OECD: No skills – no job

A survey by the OECD shows that high quality primary education is an important indicator of employability and professional success in adult life. But countries must combine their educational efforts for young people with flexible, skills-oriented learning opportunities throughout life, in particular for working-age adults.

The OECD Survey of Adult Skills reveals the challenges some major economies face in boosting their skills levels. In reading, over one in five adults in Italy (27.7 per cent), Spain (27.5 per cent) and France (21.6 per cent) perform at or below the most basic level, compared with one in twenty Japanese (4.9 per cent) and one in ten Finns (10.6 per cent). Almost one in three adults in Italy (31.7 per cent), Spain (30.6 per cent) and the United States (28.7per cent ) perform at or below the most basic level of numeracy, compared to around one in ten in Japan (8.2 per cent), Finland (12.8 per cent) and the Czech Republic (12.8 per cent).

 

The Survey also reveals the extent of the “digital divide”, with millions failing to master even simple computer skills, such as using a computer mouse. This ranges from nearly one in four adults in Italy, Korea, Poland, the Slovak Republic and Spain to one in fourteen adults in the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden.

 

The OECD Survey of Adult Skills is the new PISA study for adults (otherwise known as PIAAC). The Survey measured the skills of 16- to 65-year olds across 24 countries and looked at how literacy, numeracy and problem-solving is used at work. It provides clear evidence of how developing and using skills improves employment prospects and quality of life as well as boosting economic growth. An increase in an individual’s literacy proficiency can be associated with a 20 per cent increase in the probability of participating in the labour market and a 10 per cent increase in the probability of being employed as opposed to being unemployed.

 

On average, the median hourly wage of workers scoring at the top levels on the literacy scale is 61 per cent higher than that of workers scoring at the lowest level. Differences in this “return on investment” vary widely: in several countries, such as the Czech Republic, Estonia, Poland, the Slovak Republic and Sweden, the gap in wages is relatively narrow, but is much wider in the United States, Korea, Ireland, Canada and Germany.

http://skills.oecd.org/skillsoutlook.html