IRELAND S NATIONAL SKILLS STRATEGY 2025

Transcription

1 IRELAND S NATIONAL SKILLS STRATEGY

2 improvig lives a better place to live ad to work Irelad s F u t u r e drivig sustaiable ecoomic growth 2 3

3 PAGE06 FOREWORD PAGE09 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY PAGE13 INTRODUCTION PAGE18 PAGE20 PAGE39 IRELAND AT A GLANCE CHANGING WORLD, CHANGING SKILLS IRELAND S PRESENT AND POTENTIAL LABOUR MARKET CONTENTS PAGE46 PAGE67 PAGE109 EDUCATION AND TRAINING IN IRELAND OBJECTIVES AND ACTIONS IMPLEMENTATION AND MEASURING SUCCESS 4 5

4 FOREWORD Icreasigly Irelad is competig globally o the basis of talet ad o Irelad s growig reputatio for iovatio. Wiig the war for talet ca be achieved by esurig that all of Irelad s citizes have access to the skills they eed to succeed i life; ad Irish busiess has the people with the skills they eed to grow. This is also critical to securig our recovery ad esurig Irelad s people share i that recovery. This Govermet has focused o ecoomic recovery ad job creatio. Firstly by stabilisig the public fiaces to create the coditios for ecoomic stability ad retur to growth, ad the by drivig job creatio through the Actio Pla for Jobs process. That strategy ad the hard work ad sacrifices of the Irish people have delivered a astoishig recovery. Irelad is ow i full recovery mode, ad withi strikig distace of full employmet. As we approach full employmet makig sure Irish workers have the skills that eterprise eeds matters more tha ever. If we are to secure the recovery ad future proof the Irish ecoomy we eed to put i place a log term skills strategy to esure all of our people ca reach their full potetial ad play a active role i buildig a better Irelad. The oly costat i life is chage ad that meas we eed a strategy which is flexible eough to respod to a rapidly chagig eviromet. This Strategy forms a itegral part of the Govermet s log term ecoomic pla to restore full employmet ad build a sustaiable ecoomy. It is closely aliged with broader Govermet policy icludig Eterprise 2025, Pathways to work ad the Actio Pla for Jobs. Ideed give the importace of the skills ageda to the Govermet s overall ecoomic pla it is o exaggeratio to say that this strategy forms the keystoe of Irelad s strategy to deliver log term sustaiable growth. This strategy sets a ambitious trajectory for the ext te years for skills developmet i Irelad. It marks a importat step i the evolutio of Irelad s educatio system to a system which fully supports lifelog learig ad is more resposive tha ever to the chagig eeds of participats, eterprise ad the commuity. 01. FOREWORD Skills have become the global currecy of the 21st cetury. Without proper ivestmet i skills, people laguish o the margis of society, techological progress does ot traslate ito ecoomic growth, ad coutries ca o loger compete i a icreasigly kowledge-based global society - OECD Secretary-Geeral Agel Gurría We ca cotiue ad ehace the reform of our system of educatio ad traiig with a real partership betwee the educatio sector ad eterprise to provide the mix of skills eeded over the ext te years ad beyod. This strategy puts i place the structures to eable that partership. The establishmet of Regioal Skills Fora will eable employers to have their say i what skills mix will best serve their regio ito the future. At atioal level, the ew Natioal Skills Coucil will utilise itelligece o skills requiremets to proactively address emergig skills gaps. We will use regular rigorous evaluatio of activities to costatly improve the quality of provisio at all levels ad drive key reform iitiatives already i trai, for example, i early childhood educatio, school curriculum reform ad developmet of Appreticeships. Irelad is a small coutry, we caot afford utapped talet, or do we ited to leave ay of our people locked out of participatig i the workforce through a lack of skills. That is why there is a specific focus i this strategy o active iclusio for the ecoomically margialised. We ca t deliver Govermet s ambitious jobs targets without brigig our emigrats home. Migrats will be ecouraged to retur to Irelad to take up skilled positios ad there will be icreased mobility of early-stage researchers comig through Irelad s higher educatio system ito idustry. Job creatio remais the focus of this Govermet because as the Taoiseach said recetly a job does t just mea a icome. A job ca trasform a life. Give a perso a role ad a stake. A job offers the chace to make a cotributio. It helps youg people, i particular, fid their ow path i life ad strike out to a ew future. This strategy will deliver the skills to geerate jobs ad sustaiable ecoomic growth ad help Irelad ad its people strike out to a ew ad better future. Ja O Sulliva TD Miister for Educatio ad Skills Damie Eglish Miister for Skills, Research ad Iovatio 6 7

5 This Natioal Skills Strategy I r e l a d s F u t u r e will make sure that Irelad is reowed at home ad abroad as a place where the talet of our people thrives. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 8 9

6 Executive Summary This Natioal Skill s Strategy: Irelad s Future builds o the progress made uder the previous strategy Towards Tomorrow s Skills 1. Over the ext te years, it will advace towards the ambitious visio that: Irelad will be reowed at home ad abroad as a place where the talet of our people thrives through: This Strategy is commecig i a time of recovery. It is hoped that, through its costituet actios ad those of may others across the coutry over the ext te years, it will coclude at a time whe Irelad has moved beyod recovery ad ito a eve more proactive period of opportuity ad growth right across the coutry. The Strategy s objectives ad associated actios have bee developed with this i mid: The quality ad relevace of our educatio ad traiig base, which is resposive to the chagig ad diverse eeds of our people, society ad the ecoomy; The stregth of relatioships ad trasfer of kowledge betwee employers, educatio ad traiig providers, ad all sectios of society, ad the resultig impact o how people are prepared for life ad work; The quality of our workforce a atio of people armed with relevat kowledge, etrepreeurial agility ad aalytical skills; The effective use of skills to support ecoomic ad social prosperity, ad to ehace the well-beig of our coutry; The effective use of techology to support talet ad skills provisio, to grow eterprise, ad to ehace the lives of all withi society. After the recet sharp global recessio, Irelad s employmet levels have recovered from a uemploymet high of 15% at the ed of 2011 to less tha 9% today. As we move ito recovery, skills shortages are ow emergig i certai areas ad occupatios, for istace i advaced maufacturig ad Iformatio Commuicatios Techology (ICT). Global treds ad drivers of chage such as chagig cosumptio patters ad shiftig power structures are shapig iteratioal markets ad emergig eterprise sectors. Techology is oe of the key drivers of chage ad improved digital skills will be vital for Irelad s future, both i higher-ed dedicated ICT jobs ad, more widely, as a basic core competece. Other core - or trasversal - skills like laguages ad etrepreeurship will also uderpi Irelad s use of its talet offerig as a global differetiator. Irelad s youg populatio with the highest proportio i the EU uder 15 is aother strog potetial competitive advatage. Of our 3 millio people of workig age, almost 30% are ecoomically iactive ad supportig this sectio of the populatio to participate i ad cotribute to the skills eeds of the labour market is oe of this Strategy's objectives. Aother objective will be to icrease the supply of skills by, for example, ecouragig Irish migrats to retur home: a move that will erich Irelad both ecoomically ad societally, ad to support older workers to remai i employmet. Icreasig people s lifelog learig, especially of those i employmet, is a atioal performace gap that this Strategy will tackle. The youthfuless of our populatio, while a clear potetial iteratioal advatage, also poses challeges to Irelad s educatio ad traiig system. Over the last decade, full-time erolmets have icreased by more tha 170,000 ad they will cotiue to rise i the comig years. These demographic pressures otwithstadig, importat reforms are uderway across all elemets of the educatio ad traiig system to improve its cohesiveess ad its relevace, ad to icrease the retur o public ivestmet through more systematic evaluatio ad drive for maximum impact Objectives 1 Educatio ad traiig providers will place a stroger focus o providig skills developmet opportuities that are relevat to the eeds of learers, society ad the ecoomy. 2 Employers will participate actively i the developmet of skills ad make effective use of skills i their orgaisatios to improve productivity ad competitiveess. 3 The quality of teachig ad learig at all stages of educatio will be cotiually ehaced ad evaluated. 4 People across Irelad will egage more i lifelog learig. 5 There will be a specific focus o active iclusio to support participatio i educatio ad traiig ad the labour market. 6 We will support a icrease i the supply of skills to the labour market. objectives

7 Robust itelligece will uderpi the Strategy s implemetatio ad iform resourcig allocatios. Prioritisatio of skills eeds will be oversee by the ew Natioal Skills Coucil. The ew Regioal Skills Fora will facilitate ogoig employer-educator dialogue to match idetified eeds with sustaiable provisio i each regio, thereby optimisig the retur o Irish ivestmet i educatio ad traiig. Iitiatives will be moitored by existig mechaisms ad regular impact evaluatios. These will be complemeted through the trackig of idetified key atioal ad iteratioal skills idicators. The cumulative itet is to esure that Irelad s people develop ad use their skills to their maximum potetial through sustaiable employmet ad civic participatio. Employers i Irelad, both private ad public, will recogise their staff as their key asset. Others, both compaies ad skilled idividuals, will be attracted to Irelad because of its global reputatio for the priority that we attach to educatio ad its role i a perso s digity, developmet ad cotributio to prosperity. Sapshot from the cosultatio papers received we eed to create a eviromet where ideas flourish ot to produce droes with skills.our graduates must have a strog emphasis o creativity ad flexibility, ideas ad thikig outside the box. Flexibility is key to ecouragig participatio i lifelog learig as for may it eeds to take place aroud the workig day..there is still a sigificat gap i the provisio of high quality courses that are suitable for those i employmet. Compaies are ow focused o traiig which will ot oly icrease the compay edge, but will eable the learer to achieve a greater uderstadig of themselves, icreasig their appetite to excel. Idividuals & Worker represetatives 01. INTRODUCTION 12 13

8 Itroductio This ew Natioal Skills Strategy 2025 aims to uderpi Irelad's growth as a ecoomy ad as a society over the comig years. Through the visio, actios ad targets set out, the Strategy will support developmet of a well-educated, well-skilled ad adaptable labour force, creatig ad sustaiig a strog pool of taleted people of all ages livig i Irelad. The Strategy builds o the progress made sice the last skills strategy, Towards Tomorrow s Skills 2, which was published i 2007 ad sets ew idicators of progress for the period to Irelad s people are its greatest asset; this Strategy will support employer ad learer access to a dyamic, adaptable, iovative ad high-quality educatio ad traiig system. Employers, whether public or private, will have access to a excellet pipelie of taleted, iovative workers. Lifelog learig will be promoted ad supported as well as more effective use of skills i the workplace to drive productivity ad iovatio. This Strategy is desiged to beefit all people livig here, compaies operatig i Irelad or plaig to establish here, those workig here ad those hopig to work here. It recogises the the role that skills ca play i the bettermet of all ad supportig people here to grow as global citizes. Buildig o the previous atioal skills strategy A umber of targets were set i the previous skills strategy, some of which used the Natioal Framework of Qualificatios (NFQ) as a referece poit. Others focused o the percetages of learers completig their secod level educatio as well as progressio to higher educatio. Sice 2007, particular progress has bee made i the followig areas: The umber of learers completig seior cycle at secod level icreased from 81% to 90.6% 3. This exceeds the 90% target set for % of people aged achieved a award at Levels 4-5 or more o the Natioal Framework of Qualificatios i This was a icrease of 7% o the baselie year of 2005 ad just 1% short of the target for Progress was ot as strog for some other targets i the previous strategy. The target to icrease the percetages of people i the labour force holdig a qualificatio at Levels 4-5 was ot met. A clear challege also remais i relatio to the share of persos with NFQ Level 3 as the highest level of educatio attaied: which at 15.4% is still early double the 2020 target of 7%. Developig the ew strategy: Methodology ad cosultatio A review of progress o the previous atioal skills strategy was the startig poit for developmet of the ew strategy. This was supplemeted by a comprehesive review of the rage of atioal ad iteratioal policy papers, evaluatios ad strategies o skills ad talet developmet; iovative educatio ad traiig; forecasts of curret ad future skills eeds; ad aalyses of labour market developmets ad treds. A high level Steerig Group, with represetatives of stakeholders from educatio ad eterprise, supported the developmet of the strategy. A detailed cosultatio paper was published olie i November 2015 ad over 120 submissios were received from idividuals ad groups represetig the full rage of employers ad the self-employed i Irelad; worker represetative groups; represetatives of the uemployed; educators; parets; other iterested members of the public; Govermet Departmets ad State agecies i the areas of eterprise, educatio, social protectio ad health. This strategy draws together the review of progress o skills ad talet developmet i Irelad ad iteratioally; recet developmets ad examples of effective policy ad practice; ad the iputs by the wide rage of stakeholders who respoded to the cosultatio documet. Flowig from the itroductio, Sectio 2 sets out a illustrative sapshot of Irelad today. Sectio 3, Chagig world, Chagig Skills sets out the atioal ad iteratioal cotext for the Strategy i terms of Irelad s employer base, global treds affectig skills eeds ad forecasted skills eeds. Sectio 4 sets out the curret compositio ad treds withi the Irish labour market Sectio 5 profiles the Irish educatio ad traiig system ad its role i Irelad s skills ad talet developmet. The progressio rate to higher educatio icreased by 14 percetage poits, from 55% to 69%, while there was a 11 percetage poit icrease i the umber of people i the labour force achievig a qualificatio at Levels 6-10 o the Natioal Framework of Qualificatios. Sectio 6 presets the Strategy s key priorities ad costituet actios. Sectio 7 outlies the meas by which the implemetatio of the Strategy will be moitored ad assessed Level-Schools-2008-Cohort.pdf 14 15

9 Our Visio ad OBJECTIVES to 2025 A WELL-SKILLED, ADAPTABLE AND INNOVATIVE WORKFORCE CAN UNDERPIN IMPROVED LIVING STANDARDS FOR ALL OVER THE LONGER TERM. THE AVAILABILITY OF SKILLED TALENTED PEOPLE IS ONE OF IRELAND S KEY INTERNATIONAL DIFFERENTIATORS IN THE ATTRACTION OF FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT. IT ALSO DRIVES THE SUCCESS OF OUR INDIGENOUS ENTERPRISE BASE, FROM INNOVATIVE START-UPS THROUGH SMALL EMPLOYERS CRITICALLY LOCATED THROUGHOUT THE COUNTRY TO SCALING FIRMS WITH HIGH GROWTH POTENTIAL. OUR VISION Irelad will be reowed at home ad abroad as a place where the talet of our people thrives through: The quality ad relevace of our educatio ad traiig base, which is resposive to the chagig ad diverse eeds of our people, society ad the ecoomy; The stregth of relatioships ad trasfer of kowledge betwee employers, educatio ad traiig providers, ad all sectios of society, ad the resultig impact o how people are prepared for life ad work; The quality of our workforce a atio of people armed with relevat kowledge, etrepreeurial agility ad aalytical skills; The effective use of skills to support ecoomic ad social prosperity, ad to ehace the well-beig of our coutry; The effective use of techology to support talet ad skills provisio, to grow eterprise ad to ehace the lives of all withi society. ad traiig courses. Coversely, studets caot lear relevat skills without employers egagig i the skills ageda. For example, compaies frequetly express their eed for experieced graduates. I order to deliver this, opportuities for studets to gai practical experiece must be more widely available. Improved chaels for ogoig stakeholder dialogue ad resultat actio will be provided i the regios by the ew Regioal Skills Fora. These fora will be supported at atioal level by more streamlied mechaisms that will traslate itelligece o skills eeds ito actios prioritised o the basis of likely impact ad available resources through the ew Natioal Skills Coucil. To support the achievemet of this visio, over the period to 2025, our objectives are that: Educatio ad traiig providers will place a stroger focus o providig skills developmet opportuities that are relevat to the eeds of learers, society ad the ecoomy. Employers will participate actively i the developmet of skills ad make effective use of skills i their orgaisatios to improve productivity ad competitiveess. The quality of teachig ad learig at all stages of educatio ad traiig will be cotiually ehaced ad evaluated. Irelad's educatio ad traiig system will deliver more flexible, iovative ad iterdiscipliary skills provisio Returs o public ivestmet i educatio ad traiig will be maximised through more active employer egagemet, clear prioritisatio of iitiatives based o available resources ad their regular evaluatio for impact ad efficiecy. Realisatio of this visio will ivolve learers, employers ad educators, as well as relevat State Departmets ad agecies. Progress towards it will ivolve systematic evaluatio of learer outcomes ad the active participatio of all. Employers caot source more relevat skills without resposive educatio ad traiig providers or without studets pursuig the right educatio People across Irelad will egage more i lifelog learig. There will be active iclusio to support participatio i educatio ad traiig ad the labour market. We will support a icrease i the supply of skills to the labour market

10 02. Irelad at a glace OECD Govermet at a Glace 2015 shows that the level of satisfactio i Irelad, was 83 per cet i The secod highest of all the Europea coutries surveyed. SATISFACTION WITH THE EDUCATION SYSTEM 83% i 2014 Irelad s populatio is curretly millio Populatio With 1 millio uder the age of 15 the highest proportio i the EU FULL-TIME LEARNERS IN IRELAND LIFELONG LEARNING SCHOOL GOING POPULATION LEARNING BEYOND SCHOOL WORKPLACE LEARNING 1,983,000 of the populatio are i employmet with a target to icrease employmet to 2.18 millio by the ed of The umber of those uemployed at the ed of 2015 is 200,000 Youth uemploymet (15-24 year olds) although reducig, remais uacceptably high at 19.7%. EMPLOYMENT 185,000 eterprises across Irelad employ 1,2 millio people UNEMPLOYMENT INACTIVE The CSO Q figures show that the umber of self-employed has icreased by 5,400 over the last year, brigig the total up to 323,000 i.e. over 16% of those i work i Irelad. Oly 33% of people with disability of workig age are i work compared with 66% of o-disabled people Log-term uemploymet rates have falle but this cohort still accouts for 54% of those people out of work 1 millio There are over full-time learers i the educatio ad traiig system Lifelog learig participatio rate for 2014 was 6.7% compared to a EU average of 10.7% Lower participatio rates amog those i employmet at 5.5% compare to the EU Average of 11.6% There are 916,000 childre ad youg people i schools ad this will cotiue to icrease to 2025 Over 173,000+ full-time ad over 38,000 part-time studets i higher educatio Full-time erolmet i higher educatio has grow by 30% over the past 9 years demad for places is expected to icrease by 30% over the ext 15 years Over 230,000 people were scheduled to start FET programmes durig 2015 Expediture by employers o traiig has remaied relatively static over the years. Amogst Agecy supported firms, expediture o traiig as a percetage of sales accouted for oe percet i 2013 ad has ot icreased beyod a peak of 1.3 percet i 2000 Nearly 30% people are ecoomically iactive, with a higher proportio of those with low skills 18 19

11 3. CHANGING WORLD, CHANGING SKILLS This Strategy has bee developed agaist a backdrop of substatial atioal ad iteratioal upheaval marked the start of a severe global recessio which hit Irelad hard. At the height of the dowtur i late 2011, a estimated 47 millio people were uemployed i 34 OECD coutries 4. I Irelad, early 330,000 or 15.1% of the labour force were uemployed 5. Youth uemploymet (15 to 24 year-olds) was almost 30% 6. Irelad was oe of five EU coutries that had to accept fiacial assistace from the Europea Cetral Bak (ECB) ad the Iteratioal Moetary Fud (IMF). Sice the ed of 2012, however, there have bee sigs of recovery, both globally ad i Irelad ad this recovery has cotiued to-date. Employmet figures have improved; i Irelad uemploymet has bee reduced to 8.8% as at December 2015, with almost two millio people i employmet. Youth uemploymet has reduced to 19.7% 7. The Irish Govermet has set a target of 2.18 millio people i employmet by ,000 ew jobs were created betwee Q ad Q , ad the treds poit to cotiued growth ad expasio, although there are still risks to the recovery at atioal ad global levels. OVERVIEW OF IRELAND S EMPLOYERS TODAY Accordig to the latest figures from the CSO 9, 1,983,000 of the 2,186,000 i the labour force today are employed, a aual icrease of 2.9%. Employmet icreased i the majority of sectors over the year. The largest rates of icrease were recorded i the Costructio (+13.3% or 15,000) ad the Idustry (+5.7% or 13,600) sectors. 03. CHANGING WORLD, CHANGING SKILLS Sapshot from the cosultatio papers received The maagemet of the tesio betwee stakeholders which exists for example, betwee the terms traiig ad skills o the oe had ad educatio o the other is also a critical area which requires ogoig egagemet. Educatio & Traiig providers 4 OECD Labour Force Statistics CSO, Quarterly Natioal Household Survey, Q CSO, Quarterly Natioal Household Survey, Q CSO, Quarterly Natioal Household Survey Q3, CSO, Quarterly Natioal Household Survey Q3, CSO, Quarterly Natioal Household Survey Q

12 Figure 2 Persos aged 15 years ad over i employmet (ILO) classified by Quarter ad Quarter k 200k 100k 0k Agriculture, forestry & fishig 8 Fiacial, isurace & real estate activities 2 Idustry 9 Professioal, scietific & techical activities 3 Costructio 10 Admiistrative & support service activities 4 Wholesale & retail trade; repair of motor vehicles Q Q Trasportatio & storage 12 Educatio 11 Public admiistratio & defece; compulsory social security 6 Accommodatio & food storage activities 13 Huma health & social work activities 7 Iformatio & commuicatio 14 Other NACE activities Source: CSO Irelad SELF-EMPLOYED Out of the 1.98 millio i employmet, 1,644,000 are classified by the CSO as employees ad 323,000 as self-employed. The latter icreased by 5,400 or 1.7% over the year, brigig selfemployed as a proportio of those i employmet to 16%. The Global Etrepreeurship Moitor Survey 14 shows that Table 1 Breakdow of eterprise sector by compay ad employmet Compay size (by employee umber) Number of compaies Employmet % of Total Employmet Large (+250) ,000 32% Medium (50-249) 2, ,000 19% Small (10-49 ) 14, , % Micro (-10) 168, , % Source: CSO Busiess i Irelad 2012 Report, published December 2014ymet Irelad is close to the Europea Uio average i ascet etrepreeurship (those i the process of startig up), ew busiess owership ad discotiuatio of busiess rates. Irish etrepreeurship i the form of established busiess owership rates exceed the Europea Uio average by 3.2 percetage poits. A estimated 1.2 millio of employees work i the private sector 10. A sigificat proportio of these work i export-orieted iovative compaies such as those supported by Eterprise Irelad ad the IDA. Recet data from the two key idustrial developmet agecies 11 poits to strog growth i their cliet compaies with agecies supportig a combied total of early 380,000 jobs throughout the coutry i The Europea Uio average etrepreeurship rate for early stage etrepreeurial activity exceeds the Irish rate by 1.3 percetage poits. Phases of Etrepreeurail activity Compay scale though remais a issue i Irelad. Previous data from the CSO 12 shows that there are approximately 185,000 eterprises across Irelad. Of these, more tha 90% are classified as micro, i.e. employig less tha te people. This creates challeges for upskillig ad reskillig the workforce i these orgaisatios as they ofte do't have dedicated huma resource or traiig fuctios to idetify skills eeds ad appropriate resposes. They also fid it harder to release people for off-the-job traiig ad at the same time maitai ormal dayto-day operatios. Oe of Eterprise Irelad s mai strategic objectives 13 is to scale compaies that demostrate growth potetial, ad skills capability developmet is cetral to the achievemet of this objective. 10 CSO, QNHS Q Eterprise Irelad 2015 Ed-of-Year Statemet ad IDA Irelad 2015 Ed-of Year Statemet. 12 CSO, December 2014, Busiess i Irelad 2012 Report 13 Europea Uio Irelad Nascet Eterpreeurship rate New busiess owership Early stage etrepreeurial activity Established busiess owership rate Discotiuatio of busiess 0% 2% 4% 6% 8% 10% Source: GEM 2014 % of populatio aged

13 Irelad s Natioal Policy Statemet o Etrepreeurship 15 (2014) sets out key atioal objectives ad iitiatives to drive etrepreeurship i the comig years. The educatio ad traiig system is recogised withi this as makig a key cotributio. The Actio Pla for Jobs sets out specific actios to sustai the rate of icrease i ew start-ups ad etrepreeurship ad sets a target to double jobs impact from start-ups by supportig survival ad scalig of ew busiesses. PUBLIC SECTOR The public sector as a whole is essetial to Irelad s overall developmet ad, like the eterprise sector, is facig sigificat skills issues. For istace, as healthcare delivery models evolve, the future roles of healthcare professioals will chage, as will the competecies that will determie success. I educatio, chages have already bee made to iitial teacher educatio programmes to better prepare teachers for the classroom ad the learig priorities of the 21 st cetury. Of the 376,000 people workig i the public sector, the majority are employees i Health (121,000) ad Educatio (111,000), which are both critically importat to society ad the ecoomy. Figure 2 Public Sector Employmet by Sub-Sector CURRENT TRENDS IN SUPPLY AND DEMAND FOR SKILLS IN THE ECONOMY The Natioal Skills Bulleti 17 highlights curret skills demad by occupatio. A review of the Skills Bulleti for each of the four years highlights the followig key treds: There are skills shortages for Professioals ad Associate Professioals across sectors i areas of ICT, Sciece ad Egieerig. The shortage of ICT talet is potetially sigificat for a umber of sectors where ICT skills are eeded (e.g. Software, Data Aalytics, Fiacial Services, Distributio). There are also Professioals skills shortages i specific sectors such as Fiacial Services, Health (medical practitioers ad urses) ad Costructio (surveyors) - the latter oly begiig to exhibit a skills shortage i As the ecoomy has picked up, i additio to Costructio, the Freight Trasport, Distributio & Logistics sector has begu to exhibit skills shortages. Multiligual skills for Associate Professioals i ICT ad Sales & Marketig, ad for Admiistrative staff i Fiacial Services ad Freight Trasport, Distributio & Logistics. Total Public Sector icludig Semi State bodies Total Public Sector excludig Semi State bodies Health Educatio Semi-State compaies Commercial Semi-State compaies Civil Service Regioal bodies Garda Siochaa No commercial Semi-State compaies Defece Source: Q3, 2015 (CSO, QNHS) I summary, the greatest skills demad is for Professioals, Associate Professioals ad people with multiligual skills. I additio, the Natioal Skills Bulleti also idetifies a high volume of turover i the Irish labour market: almost 250,000 trasitios betwee employers ad betwee occupatios occurred i These trasitios are typically cocetrated i the lower ed of the skills scale (e.g. elemetary occupatio, sales assistats etc.), I seekig to address these issues durig the implemetatio of this strategy, the educatio ad traiig sector will have a cotiuig role to play i seekig to miimise the gap betwee demad ad supply where there are shortages of people with the right skills to fill available jobs. Uderstadig the levels of skill required, coupled with the level of work experiece eeded will be key. It will also have a importat role i upskillig ad reskillig people with lower skills to eable them to gai more sustaiable employmet. RELEVANT INTERNATIONAL AND NATIONAL POLICY DEVELOPMENT As set out i the Itroductio, this Strategy has bee developed with referece to a umber of key atioal ad iteratioal policy developmets. At EU level, Europe sets priorities ad targets Europe-wide ad by coutry for issues that iclude employmet, fightig poverty ad social exclusio; research; climate chage; eergy sustaiability ad educatio. Horizo sets out priorities ad targets specifically for research ad iovatio

14 I Irelad, a umber of recet publicatios form a importat backdrop to this Strategy, i particular Eterprise (2015); Iovatio (2015); the Natioal Policy Statemet o Etrepreeurship 23 (2014); Iteratioal Fiacial Services ; Food Wise , People, Place ad Policy - Growig Tourism to ; Costructio ; Tradig ad Ivestig i a Smart Ecoomy A Strategy ad Actio Pla for Irish Trade, Tourism ad Ivestmet to ad its review 29 ; the Natioal Digital Strategy 30 (2013), ad the series of Actio Pla for Jobs 31 atioal ad the ew Actio Pla for Jobs regioal plas(2015) ad the Pathways to Work 32 policies. ENTERPRISE 2025 Eterprise 2025 (EP2025), the Govermet s ew eterprise policy framework ad strategy sets the ambitio to have 2.18 millio people at work by the ed of 2020 ad to achieve a uemploymet rate of 6%. This equates to a extra 266,000 at work o the ed-2014 baselie. I the three years iclusive a additioal 150,000 jobs have bee created i the Irish ecoomy, with all sectors showig sigs of growth. Most otable is that the cliets of the eterprise agecies are to the fore i creatig ew jobs, with estimates of over 55,000 extra employed i agecy cliets i the three years iclusive, ad EP2025 sets ambitious targets equatig to growth of 12,500 per aum to The sigificace of the agecy cliet base is that for every ew job created by agecy cliets it is estimated there is a further job supported i the rest of the ecoomy through purchases of raw materials ad services etc. I additio to the ew jobs created, there will also be a demad for 400,000 job replacemets over the period to 2020 as people move out of the workforce through retiremet, etc. EP 2025 sets out the eterprise sectors i which Irelad has comparative advatage ad that cotribute the greater proportio toward exports. These sectors accout for a sigificat proportio of the Eterprise Irelad ad IDA eterprise agecy cliet portfolio ad iclude ICT (hardware ad software), Health Lifescieces (icludig pharma, biopharma ad medical techologies), Iteratioal Fiacial Services, Iteratioally Traded Services, Egieerig/Idustrial Products ad Agri-Food /people-place-ad-policy-growig-tourism-2025.pdf Strategy-ad-Actio-Pla-to-2015.pdf Strategy-for-Irelad.aspx New areas of opportuity ad utapped potetial are highlighted i EP2025. These iclude agritech, advaced maufacturig (3D Pritig / additive maufacturig), Aquaculture, Big Data, Bor Globals, Composites ad advaced materials, ehealth, e-tailig, Fitech, Geoscieces, Iteret of Thigs, Sharig Ecoomy, Smart Ageig, ad Space. These are the opportuities that are kow about ow ad others will aturally emerge over the course of this Strategy. Aualised jobs targets have ot bee set out i EP2025. Rather, it assesses where there is potetial for employmet growth across four broad sectoral cohorts as set out i Table 2 below. All sectors are evolvig i respose to market demads ad eabled by techology developmets, presetig cosiderable opportuities arisig from covergece, ew busiess models ad ew market segmets such as smart ageig. Table 2 Eterprise 2025 Sectoral Ambitio Sectoral cohort Brief overview of potetial to 2020 Employmet Employmet 2014 (base year) 2020 Buildig o stregths ICT, Lifescieces, AgriFood, Iteratioally Traded Services, Iteratioally tradig fiacial services, Egieerig/idustrial products Trasformig employmet itesive sectors Tourism, Retail & wholesale, Costructio, Trasport & logistics, Primary productio, Other maufacturig/sub supply Realisig utapped potetial Creative Idustries, Gree Techologies / evirometal services, Marie ad maritime, Educatio services, Healthcare services Other locally traded services ad activities Legal, accoutig ad other professioal, services, Busiess ad cosultacy services, Persoal services Primarily export orietated cotributig circa 80% of total exports. These sectors reflect the bulk of the eterprise agecy cliet base. Icludes both foreig ad Irish owed etities from small to large scale multiatioals. These sectors are primarily locally tradig (with the exceptio of tourism that geerates foreig earigs ad some other maufacturig ). I the mai they play a dual role withi the ecoomy. A high proportio is Irish owed, but with icreasig foreig owed presece (particularly hospitality ad retail).it icludes compaies through from micro to large scale. These are broadly defied sectors that icorporate a rage of differet subsectors ad cross a umber of Govermet Departmet areas of resposibility. Educatio ad health services preset opportuity for private sector provisio ad iteratioalisatio. Geerally small scale, Irish owed ad regioally dispersed. Primarily professioal, busiess ad persoal services tradig locally. High proportio of micro eterprises with some large scale providers that deliver services iteratioally ad / or through global parterships. Cosiderable potetial to ehace competitiveess, which beefits other busiess ad the overall ecoomy. 283, , ,800 1,000, , , , ,

15 The skills required i the above sectors are across all qualificatios ad experiece levels. SECTORAL & THEMATIC EMPLOYMENT PROJECTIONS A umber of Govermet Strategies ad idividual Expert Group o Future Skills Needs (EGSFN) 33 sectoral ad thematic reports have quatified the specific skills requiremets i a umber of sectors, such as: Iovatio 2020, forecasts that there will be a icreased demad for research persoel withi the eterprise sector risig from 20,000 curretly to 40,000 by These researchers are expected to be across all skill levels, from techicias through to PhD level research leaders. Agriculture ad food. The Teagasc Food ad Agricultural Policy Research Istitute (FAPRI) assessmet of employmet impacts of achievig the Harvest 2020 targets for a 50% icrease i output by 2020 estimated growth i agri-food employmet of at least a additioal 16,500 employees. The Govermet s Costructio 2020 strategy forecasts employmet growth i the order of 60,000 to The strategy for the Iteratioal Fiacial Services to 2020 forecasts growth of 10,000 jobs i that sector. ICT employmet across a rage of sectors is projected to grow by a estimated 44,500 potetial job opeigs betwee 2013 ad Maufacturig is expected to grow by 43,000 jobs over the period This icludes Biopharma, which the idustry expects to grow i the short term by 5,000 jobs betwee Data Aalytics - 18,000 extra jobs are forecast betwee Hospitality - based o the Ecoomic ad Social Research Istitute (ESRI) Medium-Term Review, employmet growth betwee 2015 ad 2020 is expected to rage from 9,990 to 21,540 with the successful implemetatio of the Govermet s ew Tourism Strategy to Freight Trasport, Distributio & Logistics - 10,000 extra jobs are forecast betwee OCCUPATIONAL EMPLOYMENT FORECASTS I additio to forecasts of growth by sector, the Skills ad Labour Market Research Uit i SOLAS produces occupatioal employmet forecasts. The latest forecasts were published i 2014 ad cover the period Although the ecoomic recovery that has take place sice 2012 outpaced the projected growth uder the most optimistic sceario cosidered i the report ( recovery with competitive maufacturig sceario ), the occupatioal projectios geerated are still useful i idicatig how the directio ad pace of growth is likely to differ betwee occupatios. I that cotext, it is the relative differeces, rather tha absolute employmet growth that should be used as a guide for future demad for skills. I order to highlight more clearly the demad for differet skill types, the occupatioal forecasts also group occupatios with similar skill sets ito occupatioal families 35 as illustrated i Figure 3 ad Table 3 below. For istace, the followig occupatios are icluded i the Costructio, Fiacial ad Sciece, Egieerig ad IT families: Costructio: costructio maagers, costructio professioals (e.g. civil egieers, architects), costructio techicias (e.g. draughtspersos) ad costructio craftspersos (e.g. bricklayers, plasterers). Fiacial: fiacial maagers, fiacial professioals (e.g. accoutats), fiacial associate professioals (e.g. ivestmet aalysts) ad fiacial clerks (e.g. payroll clerks) are grouped ito a fiacial occupatioal family. Sciece, Egieerig ad IT: scietists, scietific techicias, egieers, egieerig techicias, ICT professioals (e.g. programmers, software egieers, web desigers etc.), ICT maagers ad ICT techicias. Ecoomic recovery is likely to result i employmet growth i all occupatioal families, except farmig. However, the level of employmet is expected to vary by occupatioal family. Some occupatioal families (e.g. Costructio) are also recoverig from a low base followig the recessio, while for other occupatioal families, otwithstadig the higher tha average growth rates projected, the umber of additioal jobs will be relatively small. If fiscal policy becomes expasioary i the short to medium term, growth i educatio ad healthcare occupatios is likely to be higher tha that projected here. It should be oted that, give the size of the workforce i educatio, health ad care activities, ay positive rate of chage is likely to traslate to substatial icreases i employmet i absolute terms. A update of the occupatioal employmet projectios is expected to be carried out by SOLAS i the secod half of 2016, followig the publicatio of the ESRI s ext Medium-Term Review Occupatioal Employmet Projectios 2020, SOLAS, Jauary Occupatioal Employmet Projectios 2020, SOLAS, Jauary 2014, pages

16 Figure 3 Projected average aual employmet growth for the period by occupatioal family - recovery with competitive maufacturig Social ad care Trasport Admiistrative All occupatios Arts, sports tourism Ski l l S tal e t Sapshot from the cosultatio papers received Sciece, Egieerig, IT Sales ad customer service Security Other services Operative Busiess Costructio Educatio Elemetary Farmers The skill of learig to lear; employers across the globe caot predict the skills they will eed for jobs that do ot yet exist, those who have prove to be adaptable, curious ad kow their ow learig style have succeeded i rapidly chagig idustries. Irelad eeds to thik wider tha its atioal boudary ad cosider skills to have value across the globe. Ivestmet i traiig has largely bee focussed o traiig the uemployed, or school leavers but eeds to ow focus o people who require upskillig or reskillig to maitai their curret role or to progress withi a chose field of eterprise to maitai market share agaist competitors ad bee see as best i class. No-costructio craft Legal Fiacial Healthcare Employers & Employer Represetatives Source: SLMRU, SOLAS PROJECTED AVERAGE ANNUAL EMPLOYMENT GROWTH IN % AVERAGE GROWTH OF 2.2% Table 3 Growth by occupatioal family to Above average employmet growth Average growth Below average growth costructio occupatios (strog growth from very low base) operative occupatios sciece, egieerig ad IT (STEM) occupatios legal, busiess ad fiacial (icludig fiacial admiistratio) occupatios o-costructio craft occupatios trasport occupatios sales ad customer care occupatios services, arts, sports tourism occupatios elemetary ad admiistrative occupatios GLOBAL DRIVERS AND TRENDS: IMPACT ON SKILLS NEEDS EP2025 sets out the drivers of chage ad global treds that are ifluecig developmets i Irelad ad the rest of the world. The drivers of chage ad treds work separately ad i combiatio to produce ew challeges ad opportuities i the ecoomy ad society. The drivers of chage iclude demographics, techological advaces, urbaisatio ad climate chage, ad these will alter ad shape the eviromet i which eterprises i Irelad ad globally operate. These drivers have itesified iteratioal competitio for trade, ivestmet ad people ad their ifluece is already reflected i policy formulatio across Govermet ad this will cotiue i the comig years. The global treds cosequetly emergig are techological chage, chagig cosumptio patters, ew ways of workig, global value etworks (value chais), urbaisatio ad pressure o resources ad shiftig power structures. 36 Occupatioal Employmet Projectios 2020, SOLAS, Jauary

17 GLOBAL TRENDS AND THEIR INFLUENCE ON DEMAND FOR AND DEVELOPMENT OF SKILLS TECHNOLOGICAL CHANGE CHANGING CONSUMPTION PATTERNS NEW WAYS OF WORKING GLOBAL VALUE NETWORKS URBANISATION AND PRESSURE ON RESOURCES SHIFTING POWER STRUCTURES The covergece of techologies i the desig, maufacturig ad supply of goods ad services is leadig to a greater demad for cross-discipliary kowledge ad skillsets. This has implicatios for the developmet of techology-based skills ad requires icreased collaboratio betwee differet disciplies i istitutios for the sharig of kowledge ad expertise. Chagig cosumptio patters, highlights the importace of e-commerce, marketig ad sellig skills, ad customer care ad support. There will be a high demad for desig ad creative skills for the adaptatio ad developmet of ew products ad services to meet customer prefereces. There will also be growig health ad social care skill requiremets i respose to the eeds of a ageig populatio. New ways of workig meas that compaies eed to ivest i their employees at all levels to maitai productivity ad improve staff retetio. Idividuals themselves will eed to cotiually upskill ad reskill. There is a risig demad for more higher-level cogitive ad iterpersoal skills. The skillsets of people i elemetary occupatios ad those i higher skilled occupatios will eed to be developed i this costatly chagig eviromet. The developmet of global value etworks highlights the eed to develop strategic skills for the maagemet of iteratioal ad virtual teams, project maagemet, cultural awareess, ad customer care ad support. The right mix of skills will also be eeded to esure techical ad busiess excellece across the differet fuctioal areas of busiess icludig Resarch & Developmet (R&D), maufacturig, marketig, distributio ad customer care. Urbaisatio ad pressure o resources require the developmet of core busiess, egieerig, iovatio ad ICT skills, with additioal expertise acquired through add-o specialism modules icludig for alterative forms of eergy, efficiet eergy buildig, lea maufacturig, ad more efficiet utilities ad trasportatio systems. Shiftig power structures ad the growig ecoomic stregth of developig ad trasitioig ecoomies meas greater cosumer demad from these coutries. This tred is leadig to a growig importace of maagemet leadership, busiess plaig skills, iteratioal marketig ad sellig skills, foreig laguage capability ad cultural awareess. These drivers ad treds are ifluecig the developmet of educatio ad traiig systems which will eed to cotiue to adapt as people s lifestyles ad work demads chage. Lifelog learig ad access to a variety of learig opportuities beyod school, which provides for greater choice, flexibility ad pathways betwee levels, courses ad providers, is becomig icreasigly importat. It is also becomig icreasigly importat to ivolve employers i the developmet ad provisio of learig to esure it s relevace to the eeds of the workplace. SKILL SETS NEEDS OF THE IRISH ECONOMY The labour market is costatly evolvig, ad the specific occupatios, skills ad qualificatios that are required chage over time maitai employmet ad for eterprises. The icreasigly iterdiscipliary ature of the world of work is also resultig i overlaps i the skills required across differet sectors ad occupatios. Over the ext te years, people workig i Irelad will eed a mix of sectoral, cross-sectoral ad trasveral skills. TRANSVERSAL SKILLS I terms of types of skills, it is clear from the aalysis ad the submissios received from stakeholders that trasversal skills are icreasigly importat i eablig people to gai ad maitai employmet ad for eterprises. Trasversal skills are relevat to a broad rage of occupatios ad sectors. They are ofte referred to as geeric, core, basic or soft skills ad are the corerstoe for a idividual s persoal developmet. Trasversal skills are the buildig blocks for the developmet of the hard, vocatioal or techical skills required to succeed i the labour market. The trasversal skills as idetified by eterprise iclude creativity, iovatio ad etrepreeurship, critical & aalytical thikig, team work, commuicatio ad busiess acume. CROSS-SECTORAL SKILLS Cross-sectoral skills are of growig importace. There is icreasig covergece betwee sectors such as ICT, busiess, ad egieerig, which were oce cosidered to be very uique i their ow right. ICT ow permeates almost all sectors of the ecoomy, ad similarly, strog busiess skills are relevat across may sectors. Cross-sectoral skills improve a idividual s employability, ad eable occupatioal mobility. The skills ca be used i a umber of similar occupatios ad sectors, but might require additioal domai specific traiig to allow them to be applied i a ew job ad/or work eviromet. The key cross sectoral skills idetified by the EGFSN are: ICT Skills 37 - core techology skills e.g. software developers, cloud, security, etworkig ad ifrastructure ad a combiatio of these techical skills with busiess/aalytic/foreig laguage skills as the skills requiremets become more complex. Data Aalytics 38 - Deep aalytical talet, Big Data-savvy roles, Supportig techology. Foreig Laguage ad Cultural Awareess 39 - laguages i demad are: Germa, Frech, Spaish, Italia, Portuguese ad the Nordic laguages. Idustry egagemet advises o the growig eed also for Madari. Busiess Skills - Sales ad Marketig 40 required i additio to techical skills, as roles may ivolve dealig with customers, techical sales ad product developmet Egieerig 41 - Mechaical, Electrical / Electroic, Idustrial / Maufacturig productio, process quality, validatio, product desig/developmet 37 Addressig Future Demad for High-Level ICT Skills, Expert Group o Future Skills Needs Assessig the demad for Big Data ad aalytics Skills, , Expert Group o Future Skills Needs Key Skills for Eterprise to Trade Iteratioally, Expert Group o Future Skills Needs Future Skills Requiremet of the Maufacturig Sector to 2020, Expert Group o Future Skills Needs Addressig Future Demad for High-Level ICT Skills, Expert Group o Future Skills Needs

18 SECTOR-SPECIFIC SKILLS Notwithstadig the trasversal skills ad the cross-sectoral ature of skills outlied above, some sectors will cotiue to require specific skill-sets. Sectors with such skills eeds ad the type of skill eeded - icludig cross-sectoral skills - are outlied below. The sectors are those which are importat to the Irish ecoomy ad have also bee the subject of a future skills eeds aalysis by the EGFSN 42. Table 4 Sector Specific Skills eeds Sector Fiacial Services ICT Sector Maufacturig Medical Devices Bio-Pharma Food & Beverages Leisure, Tourism & Hospitality Freight, Trasport & Logistics Wholesale & Retail Costructio 42 Skills eeds risk, compliace, accoutig, busiess itelligece, ICT ad data aalytics. These skills ca be foud i egieerig, mathematics, data aalytics, busiess ad law graduates. core techology skills, e.g. software developers, cloud, security, etworkig ad ifrastructure ad a combiatio of the techical skills with busiess/aalytic/foreig laguage skills as the skills requiremets become more complex scietists with experiece ad egieers mechaical, automatio ad validatio egieers; polymer techicias, software egieers, quality egieers ad regulatory compliace experts techicias ad seior process scietists, pharma co-vigilace persoel, biotechologists, biochemists, egieers icludig precisio egieerig R&D scietists, food techologists ad techicias with ew product developmet skills; iteratioal ssales/marketig with laguages for iteratioal trade chefs: commis, demi, pastry ad chef de partie. graduate- maagers, plaers ad ICT staff; skilled warehouse staff ad HGV drivers accoutacy, supply chai maagemet, retail marketig ad data miig of retail data, fiace ad huma resource maagemet chartered surveyors; iteratioalisatio ad maagemet capability; ICT, Buildig Iformatio Modellig (BIM) systems ad Gree Ecoomy skills. IN FOCUS: DEMAND FOR TECH TALENT AND ICT SKILLS Techology is oe of the key drivers of chage i the ecoomy. Globally, ICT is i the midst of a growth ad iovatio phase which is impactig o busiesses across all sectors of the ecoomy. Techology is oe of the key drivers of chage i the ecoomy. Globally, ICT is i the midst of a growth ad iovatio phase which is impactig o busiesses across all sectors of the ecoomy. This icludes the adoptio of cloud computig, mobile devices, the Iteret of Thigs, Big Data Aalytics. The availability of high-level ICT skills is a uique sellig poit i attractig mobile ICT ivestmet ad growig busiesses across all sectors. EGFSN research idicates a curret demad for high-level ICT skills at a average 8,000 ew job opeigs per aum. Of these, it was estimated by the EGFSN that 85% of the job opeigs would be for high-level ICT professioals at NFQ Level 8 +. The Fastrack to IT (FIT) ICT Skills Audit 43 carried out i 2014 shows that 75% of immediate vacacies are for employees able to exercise skills at the competet ad etry leves, compared to 25% at the expert level. The audit idicates that Big Data Aalysis has the highest demad for skills at expert level, whereas areas such as Networkig/PC Maiteace, Cotact Cetre Support, ad Platform Admiistratio highlighted a higher requiremet for cadidates with competet ad etry level skillsets. Respodets the survey also highlighted teamwork, multi-taskig, kowledge of busiess operatios, market practice ad customer awareess as other importat skills that people eed i additio to their techical skills. Agaist a backgroud of strog global demad for ICT Talet, it makes sese to create multiple pathways to ICT careers which will make it a attractive optio to a broader rage of people. A sustaied effort is required to icrease the ICT skills supply icludig through further educatio ad higher educatio, coversio programmes, cotiuig professioal developmet (CPD), ad attractig experieced iteratioal ad expatriate talet. To support the growth of the ICT talet pipelie, employers also eed to promote careers to prospective employees, particularly wome. I additio, both the EGFSN study ad the FIT Audit also highlights that people with developed ICT skills are ot just eeded i the Techology sector. May differet types of jobs ow require various levels of ICT Skills proficiecy. This tred is likely to cotiue as techology icreasigly becomes embedded i busiess fuctios ad processes across compaies ad sectors. The cotiued developmet ad adaptatio of ew techologies will, over time, result i the emergece of ew skillsets, jobs ad career paths

19 l S FORECASTING FUTURE SKILLS NEEDS A key challege over the ext decade will be to esure a adequate supply of the skills required i the labour market. The appropriate quatity ad type of skills will come from our existig workforce ad from people who will eter the workforce over the ext decade, both from Irelad ad abroad. The skills required i the sectors outlied earlier are expected to be across all qualificatios ad experiece levels. I their latest forecasts, CEDEFOP 44, predicts that most job opportuities i Irelad will require high-level qualificatios (ISCED 97 levels 5 ad 6 45 ). However, due to replacemet demad they predict that there will also be sigificat umbers of job opportuities requirig medium-level qualificatios (ISCED 97 levels 3 ad 4) 46. However, forecasts are oly oe source of data ad eed to be iterrogated give the fact that most forecastig methods rely o observed past treds. As a result, basig estimates of future demad exclusively o forecasts of employmet by educatio level may ot be the optimal approach ad uderlies the eed for forecasts to be used i cojuctio with other data sources, icludig ogoig egagemet with employers o their skills eeds to determie how these eeds ca best be met. I additio, forecastig models ted to categorise skills as low, medium ad high. High skilled jobs are typically thought of those requirig a third level qualificatio. However, may vocatioal skills acquired through Further Educatio ad Traiig (FET) are also high skilled, e.g. tool makig or aircraft mechaics. This also uderlies the eed for ogoig moitorig of available data sources mediated by dialogue with stakeholders. This is already beig doe at local level by idividual educatio istitutios through egagig directly with employers i desigig courses, ivolvig employers i the delivery of programmes ad through orgaisig work placemets for studets. It also highlights the eed for accessible iformatio for school goers ad adults makig career ad course choices ad for those that support ad ifluece them i makig these choices, icludig parets, guidace cousellors ad teachers. The Regioal Skills Fora, beig developed by the Departmet of Educatio ad Skills (DES), provide a ideal forum for forecasts ad other datasets to be used to iform discussios betwee employers ad educatio ad traiig providers o skills eeds i each regio. Where educatio ad traiig is the appropriate respose, plas ca be developed for how best this ca be delivered by providers across a regio, while also cosiderig the eeds of learers ad the cost to the State. I Focus - Team Limerick - Makig a Differece for the Regio I 2014, Limerick for IT developed out of a partership betwee IT compaies based i Limerick, Limerick Istitute of Techology, Uiversity of Limerick, Limerick City ad Couty Coucil ad the IDA. Twelve of the largest IT compaies i Limerick are ow ivolved. The idustry parters work together to idetify future skills eeds ad to secure madates withi their compaies to further develop existig operatios i Irelad. They the egage closely with the higher educatio istitutios to idetify course requiremets or develop ew courses to esure that the latest skills eeded by the sector are provided. As a result of the success of the Limerick for IT iitiative, a secod group Limerick for Egieerig, focused o the eed for egieerig graduates has ow bee established. This ivolves some of the largest maufacturig compaies i Limerick. Betwee both iitiatives more tha 350 jobs have bee created so far ad there are plas for a sigificat umber of additioal IT ad egieerig employmet opportuities i the Limerick regio. Ski l tal e t Equivalet to Higher Educatio o-degree ad degree level 46 Equivalet to Leavig Certificate ad Further Educatio ad Traiig level qualificatios levels 4 ad 5 o Irelad s Natioal Framework of Qualificatios 36 37

20 Chagig World, Chagig Skills: Key Challeges & Opportuities This Strategy has bee developed agaist a backdrop of substatial atioal ad iteratioal chage. This presets challeges i esurig that we have the right umber of people with the right types of skills available at the right time. Irelad s employers of today iclude a large umber of small compaies. This scale issue impacts ivestmet i workforce developmet as these compaies do ot have dedicated Huma Resources (HR) or traiig fuctios ad fid it hard to release people for offthe-job-traiig. It is forecast that there will be sigificat demad for skills arisig from the creatio of ew jobs i the ecoomy ad replacemet demad i the period to These vacacies will be filled by people already i the labour force ad by people eterig the labour force, both from Irelad ad abroad. l l S A host of global treds ad drivers of chage will shape the employmet ad skills eeds of all employers. I this fast chagig eviromet, versatility is key. A orgaisatio s success will, i large part, deped o makig the best use of skills available to them, icludig ICT proficiecy, commuicatios, busiess acume, teamwork, foreig laguage proficiecy ad cultural awareess. tal e t Core trasversal skills are becomig ever more importat to a idividual s successful ad sustaiable employmet. They also eable people to move betwee jobs ad careers, to participate i lifelog educatio ad traiig ad also to improve the flexibility ad competitiveess of the labour market. Give the chagig demad for skills, icreasig people s lifelog learig activity, especially those i the workforce, is a vital elemet of Irelad s future skills developmet ad ca have a positive impact o productivity ad iovatio at firm level ad atioally. Idetifyig the future skills eeds for Irelad is clearly complex. Eve employers themselves experiece ucertaity aroud their future skills requiremets. The provisio of labour market itelligece will deliver maximum impact if it is reviewed ad mediated through structured dialogue with key stakeholders. Give the complexity ad chagig ature of eterprise, occupatios ad the skills required, career guidace ad careers iformatio, for school goers ad adult learers is essetial for good course ad career choices for idividuals. Those that support ad ifluece these decisios also eed easy access to course ad careers iformatio ad this icludes parets, guidace cousellors ad teachers. 04. Irelad s Labour Market: Preset ad Potetial 38 39