Getting It Right: Data, Statistics and Evidence-based Active Labour Market Policies in the European neighbourhood

Data collection and statistical analysis are an essential component of the European Training Foundation’s (ETF) activities in European neighbourhood to the east and south of the European Union (EU) to support the adoption of evidence-based labour market policies. This was the focus of a recent event in Turin, Italy, entitled Consolidation of Evidence on Active Labour Market Policies and Transition to Work, gathering about 50 participants from 24 ETF Partner countries in-presence. The first day was dedicated to ETF’s work in the field and knowledge-sharing regarding national policies, current priorities and challenges, in the forms of workshop and panel discussions. The final session on May 25 focused on skills mismatches, the effect of digitalisation, and youth employment initiatives in neighbourhood countries.

Conference proceedings

On May 24, ETF Director Pilvi Torsti opened the event and officially welcomed everyone with a speech focusing on the agency’s work of data collection in partner countries, necessity for evidence-based policymaking, especially during these challenging times, as well as a reflection on her own professional experience as a State Secretary of the Finnish Ministry of Economy and Employment. Another key speaker was Lena Skiöld, from the Swedish Public Employment Service, speaking on behalf of the Swedish Presidency of the European Union. She concluded that priorities of upholding democratic values, green transition, security and post-war consequences are dependent on skills supply.

The first session was held by Cristina Mereuta, Senior Human Capital Development Expert from ETF and Ben Kriechel, Senior Researcher at Economix Research & Consulting. They presented key findings and research insights on evidence in the field of Active Labour Market Policies (ALMPs) and transition to work in the ETF partner countries. Areas requiring improvement were highlighted, including the frequency of statistical production, analysis, and reporting, as well as the shortage of staff allocated for these tasks. The reliance on external projects was identified as a factor leading to fragmented datasets. To address this, it was suggested that Ministries of Labour and Public Employment Services (PES) in developing and transition countries should strive to develop comprehensive monitoring frameworks and collaborate with donors to align various projects targeting jobseekers under the same reporting umbrella.

The research identified significant diversity among countries in terms of data availability, indicator definitions, and statistical practices related to Active Labour Market Policies. Thus, representatives from a few countries, namely Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Jordan and Palestine, reflected on different policies and measures introduced towards evidence collection for ALMPs.

The second half of the first day was dedicated to group discussions by regions, accompanied with facilitators from ETF. It allowed to get to know the unique context of each country, but at the same time to see common challenges from a regional-geographical perspective: countries of Central Asia, Eastern Partnership, South East Europe and South-East Mediterranean. The majority of the participants expressed eagerness to continue further collaboration in data collection and analysis.

On the second day of the event, Mircea Badescu, Human Capital Development Statistician, ETF, kicked things off by outlining the results of a study on skills mismatches in ETF partner countries and the preliminary results of the most recent European Skills and Jobs Survey. In partner countries, one-third of all employed adults, and up to 40% of young people, are overqualified for the jobs they hold. When it comes to digitalisation and upskilling, most top-end workers feel both a threat to job security and a need for continued learning. However, worryingly, the findings also showed that the majority of unskilled workers surveyed appear unaware of the potential for change or any need to improve their digital skills.

A representative of Azerbaijan said that her country was focusing on a handful of priority areas for data collection, analysis and application: inclusiveness, gender and statistics, informal employment, methodological support, and how to measure factors related to the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations.

Youth Employment

Ratka Babic, Team Leader, Employment and Social Affairs Platform, Regional Cooperation Council, discussed the use of data to advance the Youth Guarantee initiative in the Western Balkans (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Serbia). That effort borrows heavily from an EU programme that aims to ensure that all young people under the age of 30 receive a good quality offer of employment, continued education, apprenticeship, or traineeship within four months after completing their education.

As leaders prepared to commit to that drive during a ministerial conference in 2021, the RCC prepared studies on youth employment in the Western Balkans “ with the data basically reconfirming the need for such an initiative,” said Babic. For example, the youth unemployment rate has reached the double of that for the overall population. One-in-four young individuals get categorised into the NEET group (not in employment, education, or training). Some have abandoned their home countries, further fuelling the region’s “notorious brain drain” among “highly skilled and educated young people.” Others may work in the informal sector. “They're not reached by the public employment services,” she said. “They're not actively looking for employment. They’re nowhere to be found.”

Data from those youth unemployment studies supported the development of a series of recommendations in partnership with the ETF.

“Given an already noticeable need for additional labour in possession of basic skills combined with an aging population, younger people must be supported and introduced to the world of work via traineeships and apprenticeships for which adequate funding is needed,” said Babic.

Hamed El Etreby, Senior Economic Advisor, Economic Development and Employment Division, Secretariat of the Union for the Mediterranean, described how his intergovernmental organization, comprising EU states and 16 non-member countries, is trying to encourage what he called ‘youth transition’. The Secretariat is preparing for a ministerial summit on unemployment and labour in 2025.

As digitalization continues to reshape the labour market, it is “creating new jobs and wiping out others,” he said. “New sets of skills will be needed, both soft and technical.” Some sectors will experience “much higher demand, and regional global value chains will be realigned.” That calls for “a clear emphasis on skills development.” Effort should focus on what he called “a transversal method,” not based on particular sectors, but rather on skills that might be applicable more widely. In partnership with the ETF and others, his organization is planning a series of events for a diverse set of practitioners who work with youth employment and entrepreneurship.

Iwona Ganko, Human Capital Development Expert - Labour Market, ETF, talked about the EU4Youth initiative, which encourages entrepreneurship among young people through mentoring, education, training and grants, notably in the Eastern Partnership countries (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine) and their Western Balkan cohorts (see above). One of the next steps will be to focus more closely on the transition to employment. Citizenship and the transition from school to work are also on the agenda. Progress is expected to emerge from increased regional cooperation, exchanges, and networking.

Eva Jansova, Human Capital Development Expert - Skills Demand Analysis, Country Liaison for Kyrgyz Republic, ETF, discussed evidence-based work in partner countries in Central Asia. Cooperation which includes pilot projects for new data collection instruments, employment surveys, school-to-work transition projects, and the tracking of school graduates. A skills and job survey is also foreseen. Better data and analysis could help address the skills mismatch problem, she noted.

Life in Wartime

As would be expected, data collection, including that for the labour force survey (LFS), has been hampered by the war in Ukraine, said Liudmyla Bashtova, State Statistics Service of Ukraine. Many survey participants have been displaced and it is not safe for researchers to take visits for interviews. “We are doing all the preparation work to restart the LFS survey as soon as possible,” she noted.

Both registered employment and unemployment are down, in large part due to war-related emigration, said Valentyna Rybalko, Donetsk Region Employment Agency. Given budget constraints, the amount has been reduced and the time-period for unemployment benefits extended. As for the labour market, “there are vacancies,” but also “structural mismatches.” The biggest demands are “for manual professions, but most of the job seekers have higher educational levels.” Labour shortages loom large for doctors, salespeople, and drivers. Policy efforts focus on job creation, including through a voucher programme, and finding opportunities for internally displaced individuals. There is also a micro-grant programme for small businesses.