The Enabling Environment for Skills-First Approaches sub-index assesses whether a country has the foundational structures to support a shift towards skills-first approaches. It considers whether a country has established mechanisms that enable stakeholders to use a shared language around skills and labour market needs. It also looks at the presence of public support for skills development, and the openness of the economy to moving from a credentials-based to a skills-oriented system.
Skills-First Readiness and Adoption Index
The Skills-First Readiness and Adoption Index is a multi-dimensional index that captures employer practices, policy alignment, education and training systems, and individual experiences to offer an actionable picture of the degree of skills-first readiness and adoption across countries. It has been co-developed by the OECD Directorate for Employment, Labour and Social Affairs, in collaboration with the Centre for Skills-First Practices at the Singapore University of Social Sciences-Institute for Adult Learning (SUSS-IAL).
Availability of Shared Skills Language
National occupational standards linked to skills
Score based on existence of national occupational standards linked to skills, 0 (no national standard/not linked to skills) to 1 (linked to structured skill information)
National qualification registries linked to skills
Score based on existence of national qualification registries linked to skills, 0 (no national registry/not linked to skills) to 1 (linked to structured skill information)
Availability of Information on Skill Demand and Supply
Accessibility of skills assessment and anticipation (SAA) data
Extent to which findings from SAA exercises are disseminated to relevant stakeholders, 0 (sporadically) to 1 (through a labour market information platform)
Skills assessment and anticipation (SAA) explicitly focusing on skills
Score based on the main focus of SAA exercises, 0 (focus on occupation or qualification) to 1 (focus on skills and qualifications equally, or skills only)
Public Support for Skills Development
Nationwide entitlements for education and training leave
Score based on existence of country-wide provisions for education and training leave, 0 (none) to 1 (yes, statutory/through collective agreement covering all sectors)
Government expenditure on education
Current and capital expenditure, % of GDP
Business Adaptability
Employer openness to organisational change
% of employers who do not expect organisational culture and resistance to change to hinder their organisational transformation
Workplace innovations
% of workers who reported their working methods and practices having changed significantly in past 3 years
For a small subset of countries, data for some indicators are not available. Detailed information on the derivation of each indicator can be found in the Methodological Note. To request the full dataset, please contact the OECD team at ELSSkills1@oecd.org.
In collaboration with:
