Presentation by Maria Hrabinska (CEDEFOP) on the occasion of the 20th LMO meeting on 6 June 2011 in Madrid, Spain

1. What does it take to become employable? Guiding young people into the labour market Maria Hrabinska, European Economic and Social Committee & Consejo Econ ó mico y Social Joint conference on Youth Unemployment Madrid, 6th June 2011

2. VET is key to meeting labour market requirements Labour demand by qualification (LF 15-64) in EU-27+ Source: Cedefop (IER estimates based on E3ME, EDMOD and BALMOD). Notes: EU27+ refers to the 27 EU Member States plus Norway and Switzerland 50% of all jobs will require medium level qualifications in 2020 And a need for more highly qualified workers implies structural changes and a need to diversify VET provision at the higher level

3. Most young adults with medium level educational attainment have VET backgrounds Young adults (25-34 years old) by educational attainment and programme orientation, EU, 2009 Source: Cedefop calculations based on Eurostat, EULFS 2009 Ad Hoc Module. Note data are provisional and should not be used or quoted in any publication. 48% of all young people had a medium level qualification in 2009 And 70% of those were in VET Equivalent to over 23 million 25-34 year olds

4. Young and low skilled hit hardest by the crisis Unemployment rate of young adults (25-34) by educational attainment, EU, 2005-2010 Source: Cedefop calculation based on Eurostat, Labour Force Survey, extraction 24.05.2011

5. Medium level VET reduces the relative unemployment risk Labour status of young adults by educational attainment and programme orientation, EU, 2009 Source: Cedefop calculations based on Eurostat, EULFS 2009 Ad Hoc Module. Note data are provisional and should not be used or quoted in any publication. At the medium level: whilst young VET graduates are more likely to be employed… young adults from the general stream are more likely to follow further studies But VET graduates are less likely to be unemployed than young adults from the general stream

6. Self-employment highest among young VET graduates Professional status of young adults by educational attainment and programme orientation, EU, 2009 Source: Cedefop calculations based on Eurostat, EULFS 2009 Ad Hoc Module. Note data are provisional and should not be used or quoted in any publication.