4. Skills in the Basque Country
The Basque Country has achieved a high level of educational achievement. Low job quality and the demand for skills, however, are contributing to over-qualification in the region. The region benefits from a strong VET system and a host of active labour market programmes tailoring training and labour market insertion to job demand. Firms, meanwhile, could better utilise the skills of the workforce, while adult learning could help bridge gaps between worker skills and firm demand later in life. A renewed social dialogue roundtable is supporting these workplace changes. Dual education, meanwhile, is taking a more prominent role in the region, constituting an opportunity to expand to higher skill levels and vulnerable groups.
Job polarisation has accelerated in the region since the 2008 crisis. Middle skill jobs have decreased by over 6.0 percentage points, while low skill and high skilled grew by 1.6 and 4.8 percentage points respectively since 2000. Automation is likely to drive middle skill job loss in the region, while workforce upskilling and changes in wage-setting may have also contributed to polarisation.
In 2018, 50% of the Basque population had attained tertiary education or higher, an 18% rise from the level of educational attainment in 2000. The Basque population has attained a higher tertiary educational rate than the OECD average of 36.9% and 27.3% in Spain.
This progress, however, is not benefiting the region fully, as over 33% of people work in jobs below their education level, recording the second-highest over-qualification rate in Spain. High over-qualification constitutes a missed opportunity to move into higher level activities and raise labour productivity, while helping workers secure higher quality jobs.
At the same time, firms are declaring hiring difficulties. In 2016, 48% of firms surveyed by the local employer federation reported difficulties hiring, a number that rose to 71% in 2018. Low job quality and mismatch are the most likely drivers of hiring difficulties, though an employer survey run by the Basque government could refine information on skills use and skills demand.
The region’s renewed social dialogue round table, the Mesa de Diálogo Social, is moving towards a social pact for the future of work, and creating new labour market initiatives. These are opportunities to support workers adapt skills and for firms to strengthen the quality of jobs.
Adult learning has progressed in the Basque Country. The latest OECD survey data shows that around 46% of adults participate in adult learning, around the same proportion as in Spain but lower than the OECD average of 49%. Evidence from Spain, however, suggests adult learning funds could be better used by companies, particularly to reduce skills mismatch.
Between 2011 and 2018, the region’s VET system of excellence has continued to grow, with enrolment increasing from 34 000 to 40 000. Dual VET has shown signs of effectiveness for job placement as well as student and firm satisfaction. International examples exist to expand apprenticeships to university, while reinforcing the capacity of training centres to adapt to dual education.
In section 4.1, the skills of the Basque workforce will be analysed, with a particular attention to the polarisation of jobs and skills mismatch. The chapter will also turn to the Basque Country’s adult learning, social dialogue and Vocational Education and Training (VET) system in sections 4.2 and 4.3.
4.1.1. The 2008 crisis likely accelerated job polarisation in the Basque Country
The Basque labour market has polarised between 2000 and 2017, a process by which the relative shares of low and high skill jobs grow, while those at the middle of the skill distribution decline. Compared to other regions in Spain, polarisation has been more moderated (Figure 4.1). In the 2000-2017 period, as a share of total employment, middle skill jobs have decreased by over 6 percentage points, while low skilled and high skilled have grown by 1.6 and 4.8 percentage points respectively. In Spain, middle skill jobs decreased their share of total employment by nearly 8 percentage points, while low and high skill jobs increased 3.2 and 5.7 percentage points respectively. In total jobs, the Basque Country gained over 60 000 high skill jobs and almost 29 000 low skill jobs, while it lost nearly 34 000 middle skill jobs.
OECD calculations suggest the Basque Country has not upskilled its jobs to the same degree as other regions in Spain. In Catalonia and Madrid, the share of high skill jobs grew by 6.9 and 10.4 percentage points respectively. The shares of middle skill jobs in Catalonia and Madrid, meanwhile, declined by 9.6 and 11.1 percentage points respectively. This trend suggests the Basque Country has retained a greater share of middle skill occupations than other large economic regions in Spain, while creating a more moderate share of high skill jobs. Evidence from Chapter 1 suggests the Basque Country has struggled to generate high skill occupations associated with the service sector. The region’s Smart Specialisation Strategy (RIS3), planning investments in fields such as biotechnology and energy, may help diversify the region’s employment base to mitigate this challenge.
Middle skill job loss may have accelerated in the Basque Country after 2008, before recovering. Indeed, OECD calculations complement research on the Spanish labour market before the crisis. Between 1995 – 2007 and 1990 – 2008, research has found general upskilling in Spain, including a growth in middle-skilled occupations (Fernández-Macías, 2012[1]) (Oesch and Rodríguez Menés, 2011[2]). This may indicate the 2008 and 2010 crises concurred with middle skill job loss in the Basque Country. In particular, middle skill industrial occupations where amongst those that decreased the most in the prolonged economic downturn that followed the 2008 crisis. Meanwhile, low skill job creation across Spain may have come predominately from the service sector (Peugny, 2019[3]).
Different forces may be driving polarisation in the Basque Country. According to routine biased technological change, firms have increasingly introduced labour-saving technology that has displaced routine manual and cognitive tasks (Sebastian and Biagi, 2018[4]). These tasks are associated with middle skill occupations. Meanwhile, high skill occupations benefit, as their demand rises due to their complementarity with new technologies. This may be a relevant explanation in the Basque Country, particularly in industrial manufacturing. Indeed, between 2016 and 2017, industry in Spain increased shipments of multipurpose industrial robots by 12%, compared to 3%, 5% and 6% increases in the UK, Germany and France respectively (International Federation of Robotics (IFR), 2018[5]). Rises in educational attainment may also explain polarisation, supporting the gradual growth of high skill jobs (Oesch and Rodríguez Menés, 2011[2]). Research also suggests changes in wage-setting institutions influence polarisation trends, particularly by facilitating the creation of low-paid personal service jobs, a notable trend across Spain (Oesch and Rodríguez Menés, 2011[2]).
Note: Employment change in percentages and thousands between 2000-17. Ceuta and Melilla were excluded from the figures due to the small number of observations.
Source: OECD calculations on Labour Force Surveys.
4.1.2. The Basque Country can benefit from its highly-educated workforce
In 2018, the level of tertiary educational attainment continued to increase, reaching much higher levels than the OECD. The share of the adult population with tertiary education has increased from 32% in 2000 to nearly 50% of the population in 2018 (Figure 4.2). In 2018, a significantly larger share of the Basque Country’s adult population had tertiary education compared to the Spanish and the OECD average, 37.3% and 36.9%. Meanwhile, the share of the population with upper secondary and post-secondary non-tertiary education, such as vocational training, has also increased from 16.6% in 2000 to 22.2% in 2018. Those with upper secondary and non-tertiary post-secondary education, however, constitute a smaller share of the adult population compared to the OECD average of 42.5%. The Basque Country’s highly education labour force corresponds to the progressive upskilling of the region’s jobs, and constitutes an advantage as the region seeks to diversify and upskill its job base. The lack of quality high skill jobs, including wages and career prospects, may be contributing to a high level of over-qualification in the region. Those with below upper secondary education, meanwhile, has decreased from 51.4% of the population in 2000 to 28.3% in 2018 in the Basque Country. These patterns followed trends in Spain and the OECD, as the proportion of those with tertiary education increased by 7.9%, 7.8% and 8.1% in the Basque Country, Spain and the OECD respectively between 2008 and 2018 (Figure 4.3).
Source: OECD Regional Database.
Note: Share of population 25 to 64 year-olds by educational attainment. Data for OECD for upper secondary and post-secondary non-tertiary education refers to upper secondary.
Source: OECD regional database and OECD Data for the OECD average.
4.1.3. The Basque workforce is ageing more rapidly than Spanish and OECD averages
The Basque workforce is ageing, creating an opportunity for new labour market entrants. Across developed economies, a falling birth rate, ageing and changing household compositions are putting pressure on social programmes and creating labour shortages (Pierson, 2001[6]). Spain’s population is estimated to fall by over 495 000 people between 2018 and 2030, or 1% of its population, and by approximately 3% in the Basque Country over the same period, or over 66 000 people (Orkestra, 2019[7]). The Basque Country’s labour force, meanwhile, is likely to shrink from 1.38 million working age people in 2016, or nearly 64% of the population, to 1.28 million in 2031, or nearly 59% of the population. These changes have put presses on the region’s dependency ratio, the ratio of dependents (people younger than 15 or older than 64) to the working-age population. Between 2008 and 2018, this ratio rose from 41.1% to 57.6%, significantly more than the increase from 45.6% to 51.9% in Spain, or 50.5% to 53.6% across the OECD (Figure 4.4).
4.1.4. There is potential for firms to better use the high level of skills in the region
Despite a highly education population, a large share of the workforce performs jobs under their skill level, driving over-qualification. Over-qualification is a situation where an individual’s highest qualification exceeds that required for the job. In the Basque Country, the OECD estimates that nearly 30.5% of those employed work in jobs that require lower qualifications than their educational attainment (Figure 4.5). Compared to other Spanish regions, the Basque Country recorded the second-highest over-qualification rate, with only Navarra recording a higher rate of 33.6%. The share of over-qualified workers is approximately 10% higher than large economic regions such as Catalonia or Madrid, where 20.8% and 18.6% are over-qualified, and 7 percentage points above the Spanish average of 22.9%. . Meanwhile, only 9.4% of those employed in the region work in jobs above their skill level, the second-lowest rate in Spain after Navarra, where 9.3% are under-qualified.
A better use of the region’s skills by firms could reduce over-qualification. The Basque Country has taken significant steps to better understand labour market needs, particularly through Lanbide, and has put in place industrial policies to diversify its economic base into innovation-intensive sectors. However, there is also increasing recognition that policy makers can look at the demand for skills by firms, including how skills are used and deployed in the workplace. At its core, skills use refers to the way that employers use the skills of employees in the workplace, and the alignment of the competences of workers to the demands and needs of the business.
One potential avenue for better skills use is promoting high-performance working practices (HPWPs) (OECD/ILO, 2017[8]). To introduce HPWP, companies can take a number of initiatives. For instance, companies can increase employee involvement in discussions of business strategy, which aims to more effectively use employees’ knowledge and experience. HPWP can also grant employees more freedom and autonomy to make decisions about how they perform their job, and facilitating skill acquisition at work. For instance, in northern Italy, the OECD and ILO have documented how local firms pooled investments and shared strategies to move up the product chain, creating a demand for more specific and higher skills within the firm (Box 4.1). Worker representatives were involved to include workers in decision-making. To encourage businesses to take these strategies, regional governments can set industry-wide standards, weigh in through agreements with social partners, support employers directly to change policies, leverage anchor institutions such as training centres, support the creation of a local brand or change legislation (OECD/ILO, 2017[9]).
Note 1: ISCED groups 0-2, 3, 4, 5-8. ISCED groups 303 and 304 are considered to be 300 according to the newest 2011 isced classification. There is no 400 for Basque Country.
Note 2. It is not advisable to use numbers of places with less than 100k employment (Ceuta and Melilla excluded from the graph).
Source: OECD calculations on European labour force survey.
Anchor institutions, such as universities or chambers of commerce, can reach out to employers to change work practices
In the Rivera del Brenta industrial district in Northern Italy, a local employers association helped to raise productivity and skills utilisation in local footwear firms. To do so, the local footwear firm association, the Associazione Calzaturifici della Riviera del Brenta (ACRiB), tapped into international markets for high-quality, high-fashion, shoes. ACRiB helped firms collaborate on a common marketing strategy, while also pooling investment in training provision and helping firms to collectively upgrade their product market strategies. The region traditionally hosted cottage-based shoe making industries which mainly employed low skill blue collar workers, but by moving up the product chain, has become a global centre for the production of shoes for brands such as Giorgio Armani, Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Prada and Christian Dior. Today, design and commercial development constitutes an anchor employer.
The privately-run local polytechnic, Politecnico Calzaturiero also played a role in this evolution, employing firm managers to train local workers and job seekers after hours, while also offering management training, and investing in research, innovation and technology transfer. The polytechnic invested in skills supply, whilst also optimising skills utilisation through new product development and improved human resource management. When firms are part of ACRiB, they are able to pool training, technology and new innovations. ACRiB has also worked in partnership with local unions to ensure that during this time, improved productivity resulted in higher wages and better health and safety for the workers.
Source: OECD/ILO (2017), Better Use of Skills in the Workplace: Why It Matters for Productivity and Local Jobs, OECD Publishing, Paris. http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/9789264281394-en.
4.1.5. Low job quality and mismatch drive hiring difficulties in the region
Despite high levels of unemployment, some firms in the Basque Country declare difficulties hiring. In 2016, 48% of firms surveyed by the Basque employer federation, Confebask, reported difficulties hiring, a number that rose to 71% in 2018 (Figure 4.6). When asked, 56.2% and 52.8% of firms declared a lack of training or specialisation, or lack of experience, respectively as the driving reasons for hiring difficulties (Figure 4.7). These firm responses reflect the skills mismatch in the region. Given the high level of educational attainment in the region, the mismatch may indicate firms may not be taking full advantage of the high qualifications of graduates and workers in the region, while suggesting a greater use of dual education and apprenticeships could help meet employers’ needs for more experience. A government-run employer skills surveys could be an opportunity to refine and expand data on skills needs in the Basque Country, receiving input from a wide range of firms. The Basque Country could look to countries such as the United Kingdom, where the Department of Education carries out extensive surveys of the skills needs and skills use every two years, receiving data from over 87 000 firms in 2017 (Box 4.2).
Recruitment difficulties in the region, however, are not limited to specialisation and experience, but also include poor working conditions and low wages in some sectors and occupations. In particular, Basque companies may not be offering wages and working conditions that corresponds with the workforce’s high educational attainment, or may come short of paying adequate wages in lower skill jobs. Indeed, according to the Confebask survey, nearly one-fifth of firms declared the candidates evaluation of low wages as a reason for hiring difficulties (Figure 4.7). These responses also confirm responses from Basque branches of Spanish unions, Comisiones Obreras (CCOO) and the Unión General de Trabajadores (UGI), from fieldwork carried out for this study, who highlighted precarious work as a major challenge. In Spain, OECD calculations suggest the share of middle paid jobs has decreased by 7.1% while that of low paid jobs has increased by 4.6% between 2006 and 2016, greater than the 2.5% increase in high pay jobs (OECD, 2019[10]). Out of 31 OECD countries estimated over this period, Spain records the highest loss of middle pay jobs and the second-highest increase in the share of low pay jobs.
The UK Department for education administers the UK Employer Skills Survey
As part of the UK Employer Skills Survey (ESS), the UK Department for Education surveys responses from over 87 000 employers. The ESS is conducted every two years and began in 2011. The survey is conducted by telephone in two parts: a first survey of UK firms, and a second follow-up survey which asks firms to respond at employer investments in training. The objective of the survey is to provide information on the skills issues facing employers in the country, specifically:
Skills challenges faces in existing workforces and during recruitment;
The relationship between skills challenges, training activity and business strategy.
In 2017, the survey found the following results related to key skills and training topics:
Recruitment and skill-shortages: recruitment has grown, but around one third of vacancies were hard to fill due to candidates’ lack of required skills or qualifications. This can increase the workload of other staff, lose business, delays and difficulties to change work practices;
Skills gaps: 13% of employers considered their existing workforce to lack certain skills. These gaps tended to be more prevalent in labour- and service-intensive occupations. The most common skill lacking was time-management, representing nearly two-thirds of gaps;
Training and workforce development: Two thirds of UK employers declared providing training for their staff over the past year;
High performance working: Around 9% of employers are considered to use high performance work practices. Employers that use such practices tend to provide more training to their employees.
The 2017 ESS report identifies four skills challenges facing the country: finding the right workers, optimising and improving existing worker skills, expanding employee training and improving workplace practices.
Source: UK Department for Education, Employer skills survey 2017, https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/746493/ESS_2017_UK_Report_Controlled_v06.00.pdf.
Social dialogue and adult learning can help ensure skills are best tailored to the region’s needs, while job quality is lifted
Social dialogue has been playing a renewed role in the Basque Country, while adult learning has progressed in the region. Both practices can play a role to ensure an inclusive future of work, particularly by lifting job quality and tailoring skills development to regional needs. This section will give an overview of both practices, and present international examples relevant for expansion in the Basque Country.
4.1.6. As social dialogue restarts in the region, the social pact for the 4.0 transition is a key opportunity for an inclusive industrial transition
In 2019, the Basque Country re-launched social dialogue through its Mesa de Diálogo Social, the region’s social dialogue roundtable. Decentralisation has allowed the development of significant social dialogue at the level of Spanish regions. The roundtable is made up two unions, the Unión General de Trabajadores (UGT) and the Confederación Sindical de Comisiones Obreras (CCOO), as well as Confebask and the Basque government. Eusko Langileen Alkartasuna-Solidaridad de los Trabajadores Vascos (ELA) and Langile Abertzaleen Batzordeak (LAB), the largest unions in the Basque Country, do not participate in this initiative. Through the roundtable, social partners help design public policies through thematic work sessions with the government. The work of the roundtable is meant to complement sectoral and enterprise-level collective bargaining.
In 2019, the Mesa de Diálogo Social reached multiple agreements in the areas of equality, employment, training, workplace health and industry. In the field of training, the roundtable agreed that lifelong learning needs to be promoted across sectors and levels, while reinforcing the Basque Country’s system of skills recognition (Mesa de Diálogo Social, 2019[11]). In the field of education, meanwhile, the roundtable agreed that the system needs to take into account both student preferences as well as professional opportunities, educational institutions lack resources to fully understand professional paths, students are not fully aware of Vocational Education and Training (VET) opportunities and gender bias persists.
The roundtable’s developing pact on the future of work in industry is a particularly innovative approach. The Pacto Social Vasco para una Transición justa a la Industria 4.0 aims to anticipate the changes entailed by this 4.0 industrial transition, with collaboration and consensus as key ways to agree on mechanisms to accompany workers through the transition (Mesa de Diálogo Social, 2019[11]). Through this pact, employer and worker representatives have been able to express their priorities, with particular attention on anticipating the new skills that will needed from the workforce.
The plan foresees tailored action plans around worker skills, to ensure workers are reskilled without losing their jobs. The Basque government will play a key role in this transition by putting in place specialisation programmes to train workers to respond to the skills needs identified by employers, while Lanbide will take the role of finding employment for those who face redundancies. The government’s social affairs department, meanwhile, will support worker incomes through this transition. This pact is a promising example of how social dialogue can anticipate changes in sectors most at risk of automation. To ensure its effectiveness, the Basque government can also assist employers to precisely identify upcoming skills needs, for instance through an employer survey or by supplementing employer analyses with Lanbide’s data on the labour market. Moreover, the pact could be a model for agreements on other challenges, such as over-qualification.
4.1.7. Social partners are creating labour market observatories in the Basque Country to raise job quality and better diagnose skills
Labour market observatories can form the basis of new tools to meet the future of work. In particular, the roundtable has agreed to create an Observatorio Vasco de Cultura Preventiva en la Pequeña y Mediana Empresa, or a Basque observatory for risk prevention in SMEs; to gather information on health and occupational safety in the region, formulate a diagnostic report, write specific action plans for sectors or occupations most at risk and for action items to be carried out and monitored by the roundtable (Mesa de Diálogo Social, 2019[11]). Similarly, the roundtable envisages the creation of skill observatory, to evaluate skills needs and to define and formulate job profiles. The roundtable also suggests the creation of a public sector employment observatory to analyse employment evolutions in public administration. These tools could serve as useful ways to carry out fieldwork among employers and workers on the evolving nature of tasks, merging this information with quantitative data available from Lanbide. Across the OECD, social partners are taking similar steps to prepare for the future of work and ensure workers are accompanied through reskilling. In Sweden, for instance, social partners created Job Security Councils, centres that are funded by employer contributions to provide services and guidance to workers who are laid off (Box 4.3). Such councils correspond to the region’s tradition of social dialogue, and could constitute a concrete step to ensure those workers who face redundancy due to automation are supported.
Sector-level agreements created job security councils to support employees through retraining
Job security councils provide guidance and support into education or employment to workers who have been dismissed collectively. The OECD has suggested job security councils may be one of the leading reasons for Sweden’s high rate of re-employment of displaced workers. The councils state that 90% of participating workers find a job, training or education within nine months. One of the key to job council’s effectiveness is early and proactive interventions. Councils intervene before workers are laid off, advising companies and workers as companies predict a process of structural change.
Their main interventions with workers include counselling, career planning, job-search assistance, start-up advice and retraining. Job assistance services are also highly individualised, as counsellors consider workers’ qualifications, professional interests, concerns and preferences. In 2020, employees losing their jobs received between EUR 2 000 and 3 000 for supportive measures, in addition to unemployment insurance. Councils also have a far reach as all workers in a sector are covered, and not only union members. Support is usually provided for six to eight months, though some agreements involve support that lasts up to five years or until the employee has found a new job.
Job security councils are created through collective bargaining agreements at the sectoral level. The councils are funded through employer contribution, currently 0.3% of payroll, as determined in sectoral agreements. Job councils can also be created in sub-sectors or occupations, involving less comprehensive support but lower payroll contributions. They are owned jointly by employer organisation and unions as a “collective agreement foundation” in Swedish law.
Source: (Eurofound, 2020[12]); (OECD, 2018[13]).
4.1.8. Lifelong learning is an opportunity for firms to help workers adjust skills
Significant progress have been made to build adult training institutions in the Basque Country. Already in 2003, in a key white paper, the Basque Government recognised the need to build stronger adult education institutions, along with a culture of lifelong learning, to face labour market evolutions (Gobierno Vasco, 2003[14]). Data from the OECD’s PIACC survey suggests 45.5% of adults between 25 and 64 years old participate in adult learning in the region, slightly below both Spanish and OECD averages (Figure 4.8). In Spain, 46.4% of the same group participate in adult learning, while 49.1% participate on average in OECD countries. Meanwhile, in Spanish regions such as Catalonia and Madrid, 55% and 48.2% of adults respectively participated in adult learning, higher than the share in the Basque Country. Given the region’s high degree of skills mismatch, deepening adult learning could be a key strategy to help employers invest and adjust worker skills as they progress in a company and market demand evolves. Regions across the OECD have started such efforts by raising awareness among companies about the benefits of strong workplace innovation strategies, of which adult learning can be a pillar. In Scotland, the government has engaged with the Scottish employer federation to host workshops with academics and practitioners about the benefits and concrete practices to better engage employees (Box 4.4).
Note: Data includes adults (25-64 years). Numbers for Spain are weighted country averages. Numbers for the OECD are simple averages from the OECD countries included in PIAAC. Data includes people who participated in formal or non-formal training for job-related or non-job related reasonsduring the previous year. Data includes Adult education/ training population (AET) - excludes youths 16-24 in initial cycle of studies (derived).
Source: OECD Survey of Adult Skills (PIAAC).
Developing innovative workplace practices based on staff development
Workplace innovation is a policy focus of the Scottish government’s inclusive growth strategy, it involves change driven by firms to develop new and improved ways of working. They launched an awareness-raising campaign that included workshops, master classes and support services to increase the adoption of workplace innovation practices by Scottish companies. As part of this effort, Scottish Enterprise, the Scottish employer confederation, organises workshops to work with firms to equip them with tools and techniques to develop and implement an action plan around three themes:
People –what it means to have an engaged workforce and the benefits this will bring to a firm. They also look at how effective communication and the development of staff can bring positive change.
Place –what culture an organisation has and how the physical and virtual workspace can help.
Practice –what workplace practices a firm can adopt to help nurture creativity, productivity and growth.
Workshops are either run as three half-day sessions or one full-day session exploring all three themes. Scotland Enterprise also offers workplace innovation masterclasses, which are a series of thought leadership events that bring together academic research with the experience of business leaders from across the UK to explore a variety of emerging workplace practices and leadership challenges.
Source: OECD (2020), "Better using skills in the workplace in the Leeds City Region, United Kingdom", OECD Local Economic and Employment Development (LEED) Papers, No. 2020/01, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/a0e899a0-en.
4.1.9. Firms can modify workplace organisation to reinforce a lifelong learning culture
Lifelong learning can be key for workers to adopt the skills required by employers in the Basque Country. According to an OECD survey, over 25% of survey respondent in the Basque Country indicated workplace responsibilities as the principle barriers to participating in adult learning (Figure 4.9). The high proportion of workers who listed this reason suggests workplace organisation can be an opportunity to increase lifelong learning rates in the region. (Eurofound, 2012[15])In the same survey, 22% of those who responded listed childcare or family responsibilities as leading reasons for not participating in adult learning, while 10.1% listed unexpected events and 8.2% declared the cost as too high. In the same survey, 10.11% listed unexpected events and 8.2% declared the cost as too high. Given the region’s experience with inter-firm cooperation, a pertinent international example to reinforce adult learning among companies in the Basque Country can be found in Ireland, where the government has funded learning networks, or groups of companies within the same industry sector or region with similar training needs (Box 4.5).
As in other OECD countries, SMEs struggle to provide the same levels of training as large companies in the Basque Country. Indeed, under 21% of SME employees receive training in the Basque Country, while over 39% of workers in larger firms can benefit from training (Figure 4.10). Large Basque companies may not provide the same level of training as in other parts of Spain, as nearly 56% of employees in large companies in Spain receive training, compared to only around 39% in the Basque Country. Moreover, OECD research has found risk-prevention is also the most common type of training provided by Spanish companies, meaning many firms may be missing the opportunity to provide work-related training (OECD, 2017[16]).
Source: ''The Basque Country Competitiveness Report: 2019: Are Skills the Panacea?''. Fundae and INE (National Statistics Institute).
Skillnet is a national agency dedicated to the promotion and facilitation of workforce learning in Ireland. It supports over 16 500 companies nationwide, 56% of which are micro-enterprises, 26% small enterprises and 13% medium enterprises and 5% large companies. Skillnet Ireland provides a wide range of valuable learning experiences to over 50 000 trainees. Skillnet encourages firms to lead the process for training to ensure that programmes delivered are highly relevant to industry needs. Training and upskilling significantly enhances the career mobility of the workforce. Training is open to management and employees of companies who become members of a Skillnet Network. Skillnet allocates funding to Learning Networks, which are groups of companies within the same industry sector (Single Sector Networks) or region (Multi Sector Networks) with similar training needs, so they can receive subsidised training. With 70 distinct Networks nationwide, businesses can find a Network that has experience in a particular area of interest and understands specific business needs. Networks offer a flexible approach to suit specific business needs: they work with businesses to source and part-fund training partners to provide relevant upskilling.
Source: OECD (2014), Employment and Skills Strategies in Ireland, OECD Reviews on Local Job Creation, OECD Publishing. http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/9789264207912-en.
4.1.10. Lanbide can become a central actor for a stronger lifelong learning in the Basque Country
Lanbide, partnering with the Education Department and private centres, supports a host of adult training programmes for those struggling most on the labour market. In 2011, the Basque government acquired the responsibility for delivering active labour market policies in the region. In 2017, 1 400 public Vocational Education and Training for Employment (VETE) activities were made available for unemployed people, while over 2 900 were accomplished for those employed (Figure 4.11). Activities are provided for both the unemployed and employed, reaching a coverage rate of 16% for the former, compared to only 3% for the latter. Such programmes can be funded through training quotas given to firms. Some countries, have put in place individual training accounts, which support individuals directly to partake in training programmes (Box 4.6). As of 2020, through Cuentas de Formación, Lanbide has developed a base for this policy by creating individual accounts where individuals can register their education, skills and career path in a single online portable. This innovation could be taken further by allotting training funds to job seekers.
Activities targeted at the unemployed with low skills have taken an increasing share of Lanbide’s efforts, though the COVID-19 crisis is likely to create a more diverse of participants. Lanbide has supported 20 000 unemployed to train in private training centres, while 3 000 participants were trained in public centres, in conjunction with the Department of Education. Lanbide has also created programmes aimed at those most excluded from the labour market, such as the Proyectos Singulares programme, which put in place over 100 projects dedicated to people with few qualifications and learning difficulties to obtain professional certificates linked to jobs. Lanbide has also created the Hezibi programme, a dual VET programme, which links apprenticeships directly with job intake in a company. Training for the low-skilled workers tends to concentrate on acquiring certifications or accreditation in order to enter the labour market. To this end, adult learning in the Basque Country may also benefit from more policies that encourage recognition of experience or qualifications obtained informally, helping individuals into training that builds on their skills (Eurofound, 2009[17]).
How are France and Singapore are implementing the right to training
Compte Personnel de Formation, France
Among individual learning schemes, the French Compte Personnel de Formation (CPF) is frequently cited as an interesting new approach which could boost participation in the new world of work, and the only example of individual learning account in the world. Introduced in 2015 to replace an earlier training account (Droit Individuel à la Formation), the CPF is available for all labour force participants and it is financed through a compulsory training levy on firms.
The CPF is a virtual, individual account in which training rights are accumulated over time. It is virtual in the sense that resources are mobilised if training is actually undertaken. As part of the programme, individuals get EUR 500 per year, capped at EUR 5 000 in the standard case, and training programmes are required to deliver a certificate. The CPF has involved 627 205 participants in 2018 or 2.1% of the labour force.
SkillsFuture Credit, Singapore
Introduced in 2016, the SkillsFuture Credit (SFC) consists is a lifetime voucher available to all citizens aged 25 and above, and it is financed through general taxation. Eligible Singaporean citizens receive an opening credit of SGD 500, without time limits, and the government provides periodic top-ups. The credit can be used on top of existing government course subsidies to pay for a wide range of approved skills-related courses, including online courses, subsidised or approved by SkillsFuture Singapore. These include selected courses offered by Ministry of Education-funded institutions, including the Institute of Technical Education, polytechnics, autonomous universities, Singapore University of Social Sciences, LASALLE College of the Arts and Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts. The SkillsFuture Credit has involved 431 000 participants over 2016-18 and 146 000 in 2018, respectively 12% and 4% of the labour force.
Source: OECD (2018), Economic Outlook for Southeast Asia, China and India 2019: Towards Smart UrbanTransportation, OECD Publishing, Paris.https://doi.org/10.1787/saeo-2019-en; SkillsFuture (2019), SkillsFuture: 2018 Year In Review, https://www.skillsfuture.sg/NewsAndUpdates/DetailPage/a35eccac-55a5-4f37-bd2f-0e082c6caf70 (accessed on 14 January 2020).
Note: VETE indicators for the unemployed and employed in the Basque Country (carried out in 2017).
Source: ''The Basque Country Competitiveness Report: 2019: Are Skills the Panacea?''. Orkestra. .
In this sector, the Basque Country’s VET system will be presented, highlighting its role as an anchor institution for skills matching. To do so, international examples will be presented from countries that emphasise different elements of training and education (Cedefop, 2017[18]).
4.2.1. VET has gained prominence in the Basque education system
The Basque Country has many prerogatives in Vocational Education and Training (VET), which has allowed VET to develop a central role in the Basque Country. In 1997, a major reform established an integrated training plan that mirrored occupations and monitored the quality of trainings. It also created a network of providers headed by the Basque Institute for Vocational Guidance, the first institute of its kind in Spain. In 2004, the government reformed vocational education to better respond to labour market needs. Between 2011 and 2013, the newly created Basque public employment service, Lanbide, also started taking up an active role in vocational education. Lanbide has been offering training measures, targeted at retraining for those with lower skills. In 2016, governing parties agreed to a volley of changes in VET, including closer ties with firm, a greater emphasis on innovation and entrepreneurship, new types of training, part-time education and more specialised programmes to meet company needs (Gobierno Vasco, 2019[19]). In 2018, the Basque Country passed Law 4/2018 on Vocational Training in the Basque Country, creating the Órgano Superior de Coordinación de la Formación Profesional, a structure that implements the contents of the Training Plan and coordinates among other departments.
The region’s fifth Basque Vocational Training Plan is synchronised with the region’s employment, education and industrial strategies. The new plan emphasizes the 4.0 context by introducing a greater number of innovative tools, such as smart systems, while facilitating more teaching flexibility. The plan foresees the creation of a Basque Institute for Future Apprenticeships, which will observe job market trends and define professional profiles. The plan also emphasizes a greater number of partnerships and exchanges internationally, and a particular collaboration with the Department of Agriculture, Fishing and Food Policy in order to reflect the region’s push in the circular economy, bio-economy, sustainable construction and bio science. The Vocational Training Department, the Basque Vocational Training Board, Tknika, the Basque Institute of Future Apprenticeships, the Basque Institute of Talent in Vocational Training and vocational training centres will carry out different elements of the plan, often in collaboration.
VET has been developed for different skill levels in the region, tailoring training to candidates’ prior educational attainment. VET comprises all skills levels to achieve qualification for 170 occupations classified in professional groupings (familias profesionales), such as health services or textile industry. The Basque government divides VET into in-school modules, practice modules in training institutes as and short on-the-job parts in real companies. In turn, these modules corresponds to different skill levels. Basic skills level training qualifies young people for helping positions and can be continued with further studies. This basic level is mainly intended for young people between 15 and 17 years of age with compulsory secondary education, and requires the agreement of their parents. The medium skills level builds on the basic one and can be taken by young people above 25 years of age with competitive school and/or basic level training results. The high skills level (técnico superior), meanwhile, is meant for students who have passed the medium level or have graduated from a high school or university. It is meant to help students obtain qualification for practicing higher qualified technical work or to enter university studies. Both medium and high-skills level trainings are subject to entry quotas and selections procedures depending on the number of applicants (Inspección General de Educación, 2018[20]).
Training institute teachers drafted training curricula jointly with training mentors in the companies based on the skills needs and the prior knowledge of applicants. The training institute takes on the overall responsibility for the training content and implementation of the curricula. The employer selects the applicants that are pre-selected and proposed by the institute and signs a dual education contract with the applicant (Gobierno Vasco, 2019[21])
VET enrolment has grown as VET institutions have gained a more prominent role in the Basque Country. Between 2011 and 2019, enrolment in VET increased from approximately 34 000 to almost 40 000 people (Figure 4.12). Women still partake less in VET compared to men, having only increased enrolment slightly from approximately 13 000 to 14 000 people. Students have also chosen different sectors for training since 2011. Mechanical work still leads enrolment with over 6 200 students, or 15% of total programme enrolment, reflecting the region’s industrial base (Figure 4.13). Some programmes have come to draw more enrolment over time, such as information and communication as well as socio-cultural and community services, which have risen respectively from 5.7% to 8% and 4.5% to 8% of total enrolment. Nonetheless these programmes remain heavily divided by gender, with a large majority of males enrolled in information and communications and females in socio-cultural and community services.
Reforms in professional education have recently unfolded across OECD countries. In France, apprenticeship programmes are being expanded to all skills levels, including tertiary education, while Finland is taking a lifelong approach to VET, including for adults to participate after years of work experience (Box 4.7). The Basque Country could learn from the experiences of OECD countries to expand its successful VET youth programmes to older age cohorts and higher skill levels.
Source: Tknika.
Source: Tknika.
France has promoted the idea of apprenticeships from a particular skill level to an arrangement for various skills levels. Moreover, the country is taking the idea of learning on the job combined with schooling as a crosscutting learning approach rather than as one segment of the education system detached from others, as is more typical of academic careers. At the same time, France is more actively validating prior learning in the national qualifications framework. Thus, this process opens a new skills source and makes it visible in the documentation and development of lifelong learning. French law promotes a “lifelong learning VET” that considers education supply for learning approaches, learning sites, and different age groups.
In Finland, VET is an integral part of the education system and centrally managed. Finland distinguishes basic VET and adult VET, connecting learning with job practice. The basic VET for young people is more based on school knowledge than the adult one, but both put vocational skills demonstration at the core. Moreover, they mine talent and experience by opening the possibility for students to show their skills and earn a degree with their ability rather than basing the degree on what they attend in school. Since 1998 all VET graduates have been eligible to access polytechnics and universities in Finland, thus elevating the status of VET in the education system.
Source: Cedefop (2017), The changing nature and role of vocational education and training in Europe Volume 2: results of a survey among European VET experts, https://www.cedefop.europa.eu/files/5564_en.pdf.
4.2.2. Vocational educational levels are high, but automation will change the job market for middle skill occupations
The quality of vocational training in the Basque Country is valued by employers and worker representatives. According to Confebask and CCOO, communication with companies helps design trainings that respond to actual skills demands of the Basque Country (Confebask, 2018[22]). In a recent evaluation of the Basque Employment Plan 2020 commissioned by the Basque Government, increasing dialogue with the firms has been regarded as positive, especially components involving on-the-job training along with classroom teaching. The growing international aspect of trainings, for example through links with the Erasmus+ programme, are also helping extended valuable international experiences to vocational education students (Gobierno Vasco, 2018[23]).
Automation, however, will significantly change many of the middle skill jobs for which the Basque VET system prepares students, requiring VET to adapt and employers to adjust on-work training. The Basque Country has prepared for these changes through multiple efforts. For instance, since its creation in 2004, the Tknika Centre for Applied Innovation in Vocational Training has played the unique role of connecting innovation in companies to training centres (Box 4.8). The Agenda Digital de Euskadi 2020, meanwhile, constitutes a wide set of initiatives to accompany the digitalisation of Basque companies. The plan also includes specific initiatives to assist Basque SMEs, particularly those associated with the region’s core manufacturing industry, in integrating digital technologies.
OECD countries are also introducing digitalisation strategies at the local level, providing insights for the Basque Country. In Germany, for example, Aus und Weiterbildung 4.0 (Vocational education and training 4.0) in the region of Ostbrandenburg, close to Berlin, is run by the German public employment service (Bundesinstitut für Berufsbildung, 2019[24]). The initiative supports small and medium sized enterprises to adapt their training programmes to the digital requirements of the new world of work. The project informs companies on how new technological developments of their sectors can be integrated into their vocational and dual education schemes. It consults companies on individual bases and pilots solutions such as digital applications in training situations and on-the-job training. The initiative also addresses the necessary skills development for trainers and advisors of the employment services who help clients find an apprenticeship. The national development programme that roofs initiatives such as this is funded by the Ministry for Education and Research, with 48 million EUR from the national budget and a co-financing by the European Social Fund of 60 million Euro.
Innovation through partnership between firms and VET centres
In 2004, the Basque Government opened Tknika, the Basque Centre for Applied Innovation in Vocational Training as part of the Viceconsejería de Formación Profesional, or government department dedicated for professional training, in the Basque Department of Education. Tknika was founded as a centre to tie training centres with companies, in order to connect innovation with training. As part of the Fifth Vocational Training Plan 2019-2021 and Law 4/2018 on professional training in the Basque Country, Tknika becomes the “technical body responsible for research and applied innovation and the transfer of the results of R+D+I projects to all the centres that provide vocational training in the Basque Autonomous Community”. The plan sets out several roles for Tknika:
Encouraging relations between innovation and educational actors;
Training VET teachers in innovation in production processes, with a focus on new learning environments;
Encouraging the internationalisation of VET training in the region;
As such, Tknika plays the unique intermediary role between VET centres, universities and research centres and Basque companies. The centre stresses technological innovation in VET centres, with a range of activities from digitisation, connectivity and advanced technologies. Tknika also has a particular focus on creating partnerships between training centres and SMEs, as these may not have access to the innovation resources of large companies while also constituting a major employment base. As part of this process, Tknika works with SMEs in the region to develop applied innovation projects, guiding them step-by-step through innovation projects.
Source: Gobierno Vasco (2019), V Plan Vasco de Formación Profesional 2019–2021: La Formación Profesional en el entorno de la 4ª Revolución Industrial, http://www.euskadi.eus/contenidos/informacion/fpgeneral/es_def/adjuntos/V-PLAN-FP-CASazk.pdf.
4.2.3. Dual education is gaining traction in the region, expansion to vulnerable groups and university could reinforce its reach
Interest in dual education is growing among students and employers in the Basque Country. Dual education is a set of hybrid training-employment initiatives, most common in Vocational Education and Training (VET), that equip students with demanded skills by companies in real work environments. In the Basque Country, 1 913 apprentices took part in the 2017-2018 cycle, as did 1 122 companies, while 96% of trainees entered employment after graduation. In a recent survey, graduate, employers and training institutions tended to evaluate dual education positively, with market above eight out of ten. (Gobierno Vasco, 2018[23]). The classroom component of dual education allows students to improve their qualifications, while the practical component opens access to employment from a direct contact with companies. Companies who take on apprentices in the dual scheme are also more likely to keep them upon graduation and offer them a longer employment contract. Germany’s dual education system, for example, benefits from a regular uptake rate of apprentices of over 95% (Seibert, 2017[25]). In Slovenia, the country helps students develop individualised apprenticeship plans, a helpful policy to help ensure students are supported through their apprenticeship (Box 4.9).
Dual education is anchored in workplace training
Dual education privileges time in the workplace in the Basque Country. Two-year programmes enrich the skills students have acquired in vocational education by offering between 800 and 1 200 hours in companies, while the three-year programme adds over 3 000 hours of working in the company, and approximately 1 500 hours in the classroom. During the first year of the dual education the time spent in the company cannot exceed 75% of the overall training time, while in the second year, it has to be less than 85%. In the region, the Dual to World programmes adds one year to the three-year programme, placing apprentices abroad, usually in an international branch or representation of the company in which have been training. Subsidies are also available for dual education, for example for students with disabilities.
Dual education is well-established in middle and high level VET in the Basque Country
Dual education is expanding across sectors and education levels. In the Basque Country, dual VET is available in 20 professional sectors, in which approximately 1 200 students participate each year. Dual training at universities is starting as well, with trials in some degrees such as Engineering in Process and Product Innovation opening 50 spaces in the 2015-2016 school year. Dual VET is currently offered in 97 training centres in the Basque Country. Almost 90% of the more than 41 000 enrolled students in 2019 are being trained in middle or high level skills. More than half of the students qualify for occupations in the service sector, while 45% enter industry.
Dual education can continue to expand in the region, while greater evaluation could also guide development
Instructors, employers and students can all be informed about dual education possibilities in the region to ensure they have equitable access to this policy. In particular, policymakers are considering widening the opportunities and making it easier for small and medium sized enterprises to participate in apprenticeship schemes and find ways to have less- skilled people enter dual education programmes. At the same time, teachers need to be provided with the necessary skills to take advantage of the scheme. Dual education can continue to be expanded to universities, including by considering apprenticeship contracts in masters degrees. Systematic evaluation of the paths of dual education graduates may also help adjust curricula and programming.
Slovenia has adopted a dual education system based on individual apprenticeship plans that are drafted, agreed and followed-up among representatives of the sector chamber, mentors at the company of work, apprentices and training institutes. The plan describes the rights and responsibilities of each actor in the learning environment and serves as the frame for evaluating the apprentice’s performance. The apprenticeship plan is not pre-defined on the state level and can be adjusted as needed by the educational institute, employer or student. It serves more as a commitment and planning tool that guides the individual dual education of each student. Students maintain an apprenticeship diary, where they document their development and self-assess throughout their learning.
The three years of dual education in Slovenia do not contain many evaluations. Of the few, there is a mid-term examination that is done after two years of training, and needs to be passed in order to enter the last year. The chambers coordinate and supervise the dates and contents of the midterm with the employers/mentors and the expert supervisors of the training institutes. In doing so, they follow-up on the agreements taken in the apprenticeship plans. Apart from accuracy, compliance with health and safety regulations and other general knowledge, the midterm explicitly checks how the apprentices transferred the agreements from the apprenticeship plan into their company experience and how closely they have worked with their diary.
Source: Moritsch, S. (2019), Innovative Training Programmes for Dual Education in the Alpine Space, https://www.alpine-space.eu/projects/dualplus/pdfs/results/dt231-best-practice-collection-report.pdf.
Educational attainment in the Basque Country has risen significantly in the last 20 years, though the evolution of Basque jobs has not mirrored this trend, as 30% of workers in the region are working in jobs below their qualification level. Evidence suggests skills mismatch and low job quality may be main drivers of over-qualification, including the under-utilisation of skills, wages and contract stability. As part of strong workforce strategies, adult learning and social dialogue has progressed in the region, constituting opportunities for the region. As Vocational Education and Training (VET) has grown in the Basque Country, the region could use dual VET apprenticeships as a way to tighten links between the skill needs of employers and those of the workforce, particularly as technology reshapes many middle skill job.
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