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Joint Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation
Debate on Unemployment and Youth Unemployment
THANK YOU
I thank the Chairman and members of the Joint Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and
Innovation for this opportunity to address you on behalf of the EGFSN.
INTRODUCTIONS
My name is Una Halligan, Chairperson of the EGFSN.
The Expert Group advises Government on current & future skills needs of the economy
and on other labour market issues that impact on Ireland’s enterprise and employment
growth.
Established in 1997, we report to the Minister for Education & Skills and Minister for
Jobs, Enterprise & Innovation.
I am joined by Marie Bourke, Forfás, head of secretariat to the Expert Group.
Forfás manages the group’s work programme & provides us with research, analysis,
secretariat support and represents the group at various fora in Ireland & abroad.
CONTEXT OF SKILLS AND LABOUR MARKET PERFORMANCE
A well educated workforce remains one of Ireland’s fundamental strengths.
Our economic recovery is highly dependent on a skilled labour force.
Educational attainment is highly linked to current prospects in the labour market.
It has a significant impact upon an individual’s likelihood of becoming unemployed.
The need to upskill and engage in conversion programmes for reskilling is vital as almost
all occupations are becoming more knowledge based, requiring an increasing breath of
knowledge, rising technical & regulatory requirements & continual learning.
THE ACTION PLAN FOR JOBS 2012
The Government’s Action Plan for Jobs 2012 targets the creation of 100,000 jobs over
the period to 2016.
Within this context IDA Ireland has programmes in place to help realise job growth in
Financial Services, Life Sciences, ICT, and Content and Business Services and the
emerging Cleantech area.
Enterprise Ireland is targeting opportunities in Agri‐food, Life Sciences, Software,
Financial/Business Services, Telecoms, Internet, Media & Entertainment, Cleantech and
Engineering.
The EGFSN works closely with IDA, Enterprise Ireland and others to address the skills
requirements of these sectors of future employment growth potential to ensure that we
have the skills to take advantage of these opportunites.
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EGFSN WORK OF RELEVANCE TO UNEMPLOYMENT & YOUTH UNEMPLOYMENT
I believe that the area where the Expert Group can add value to your deliberations on
unemployment & youth unemployment is through the research & analysis we have done
with enterprise in sectors & occupations where future job opportunities are expected to
arise through replacement & expansion demand.
The EGFSN has identified the skills that will be required to fill some of these jobs and
has advised the education and training system regarding the alignment of its
programmes to ensure graduates and trainees and those engaged in conversion and
upskilling programmes are best equipped to fill these jobs.
MEASURES THAT SHOULD BE TAKEN ON UNEMPLOYMENT AND YOUTH
UNEMPLOYMENT
There is no easy solution to reducing the huge numbers of people that are unemployed.
It requires a cross Government approach from the:
- Dept of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, to ensure that the environment is
supportive for job creation,
- Department of Education and Skills to ensure individuals are appropriately
educated and trained to be able to avail of those job opportunities and,
- Department of Social Protection to ensure that the unemployed are
supported appropriately while out of work and kept close to the labour
market through targeted activation designed to meet individual needs.
In our submission we have elaborated on measures that should be taken by Government
to tackle unemployment and youth unemployment. They include the following:
A. Performance should be measured through outcomes and value for money in
addition to outputs. The outcomes should focus on:
- progression to employment/self-employment
- progression to further or higher education/training.
B. Ensure relevance to labour market and skills needs
- The design of new and revised education & training courses should
continue to take on board the work of the Expert Group
- The emphasis on STEM skills needs to be maintained as there is continuing
strong demand for graduates who are competent with ICT, engineering,
maths, science and financial skills.
- The strong dependence on exports for economic recovery now calls for an
increased emphasis on multi-lingual and international sales skills.
- The quality & level of mathematical knowledge outcomes for all level of
national mathematical proficiency needs to improve.
- Structured internships providing work experience opportunities within
enterprise are hugely valuable in improving the employability of students
& jobseekers and need to be continually increased.
C. Ensure relevance of intervention to the individual
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All courses should demonstrate the progression pathway for the learner
They should underline how the skills and competencies within the
programme enhance either specific occupational employment potential or
employability skills (generic/soft skills) that are important for enhancing
the mobility of the learner within and across sectors.
The programmes should be suitable for the aptitudes of the learner and
their level of educational attainment.
There is also a role for the Recognition of Prior Learning in determining
appropriate learning requirements for those that are unemployed.
D. The system should be characterised by flexibility
- Where successful interventions are developed, the funding system should
have the flexibility to expand on good practice where appropriate, in
addition to curtailing programmes where they are found to be ineffective.
- The activation system should reward and prioritise successful outcomes.
- Wider adoption of competitive funding streams should be considered
where evaluations have found positive outcomes.
SKILLS PRIORITIES AND WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE
Our work with enterprise to identify specific current and future skills needs within
different sectors of the economy has led us to the following priority areas.
High level ICT skills shortages and Action Plan
A range of skills recruitment challenges has emerged for high level ICT skills both from
companies within the sector and from businesses across the economy. In January the
Action Plan to Address ICT Skills Needs was published, which outlines key actions
around:
- Upskilling & conversion courses to increase the supply of ICT skills in 20122014,
- Actions to double the number of level 8 ICT graduates by 2018.
The EGFSN recommends a further iteration in 2013 of the ICT level 8 conversion
programme designed and rolled out in close collaboration with industry.
Springboard Higher Education Labour Market Initiative
The EGFSN research for Springboard identified specific enterprise skills demands around
which training programmes could be designed for the 2010 & 2011 calls.
This ensured that provision is highly relevant to enterprise skills needs and therefore
should have optimal labour market outcomes for participants.
Improvements have been made to each iteration of the Springboard initiative and
evaluation of the programme will be important to ensure that the progression outcomes
to employment are being achieved for the participants.
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Guidance to the Further Education and Training Sector and Future Skills Needs
Improving how the Further Education system can better respond to current and future
skills needs of employers is key to equipping their graduates for employment
Earlier this year, Forfás provided Guidelines for the Alignment of Further Education
Programmes in the VECs with the Skills Needs of Enterprise. These included:
- the need to work more closely with local enterprises & public employment
services in the development of courses,
- enhance workplace learning, and
- develop core & generic skills as part of an individuals’s progression plan to
particular area of employment and
- expand the offering of accredited options within basic education – levels
1-3.
These guidelines were circulated to all VECs by the Dept. of Education and Skills.
Higher Education Improvement
Continuous improvement is required to align mainstream Higher Education programmes
with the skills needed by enterprise.
- Focus onlearning outcomes which develop the skills of the individual & are
valuable to enterprise,
- Greater linkages between disciplines e.g. software & foreign languages,
business & science, engineering and sales,
- Structured graduate placements,
-
Enhanced teaching knowledge & experience eg language lecturers with
knowledge of business, mobility of lecturers to & from industry.
A review of undergraduates by discipline highlights the falling numbers qualifying in
Science, Mathematics & Computing over the last decade. In 2001 these disciplines
accounted for 20% of all HE graduates, whereas in 2010 this had fallen to 11%. With
Ireland’s economic recovery being strongly dependent on export led growth from sectors
such as pharmaceuticals, medical devices and software/engineering, over the last
decade the falling numbers give rise to some concern.
This year’s increase in applications for Science & Computing courses is a welcome step
in the right direction.
Recognition of Prior Learning
Recognition of Prior learning has a role in Labour Market Activation initiatives
particularly for those that are long term unemployed and those with relatively low levels
of qualifications. It can assist in the more effective use of training and education
resources at a time of unprecedented demand.
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Skills for Enterprises to Trade Internationally
Recruitment difficulties are anticipated in sourcing international sales staff and people
with foreign language proficiency and software engineers. Expanding into new markets
requires a ramping up of skills and experience levels. Absolutely key are our abilities to
sell effectively and for staff right across functional areas of companies to be able to
communicate and understand those markets.
The 42 companies surveyed in the course of the EGFSN work on Skills for International
Trade expect employment in their cos. to increase by 15%-20% over the next 3 yrs.
We identified 2,200 potential job opportunities arising within exporters which could be
filled through tailored skills conversion courses, developed in partnership with industry.
Specifically we are recommending conversion programmes to commence in 2013 to
address these future employment opportunities:
- Customer Sales & Service /foreign languages (NFQ L 6/7) - 800 places.
- Sales Professionals with foreign languages (NFQ L7/8) - 250 places.
-
Engineers (mechanical, automation, design) (NFQ L8 +) - 250 places.
International Project Management (NFQ L 7/8) - 100 places.
Computing Software Professionals (NFQ L 8 +) - 800 places.
There is a high recognition in companies that export of the need to improve foreign
language capability to boost success in international markets. An improved supply
domestically of foreign languages capability, including German, French, Spanish and
Italian as well as Mandarin Chinese and Japanese, would be a major help to enterprises
achieving their export potential and individuals can acquire these skills to improve their
employment prospects. This should include contextual language learning for specific
purposes, such as for managers, engineers and international marketing and sales
professionals.
The EG recommends the development of a Foreign Language Education Policy with a 510 year horizon vision across the continuum of primary, secondary and third level
education to meet language proficiency needs of enterprise including:
- Boosting the uptake of modern foreign languages at 3rd level.
- Aligning assessment of foreign language proficiency to the Common
European Framework of Reference for Languages (6 reference levels from
basic to proficient)
- Focusing Erasmus students placements towards study and work in
- non-English speaking markets.Government should set placement targets.
International sales professionals with foreign language proficiency are in demand. We
recommend an increase in formal international sales courses at third level, including
- compulsory modules on international sales in business courses and
- the introduction of a degree and post-graduate diploma in international
sales with foreign languages.
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Job Vacancies
Our annual Vacancy Overview outlines the demand for labour based on trends in
advertised job vacancies and is a good indicator of the occupations and sectors where
replacement and expansion jobs arise. This is a vital indicator for those that are
providing services to the unemployed.
In our most recent report published in February this year, over 100,000 new vacant posts
were analysed in 2011 (on FÁS and Irishjobs.ie websites) across 9 broad occupations
together with the specific skills set required as well as educational attainment.
It showed that despite the recession, job vacancies continued to arise in the Irish labour
market. The number of new advertised vacancies was approximately 8,500 a month in
2011.
Sectors of the economy, vacancies were most frequent in:
-
ICT
engineering and utilities
accountancy and financial services/insurance
production, manufacturing and materials
With regard to occupations, vacancies were most frequent for:
- Sales and related occupations
-
Science and engineering professionals
Business professionals
Administrative occupations
Science and engineering associate professionals
Corporate managers and directors
A third level qualification was required for a significant share of all newly advertised
vacancies and the demand is mostly limited to experienced candidates. Foreign
Language skills are a prerequisite for many newly advertised vacancies, particularly in
sales customer care activities, but also at professional level (e.g. ICT, engineering,
finance). A variety of languages were in demand, predominantly German, French and
Nordic languages.
CONCLUSIONS
Thank You.
I’d like to thank the chairman & the Committee for inviting us here today to present to
you and hope that in the short period of time I have addressed some of the key areas of
interest to you.
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We are happy to engage with you on any follow-up to your deliberations. Thank You for
your time.
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