This book revisits skills development policies and points to new directions for making training programs more effective and responsive in increasingly competitive labor market.

This report describes the construction of the database of skill needs indicators, i.e. the OECD Skills for Jobs Database, and presents initial results and analysis. It identifies the existing knowledge gaps concerning skills imbalances, providing the rationale for the development of the new skill needs and mismatch indicators. Moreover, it explains the methodology used to measure skills shortage, surplus and mismatch, and provides key results and insights from the data.

An argument for reimagining skill in a way that can extend economic opportunity to workers at the bottom of the labor market. America has a jobs problem--not enough well-paying jobs to go around and not enough clear pathways leading to them. Skill development is critical for addressing this employment crisis, but there are many unresolved questions about who has skill, how it is attained, and whose responsibility it is to build skills over time. In this book, Nichola Lowe tells the stories of pioneering workforce intermediaries--nonprofits, unions, community colleges--that harness this ambiguity around skill to extend economic opportunity to workers at the bottom of the labor market.

A plan for teenagers to develop their job skills so they will be prepared to compete in the future job market.

An indispensable guide to dealing with challenging, childish boss behavior and building a great career, with laugh- out-loud humor built in. Based on extensive interviews among workers, managers and psychologists, Tame Your Terrible Office TyrantTM draws hilarious but true parallels between toddlers and managers. When under stress, both often have trouble moderating their power, or lose the ability to think rationally. Traits in common include tantrum-throwing, demanding, stubborn, moody, fickle, self-centered, needy and whiny behavior. BADD (Boss Attention Deficit Disorder) is discussed as part of “Short Attention Spans.” There are 20 chapter traits in all, divided into “Bratty” and “Little Lost Lamb” categories, for easy reference, including real anecdotes and many useful tips. When bad bosses run amok in companies, nobody wins. This book shows readers how to build positive relationships with even the most out-of-control boss, and still thrive in your job. The key to success lies in dealing with a Terrible Office Tyrant (or TOTTM) much like a parent deals with a troublesome toddler. With true stories and time-tested solutions, this is the perfect guide managing a boss stuck in his Terrible Twos. Taylor takes you behind all the bossy blustering, so that you can focus on getting ahead – and achieve career excellence. Savvy top management will also gain insight on what not to do with their team. They know that Terrible Office Tyrant (TOT) managers may not be in plain sight (they don’t leave juice stains on the hallway carpet!) But they do wreak havoc on the bottom line. A special section helps senior management and Human Resource departments mitigate TOT behavior for a more productive workplace.

From the creator of the popular website Ask a Manager and New York’s work-advice columnist comes a witty, practical guide to 200 difficult professional conversations—featuring all-new advice! There’s a reason Alison Green has been called “the Dear Abby of the work world.” Ten years as a workplace-advice columnist have taught her that people avoid awkward conversations in the office because they simply don’t know what to say. Thankfully, Green does—and in this incredibly helpful book, she tackles the tough discussions you may need to have during your career. You’ll learn what to say when • coworkers push their work on you—then take credit for it • you accidentally trash-talk someone in an email then hit “reply all” • you’re being micromanaged—or not being managed at all • you catch a colleague in a lie • your boss seems unhappy with your work • your cubemate’s loud speakerphone is making you homicidal • you got drunk at the holiday party Praise for Ask a Manager “A must-read for anyone who works . . . [Alison Green’s] advice boils down to the idea that you should be professional (even when others are not) and that communicating in a straightforward manner with candor and kindness will get you far, no matter where you work.”—Booklist (starred review) “The author’s friendly, warm, no-nonsense writing is a pleasure to read, and her advice can be widely applied to relationships in all areas of readers’ lives. Ideal for anyone new to the job market or new to management, or anyone hoping to improve their work experience.”—Library Journal (starred review) “I am a huge fan of Alison Green’s Ask a Manager column. This book is even better. It teaches us how to deal with many of the most vexing big and little problems in our workplaces—and to do so with grace, confidence, and a sense of humor.”—Robert Sutton, Stanford professor and author of The No Asshole Rule and The Asshole Survival Guide “Ask a Manager is the ultimate playbook for navigating the traditional workforce in a diplomatic but firm way.”—Erin Lowry, author of Broke Millennial: Stop Scraping By and Get Your Financial Life Together

Peter Cappelli confronts the myth of the skills gap and provides an actionable path forward to put people back to work. Even in a time of perilously high unemployment, companies contend that they cannot find the employees they need. Pointing to a skills gap, employers argue applicants are simply not qualified; schools aren't preparing students for jobs; the government isn't letting in enough high-skill immigrants; and even when the match is right, prospective employees won't accept jobs at the wages offered. In this powerful and fast-reading book, Peter Cappelli, Wharton management professor and director of Wharton's Center for Human Resources, debunks the arguments and exposes the real reasons good people can't get hired. Drawing on jobs data, anecdotes from all sides of the employer-employee divide, and interviews with jobs professionals, he explores the paradoxical forces bearing down on the American workplace and lays out solutions that can help us break through what has become a crippling employer-employee stand-off. Among the questions he confronts: Is there really a skills gap? To what extent is the hiring process being held hostage by automated software that can crunch thousands of applications an hour? What kind of training could best bridge the gap between employer expectations and applicant realities, and who should foot the bill for it? Are schools really at fault? Named one of HR Magazine's Top 20 Most Influential Thinkers of 2011, Cappelli not only changes the way we think about hiring but points the way forward to rev America's job engine again.

This joint OECD-ILO report provides a comparative analysis of case studies focusing on improving skills use in the workplace across eight countries. The examples provide insights into the practical ways in which employers interact with government services and policies at the local level. They highlight the need to build policy coherence across employment, skills, economic development and innovation policies, and underline the importance of ensuring that skills utilisation is built into policy development thinking and implementation. Skills utilisation concerns the extent to which skills are effectively applied in the workplace to maximise workplace and individual performance. It involves a mix of policies including work organisation, job design, technology adaptation, innovation, employee-employer relations, human resource development practices and business-product market strategies. It is often at the local level that the interface of these factors can best be addressed.

With digitalisation, deepening globalisation and population ageing, the world of work is changing. The extent to which individuals, firms and economies can harness the benefits of these changes critically depends on the readiness of adult learning systems to help people develop relevant skills ...