Skills are vital in enabling individuals and countries to thrive in an increasingly complex, interconnected and rapidly changing world. Countries in which people develop strong skills, learn throughout their lives, and use their skills fully and effectively at work and in society are more productive and innovative, enjoy higher levels of trust, better health outcomes and a higher quality of life. Skills policies play a central role in paving countries’ development path by, for example, easing the adoption of new technologies and moving up the value added chain; they also make countries more attractive to foreign direct investment and tend to help foster more tolerant and cohesive societies.

Since its launch in 2012, the OECD Skills Strategy has aimed to support Members and Partners to achieve their economic and social ambitions by strengthening their skills systems. The strategy was developed as a horizontal OECD project bringing together the perspectives of all relevant committees and was prepared by a cross-directorate team.

This chapter presents the key messages of the OECD Skills Strategy 2019, providing a concise summary of the chapter on the skills implications of megatrends, as well as the chapters on the components of the skills strategy: 1) developing relevant skills over the life course; 2) using skills effectively in work and society; and 3) strengthening the governance of skills systems.

This chapter explains why the 2012 OECD Skills Strategy is being updated. It goes on to highlight what is new in the 2019 OECD Skills Strategy, including the revised OECD Skills Strategy framework, analysis of the skills implications of megatrends, a new OECD Skills Strategy Dashboard, and key policy findings and good practice examples for developing relevant skills, using skills effectively and strengthening the governance of skills systems. Finally, the chapter introduces the 2019 Skills Strategy framework, which has three core components: 1) developing relevant skills over the life course; 2) using skills effectively in work and society; and 3) strengthening the governance of skills systems.

This chapter explains how a number of megatrends, including technological change, globalisation and demographic changes are making skills more important than ever for success in today’s world. It explores the combined implications of these trends, including their implications for the skills needed for success in the future; the imperative of a lifelong learning approach; the imperative of ensuring more equitable opportunities and outcomes; and the imperative of making better use of technology as a learning pathway.

This chapter presents the portion of the OECD Skills Strategy Dashboard that pertains to developing relevant skills over the life course. It explores five policy priorities for improving performance in developing relevant skills: 1) raising aspirations for lifelong learning; 2) providing a good start for lifelong learning; 3) making lifelong learning affordable and sustainable; 4) making lifelong learning visible and rewarding; and 5) making lifelong learning accessible and relevant.

This chapter presents the portion of the OECD Skills Strategy Dashboard that pertains to using skills effectively, allowing for a comparative assessment of country performance. It explores a series of policy priorities relating to the use of skills, including: 1) promoting labour market participation; 2) promoting social participation; 3) expanding the pool of available talent; 4) making intensive use of skills in the workplace; 5) reducing skills imbalances; and 6) stimulating demand for high-level skills.

This chapter provides a framework of the policy dimensions required to govern skills systems effectively. It provides examples of how to better calibrate the interaction of the elements of good governance to create processes that are important for the effective functioning and accountability of skills systems. It advocates a whole-of-government approach to skills policies and highlights four policy dimensions relevant to pursuing such a goal: 1) promoting co-ordination, co-operation and collaboration across the whole of government; 2) engaging stakeholders throughout the policy cycle; 3) building integrated information systems; and 4) aligning and co-ordinating financing arrangements.

This annex concerns the OECD Skills Strategy Dashboard. The objective of this dashboard is to present an overview of the performance of the skills system in OECD Member countries. By presenting the relative position of countries on key skills outcomes, the dashboard provides a general overview of countries’ skills systems’ strengths and weaknesses. The dashboard is the starting point for analysis in OECD Skills Strategy projects. This annex describes the characteristics, presents the indicators and describes the underlying methods for calculating indicators.