adults (SCGA).
Note: Average includes Argentina, Brazil, Chile, France, Germany, Italy, Mexico, New Zealand and the United States. Average – Latin American countries includes Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Mexico.
Source: OECD 2020 Survey of Career Guidance for Adults (SCGA).
Some adults are less likely to look online for information about education and employment opportunities (Figure 3.11). The largest gaps in looking for information online are found between prime-age (25-54) and older (over 54) adults (13 percentage points), followed by high- and low-educated adults (9 percentage point). Older and lower-educated adults may feel less comfortable initiating their own online information searches, or may not have the necessary digital skills. In contrast, adults in informal employment look for information online more often than those in formal employment (5 percentage points), perhaps to compensate for having fewer opportunities to speak with a career guidance advisor than workers in formal employment. Gaps between the different groups using information online are less pronounced compared to speaking to a career guidance advisor, which suggests that access to online information is more inclusive.
Note: Average of Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Mexico. The sample size of living in rural area is smaller than 50 observations in all four countries. The low educated group includes adults with a low or medium level of education (i.e. less than a bachelor’s degree).
Source: OECD 2020 Survey of Career Guidance for Adults (SCGA).
Adults look online for information on employment, education and training opportunities for various reasons. The highest share of adults who look for information online are looking for information on education and training programmes. Figure 3.12 highlights the main types of information that adults look for online:
The most common type of information that adults look for online is information about available education and training programmes (46% of adults who look online). About a third of all respondents are interested to learn more about the cost of education and training programmes (31%). Fewer adults look for financial support available to meet training costs (14%) and for information on the quality of training providers (13%). Finding information about the quality of training providers was a lower priority among adults in Latin American countries (13%) compared with non-Latin American countries (18%), where use of quality labels is more widespread than in the Latin American countries.
More than a third of adults (36%) looked for information on how to search/apply for a job.
A quarter of adults (26%) look online to understand how to have their skills and competences certified or assessed (e.g. through recognition of prior learning processes).
Some adults go online to find out about jobs in demand (or those forecasted to be in demand) (27 and 18%, respectively, in Latin American and non-Latin American countries).
Note: Average of Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Mexico.
Source: OECD 2020 Survey of Career Guidance for Adults (SCGA).
The offer of online sources for information on employment, education and training opportunities varies greatly among the four countries (Table 3.1). Most public career guidance and labour intermediation platforms focus on one aspect of guidance such as posting vacancies or training options, compiling labour market information or support with administrative procedures. Many platforms offer users to create an account and facilitate follow-up over the job search process, e.g. Emprega Brasil, Chile’s Bolsa Nacional de Empleo and Mexico’s Portal del Empleo. Most websites that include a job portal, have a dedicated interface for potential employees and one for employers. Some of the websites enable direct interaction with a career guidance advisor by telephone or chat, such as Mexico’s Portal del Empleo or ChileValora. The Observatorio laboral website in Mexico is a good practice example of a one-stop shop offering personalised guidance about job vacancies and training opportunities based on a skills assessment (Box 3.1).
The Secretariat of Labor and Social Welfare, through the National Employment Service (STPS and SNE, for their acronym in Spanish) runs the dedicated career guidance platform Observatorio Laboral. The platform serves as a one-stop shop, connecting a range of guidance tools, relying on different sources of information and data, as well as using automated processes for interactive guidance experiences.
A vocational test composed of 40 questions about the user’s skills and preferences. After completing the test, the website suggests training programmes and job profiles that match the provided information on the user.
A section where the users can look up detailed descriptions of the training and/or job profiles that have been suggested to them.
A vacancy database that can be sorted by indicators of the user’s interest, e.g. the jobs with the highest salaries, those most demanded by young people, careers with the highest participation of women, as well as a training database with direct links to the training offer, including specific upskilling and reskilling opportunities for adults.
An automated tool that compares two career options, e.g. in terms of salary or gender ratio.
Videos of workers presenting their jobs and what job seekers can expect from choosing that profession, as well as videos presenting study programmes, not only what is taught, but also what that knowledge is used for in the labour market.
A detailed guideline on how to write CVs and application letters, how to prepare for an interview, access to educational and labour market publications and guidance on how to become self-employed.
The website uses data collected by the Ministry of Education in Mexico (Secretaría de Educación Pública, SEP) on enrollment and graduation at the level of professional education, and other resources such as the National Occupation and Labour Survey (Encuesta Nacional de Ocupación y Empleo, ENOE), the National Occupational Classification System (Sistema Nacional de Clasificación de Ocupaciones, SINCO) and the information of the Mexican Classification of Study Programs by Fields of Academic Training (CMPE, by its Spanish acronym). While the design and language is rather directed at a younger target group, its offer is just as useful for all adults.
Source: Gobierno de México (n.d.[2]). Observatorio Laboral, www.observatoriolaboral.gob.mx/#/ (accessed on 4 March 2021). www.observatoriolaboral.gob.mx
Adults who did not look for information online (only 27% of adults in Latin American countries), reported similar barriers as for not using career guidance more generally (Figure 3.13). These included: not needing the information (47%), not having the time to do so for work-related or family related reasons (15% and 10%, respectively) or a lack of awareness about the availability of information online (15%). Not having internet access or computer skills were very minor barriers (6% and 4%, respectively). This will partly reflect that adults completing the online survey were more likely than those in the overall population to have internet access and digital skills.
Note: Average of Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Mexico.
Source: OECD 2020 Survey of Career Guidance for Adults (SCGA).
Adults in Latin American countries tend to rely more heavily on the advice of family and friends when making career and training decisions. At least 80% of adults in Chile, Argentina and Mexico rely “very much” or “to some degree” on the advice of family and friends to make choices that will affect working life (Figure 3.14). This is higher than the average observed across the nine countries covered by the SCGA (71%). Brazil is closer to the average (69% of adults). Higher reliance on family and friends may reflect strong social networks in these countries. It could also reflect that adults in Chile, Argentina and Mexico have fewer opportunities to access subsidised formal career support (see Chapter 4). Such reliance on family and friends for information could compound inequalities in the labour market, as highly educated adults or those from more privileged socio-economic backgrounds tend to have networks of family and friends who are better informed and better connected.
Adults in Latin American countries are also more likely to participate in informal career development activities than adults in other countries (Figure 3.15). Examples of career development activities include speaking with a human resource professional or a manager at work, visiting a job fair, visiting a training provider, participating in a job rotation/work site visit, or doing an internship. About 70% of adults in Latin American countries participated in at least one of these activities, which is above the 60% average across all nine countries in the SCGA. Again, this could point to fewer subsidised formal career guidance opportunities in Latin American countries. The most common activities were visiting a job fair (21%) and visiting a training provider (15%). Career development activities that take place within a worker’s company (e.g. job rotation, internship, discussing performance with manager or HR professional) were least common, with fewer than 15% of adults participating in each of these activities.
Note: Average includes Argentina, Brazil, Chile, France, Germany, Italy, Mexico, New Zealand and the United States.
Source: OECD 2020 Survey of Career Guidance for Adults (SCGA).
Note: Average – Latin American countries includes Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Mexico. Average includes Argentina, Brazil, Chile, France, Germany, Italy, Mexico, New Zealand and the United States. Respondents could choose more than one answer. Data refers to the last time the respondent spoke to a career guidance advisor.
Source: OECD 2020 Survey of Career Guidance for Adults (SCGA).
Low-educated adults, unemployed and older adults are less likely to use career guidance than their counterparts in Latin America. Unemployed adults in particular use career guidance services much less than employed adults in Latin America, while there is almost no gap in coverage between these groups for other countries in the survey. Poor access to career guidance for the unemployed in Latin America likely reflects a lack of subsidised career guidance offered by the public employment service (see Chapter 4). To tackle these barriers to equal access, countries should consider expanding public career guidance provision to offer affordable or free high quality career guidance services to vulnerable adults (see Chapter 4) and designing financial measures to reduce the direct and indirect costs of career guidance for vulnerable adults (see Chapter 6).
The analysis also shows that many adults are not aware of career guidance services, which may in part be due to a lack of public information about them. Since they are not aware of career guidance services, adults rely more on informal channels, such as family and friends. Such reliance on family and friends for information risks compounding inequalities in the labour market. To improve access to formal career guidance opportunities, countries should:
References
[4] Chevalier, S. (2020), Internet use in Latin America, Statista, https://www.statista.com/topics/2432/internet-usage-in-latin-america/ (accessed on 16 February 2021).
[2] Gobierno de México (n.d.), Observatorio Laboral, http://www.observatoriolaboral.gob.mx/#/ (accessed on 4 March 2021).
[1] Nedelkoska, L. and G. Quintini (2018), “Automation, skills use and training”, OECD Social, Employment and Migration Working Papers, No. 202, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://dx.doi.org/10.1787/2e2f4eea-en.
[3] OECD (2021), Career Guidance for Adults in a Changing World of Work, Getting Skills Right, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://dx.doi.org/10.1787/9a94bfad-en.
[5] Van Der Heyden, J. et al. (2017), Additional weighting for education affects estimates from a National Health Interview Survey, http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/eurpub/ckx005.
Notes
← 1. Online surveys have an inherent selectivity bias in that they over-represent the behaviour of individuals who tend to be online. These tend to be younger individuals with more formal education (Van Der Heyden et al., 2017[2]). Efforts were taken to mitigate this selectivity bias by imposing quotas on education, gender, region and age. See the survey methodology in the Annex for more details.
← 2. Elementary occupations include cleaners and helpers; labourers in mining, construction, manufacturing and transport.
← 3. In 2019, South America was the subregion in LAC with the largest internet penetration rate, with 72% of the population having access to this service (Chevalier, 2020[4]).