Future Skills Needs

1. Future Skills Needs Jasmina Behan Skills and Labour Market Research Unit FAS

2. Outline • Introduction • Current supply and demand for skills • Future demand for skills • Lifelong learning • FÁS role in lifelong learning • Future research

3. Introduction • Competitive knowledge-based economy • Labour – key resource for future growth • Key factors • Productivity • Flexibility • Ability to innovate

4. Current supply • 32% of employment with 3rd level education (5th out of 27 European countries) • 28% of employment with less than secondary education (20th out of 27 European countries) • Same across sectors and occupations • Ireland lags behind best performers in terms of participation in training of employed • Poor ranking internationally in adult literacy (9th out of 10 European countries surveyed in the IALS)

5. Workforce with 3rd level education (%) Source: EGFSN

6. Current demand for skills: difficult to fill vacancies Source: FAS/ESRI

7. Current skills shortages • Construction (civil engineers, architects, surveyors, some craftspersons) • Engineering (electronic, QC, design and development) • IT (software eng, computer analysts, IT managers) • Science (research scientists) • Healthcare (medical practitioners, dentists, therapists, radiographers) • Financial (accountants, actuaries, analysts, underwriters) • Transport (managers, HGV drivers) • Sales (technical sales representatives, marketing) • Catering (chefs) • Manufacturing (fitters, sheet metal workers, welders)

8. Employment by sector (2020) Source: ESRI

9. Employment by occupation (2020) Source: EGFSN

10. Future demand for skills • From quantity to quality of jobs • From investment to knowledge driven economy • Skills – key resource for growth • Outsourcing of low-skilled operations • Techn. advances in communications and automation • All sectors and occupations more knowledge intensive • From ‘job for life’ to ‘work for life’

11. Lifelong learning • ‘All learning activity taken throughout life, with the aim of improving knowledge, skills and competences within a personal, civic, social and/or employment related prospective’ EU Commission • ‘Europe of Innovation and Knowledge’ 2000 Lisbon European Council • Taskforce on lifelong learning – DETE and DES 2002 • ‘One step up’ initiative – ESG, 2004

12. Lifelong Learning – FÁS • Training provision • Specific skills training • Bridging foundation training • Apprenticeships • Traineeships • Evening courses • eCollege • Community training programs

13. Lifelong Learning – FÁS • Workforce development (Statement of Strategy 2006-2009) • Increased resources for company/employee training • Competency Development Program • Excellence through people • Sectoral initiatives • Targeted interventions to up-skill low-skilled • Support of training for SME owners/managers

14. Collaborative Work – Teagasc and FAS • Shift to a knowledge based economy may be challenging for rural areas – especially farm families • Rural Areas currently more reliant on sectors of employment in decline and projected to be in decline • Lower levels of third-level education in rural areas • Lower education & skills levels in farm communities • How can we prepare rural Ireland for the Knowledge Economy?

15. Collaborative Work – Teagasc and FAS • Our research will • Identify sources of employment in rural areas going forward • Examine the ability of rural dwellers to compete for new employment • Identify a possible skills gap & identify training needs • Influence policy to make training available