Building Social Partnerships for Better Skills and Better Jobs

The report examines the global issue of skills mismatch, distinguishing between skill shortages, qualification mismatches, and skill gaps. It argues that while employers often blame a lack of talent, recruitment difficulties are frequently driven by poor working conditions and inefficient HR practices. The document advocates for a 'matching skills' approach, emphasizing apprenticeships, lifelong learning, and stronger partnerships between educational institutions and the private sector to reduce structural unemployment and productivity losses.

• Skills mismatch is a structural issue that existed before the global economic crisis; therefore, record-high unemployment rates cannot be attributed solely to a lack of skills, as there is no evidence that skill levels collapsed during the crisis.
• Many reported skill shortages are actually caused by factors other than a lack of skills, including uncompetitive wages, unattractive working conditions, poor recruitment policies, and geographical barriers to labour mobility.
• Qualification mismatch—where a worker's qualification level differs from the job's requirements—is pervasive, affecting one-third to one-half of the employed population and often leading to a 'scarring' effect on careers.
• Overqualification results in a wage penalty, averaging 13% across countries, with the highest penalties exceeding 18% in Estonia, Republic of Korea, Poland, and the United States.
• Labour productivity is determined more by the actual use of skills in the workplace than by the proficiency levels of the workforce; for example, Japan has high proficiency but lower productivity due to low skill use, whereas the UK and US use skills more efficiently.
• In low-income countries, skill shortages are primarily driven by low educational attainment, poor literacy, and numeracy, with a predicted global shortage of 45 million workers qualified for labour-intensive manufacturing and services in developing economies by 2020.
• The report recommends a shift from 'work-first' activation strategies to a 'learn-first' process, prioritizing retraining and skills upgrading for low-skilled unemployed workers to prevent structural unemployment.
• Apprenticeships and dual education systems—which combine theoretical school learning with work-based experience—are highlighted as effective tools for reducing youth unemployment and meeting immediate company needs.

APA

World Economic Forum (2014). Building Social Partnerships for Better Skills and Better Jobs. http://www3.weforum.org/docs/GAC/2014/WEF_GAC_Employment_MatchingSkillsLabourMarket_Report_2014.pdf

Chicago

World Economic Forum. Building Social Partnerships for Better Skills and Better Jobs. 2014. http://www3.weforum.org/docs/GAC/2014/WEF_GAC_Employment_MatchingSkillsLabourMarket_Report_2014.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Economic Forum |title=Building Social Partnerships for Better Skills and Better Jobs |date=January 2014 |url=http://www3.weforum.org/docs/GAC/2014/WEF_GAC_Employment_MatchingSkillsLabourMarket_Report_2014.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldeconomicforum2014building, author = {{World Economic Forum}}, title = {{Building Social Partnerships for Better Skills and Better Jobs}}, institution = {World Economic Forum}, year = {2014}, month = jan, url = {http://www3.weforum.org/docs/GAC/2014/WEF_GAC_Employment_MatchingSkillsLabourMarket_Report_2014.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }