This OECD presentation first outlines the major trends impacting the demand for skills globally and the key skills challenges facing Portugal including the low qualifications of the adult population. It then presents the goals and priority areas of the Action Phase of the project “Building a National Skills Strategy for Portugal” and the objectives and structure of the Skills Action workshop held in Lisbon on 4 May 2017 with about 100 stakeholders from a wide range of sectors.

1. Joanne Caddy,
Team Leader, National Skills Strategies
OECD Directorate for Education & Skills
4 May 2017
Building an effective skills strategy for
Portugal: Moving from Diagnosis to Action
Skills Action Workshop

2. Why focus on skills?
2

3. 3
Mega-trends with an impact on skills
Changing:
What jobs will be
created
How, where and
by whom they are
carried out
Technology
DigitalisationGlobalisation
Environmental
change
Ageing
Societies

4. 4
Changing demand for skills
Source: Autor, David H. and Brendan M. Price. 2013. "The Changing Task Composition of the US Labor Market:
An Update of Autor, Levy, and Murnane (2003)." MIT Mimeograph, June.

5. Labour productivity growth (2001 = 100)
Manufacturing Services
Source: OECD, The Future of Productivity, forthcoming
Growing productivity gaps between firms

6. Inequality is rising
6
Trends in real household incomes
Bottom, middle and top income earners; OECD average; 1985 = 1
1.00
1.10
1.20
1.30
1.40
1.50
1.60
1985 1995 2005
Bottom 10% Bottom 40%
Source: OECD Income Distribution Database (IDD)
Note: OECD is the unweighted average of 17 countries (Canada, Germany, Denmark, Finland, France, United Kingdom,
Greece, Israel, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, New Zealand, Sweden and United States).

7. 7
Technology is transforming life and work
 Robotics
 Artificial intelligence
 Internet of Things
 3D printing
 Synthetic biology
 Brain enhancements
 Nanomaterials
 Etc.

8. Inspired by “The race between
technology and education”
Pr. Goldin & Katz (Harvard)
Industrial revolution
Digital revolution
Universal
public schooling
Technology
Skills
Social pain
Prosperity
The Race between Technology and Skills
Prosperity
Social pain

9. 9
OECD Skills Strategy framework
National Skills Strategy Country projects:
 Cross-government
 Engaging stakeholders
 Systems thinking
 User-centred

10. Moving from
diagnosis to action
10

11. Mapping Portugal’s main skills challenges
11

12. Selected key indicators: changes from 2015 to 2017
Educational performance (PISA 2015)
– Average score
– % low performers
– % high performers
– Equity
Labour market outcomes
– Unemployment
– Long term unemployed
12
Portugal’s skills landscape today

13. Portuguese adults have low qualifications…
Percentage of 25-34 year-old adults with below upper seconary education, by gender (2015)
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
Total Men Women
%
Source: Figure A1.1 in Education at a Glance 2016: OECD Indicators.
Over 30% of young adults aged 25-34 years have not completed upper
secondary education.
13

14. …while participation in adult learning is too low
Adult learning participation in Portugal is around the EU average, but has slightly
declined since 2012. As many adults have low qualifications, more needs to be done.
14
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
Switzerland
Denmark
Sweden
Iceland
Finland
Mprway
Netherlands
France
Luxembourg
UnitedKingdom
Austria
Estonia
Slovenia
EU28
Spain
Portugal
CzechRepublic
Germany
Italy
Malta
Hungary
Belgium
Ireland
Lithuania
Latvia
Turkey
Poland
Croatia
Slovakia
Macedonia
Bulgaria
Romania
2012 2015
Adult participation in lifelong learning 25-64 (2012 and 2015)
Source: Eurostat 2016 (database on lifelong learning).

15. 15
Future demand in Portugal
-30
-25
-20
-15
-10
-5
0
5
10
15
20
25
Share employment 2015 Projected employment growth (2015-2025)
Employment share 2015 and projected growth (% change) 2015-2015 by sector
Source: OECD calculations based on employment by activities and status (OECD.Stat 2017) and CEDEFOP
(Skills Panorama 2017).

16. Adult learning

17. 17
Goals for Portugal’s Action Phase
National Skills Strategy
Diagnostic Phase
Recent data on
Portugal
Government of
Portugal National
Reform Programme
#1 Qualifications
of the Population
Action Phase for Portugal
Goal: deliver concrete
recommendations for action
Focus: adult learning,
embedded in the wider skills
system
Timeline: Feb. 2017- Feb. 2018
Methods: two stakeholder
workshops, technical meetings
with National Project Team,
OECD and national data

18. 18
Four priority areas for the Action Phase
1. Attractive
to adult
learners (raise
awareness of
value of skills)
2. Accessible,
diverse and high
quality
3. Relevant
to Portugal’s
labour market
and economy
4. Sustainable
(supported by
effective financing)
2. Making adult learning
more accessible and
high quality
3. Making skills
developed by adults
more relevant to
Portugal’s economy
4. Ensuring the effective
financing of adult
skills and learning
1. Raising awareness
about the value of
skills
Improving
adult
learning in
Portugal
by…

19. Today’s
action workshop
19

20.  To collect insights from a broad range of stakeholders on
Portugal’s adult learning system to better understand:
– Who are the users?
– What is working well?
– What could be improved?
 To engage stakeholders in thinking about adult learning in new
ways:
– Focus on the demand for skills, now and in the future
– The diversity of user needs and experiences
– Making change work: the importance of implementation
 To provide information and an opportunity for peer-learning
across many different stakeholder groups
Goals of the Skills Action workshop
20

21. Skills Action Workshop flowchart
21
DEMAND FOR
SKILLS
EXERCISE 1
USERS
PROFILES
EXERCISE 2
TODAY’S
SYSTEM
EXERCISE 3
TOMORROW’S
SYSTEM
EXERCISE 4
TOWARDS
IMPLEMENTATION
EXERCISE 5
Opening remarks
Secretary of State of Employment
European Commission
OECD
Closing remarks
Minister of Education
LUNCH
Short presentations on Portugal’s adult learning system in practice

22. Next Steps for the NSS Action Phase for Portugal
Which should
be the focus
of the Action
Phase?
What are key
components,
strengths and
weaknesses
of current
system?
What types of
approaches
would work for
Portugal?
What actions
need to be
taken, and by
whom?
Q1 2017 Q2 2017 Q3 2017 Q4 2017 Q1
2018
9-10 Feb.
High-
level
seminar
22-24 March
Short technical
mission
Portugal data
and
information
OECD data
and
information
KEY
INPUTS
3-5 May
Skills Action
Stakeholder Workshop
#1
+ technical meetings
Understand system and
identify potential actions
September/
October
Skills Action
Stakeholder Workshop
#2
+ technical meetings
Discuss draft
recommendations
Feb.
2018
Final
Action
Report
and
Launch

23.  To provide your good practices about adult learning in Portugal, send
them by 30 May 2017 to Patricia.mangeol@oecd.org
 To discuss OECD’s work with countries on building more effective skills
strategies, contact: Joanne.caddy@oecd.org
 To learn more about the OECD’s work on skills visit: skills.oecd.org
For feedback and more information…