High and persistent levels of unemployment together with job vacancies that remain unfilled are often attributed to mismatches between jobs and skills. However, the idea of skills mismatch does not always explain why employers are unable to fill the vacancies they have. Skills mismatches are driven by low quality education and systems, demographic change, rapid technological development, new sources of job creation and newly created forms of work organization. Regardless, skills mismatch can negatively affect labour market outcomes, workers’ productivity, competitiveness and economic growth. Consequently, due to its impact on rising unemployment, the topic is a priority for ILO tripartite constituents and directly linked to the ILO´s work on employment and it’s Future of Work Initiative. In this context, the ILO´s Global Product on Jobs and Skills Mismatch has been launched to undertake new research, develop new knowledge products and provide support to constituents on how they can better understand the labour market impact of various forms of skill mismatch. The Global Product will also contribute to the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda by proposing measures for both developed and developing countries to promote jobs and reduce skills mismatches, as well as to improve the quality and relevance of skills and job creation systems.

This conference is one of the major outputs of the Global Product. The conference will consider both new research on the different forms of mismatch and the measurement challenges that impact our understanding of this issue. The conference will also provide a global perspective on the topic by presenting insights from the Asia Pacific, Europe, Latin America and Africa regions.

For more information and to register for the conference, please send us an email: skillsmismatch2017@ilo.org