ILO’s Assistant Director-General for Policy José Manuel Salazar-Xirinachs has said that skills and education need to be addressed differently today than 20 or 30 years ago.

“Just as the shift from agrarian to industrial economies required specific new skills in the world of work， the on-going shift from industrial to information-based knowledge economies is also changing the ways we live， work and learn，” said Salazar-Xirinachs during a speech at the “Global Trade and Development Week 2014” in Kuala Lumpur.

He referred to the “21 Century Skills” that involve new ways of thinking and working， new global vision as well as new tools for working based on new information and communications technologies.

The ILO official highlighted key challenges， such as the skills mismatch which partly results from the inability of the education and training system to adapt to these new realities.

“Addressing these disconnects is a matter of public policy， but not exclusively. It is also very much a matter of private sector engagement and responsibility，” he said.

Companies should not wait at the end of the education and training pipeline for graduates with the right skills or look for new talents abroad， but should take a broader view of their workforce needs

They should build public-private partnerships， engage pro-actively with education and training providers in order to align education with the skills needed for employment and make efforts to combine formal education and training with on the job apprenticeship opportunities

The ILO official gave the example of the Godrej Group in India， a conglomerate which set a goal of training one million urban and rural youth in employable skills by 2020. Two-thirds of graduates found jobs in consumer goods and agriculture-related subsidiaries.

The Age of Responsibility

Salazar-Xirinachs underlined a set of ILO policies that have been developed focusing on the school-to-work transition and the modernization of vocational training institutions and skills anticipation.

He mentioned the Skills for Trade and Economic Diversification STED， a tool designed to provide strategic guidance to support growth and jobs in sectors that have the potential to increase exports， to contribute to economic diversification and to integration into Global Value Chains.

He mentioned the fact the ILO had led the preparation of the G20 Skills Strategy in 2010 for strong， sustained and balanced growth.

Finally， the ILO official insisted on the need to further develop apprenticeships which is “the closest thing to a magic bullet” when addressing youth unemployment， school to work transition and skills mismatch.

“The responsibility of companies to invest in skills and talent and engaging in education and training in innovative ways to meet the requirements of the 21st Century workforces is but one example of a much broader responsibility and sustainability agenda，” he concluded， referring to “the Age of Responsibility”.

http：//www.ilo.org/global/about-the-ilo/media-centre/press-releases/WCMS_240096/lang--en/index.htm

國際勞工組織（ILO）負(fù)責(zé)政策事務(wù)的副總干事喬斯日前表示，隨著工業(yè)經(jīng)濟(jì)向以信息為基礎(chǔ)的知識(shí)型經(jīng)濟(jì)轉(zhuǎn)型，我們的生活與工作方式發(fā)生了巨大變化，要求勞動(dòng)者掌握新的技能。國際勞工組織官員強(qiáng)調(diào)，當(dāng)前主要挑戰(zhàn)是技能與崗位不匹配，從而導(dǎo)致培訓(xùn)和教育體系無法適應(yīng)新的實(shí)際需求。各大公司不能坐等專業(yè)技能對(duì)口的畢業(yè)生前來應(yīng)聘，或到海外招聘新型人才，而應(yīng)以更開闊的視角審視勞動(dòng)者的需求。公司應(yīng)尋求合作，積極與教育培訓(xùn)機(jī)構(gòu)協(xié)調(diào)，使教育與求職所需技能相匹配，將正規(guī)教育培訓(xùn)與工作實(shí)踐相結(jié)合。國際勞工組織已制定相關(guān)政策，注重學(xué)校向職場(chǎng)的過渡，注重職業(yè)培訓(xùn)機(jī)構(gòu)與技能預(yù)期的現(xiàn)代化。