Training and skills development policy options for the changing world of work

Abstract

This article offers a critical assessment of empirical knowledge regarding labour market training and skills development in an era of technological disruption. Although exactly which skills and jobs will become obsolete is not known, technological change may cause unemployment to spike and increase the need for retraining. To move toward understanding what policy interventions will be needed in response, in this article we assess the current state of knowledge about Canada's active labour market policies. We argue that before creating new programs, policy-makers need to learn from existing policy attempts to address labour market disruptions. By analyzing the most recent Employment and Social Development Canada evaluations, we find that quality data and analyses regarding the effectiveness of these programs are lacking. We conclude that research in this area is needed before policy-makers will be able to develop responses to technological disruption. © Canadian Public Policy / Analyse de politiques, December / décembre 2019

Keywords

Author Keywords

Skills Training Canada Active labour market policies disruptive technologies

Index Keywords

training policy making skilled labor Canada labor policy labor market unemployment labor relations labor supply social development

Author Affiliations

Department of Political Science, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada

Centre for Industrial Relations and Human Resources, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada

Department of Applied Psychology and Human Development, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada

Funding & Acknowledgements

Ministry of Advanced Education and Skills Development

Funding text 1: This research was funded by a grant from the Ontario Human Capital Research and Innovation Fund from the Ontario Ministry of Advanced Education and Skills Development. We acknowledge the generous support of the University of Toronto's Department of Political Science, the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy, and the University of Toronto at Scarborough Faculty of Management. We also acknowledge the research support of Kourtney Koebel and the research support and production assistance of Beth Martin. Responsibility for any errors, interpretations, or omissions lies solely with us.; Funding text 2: This research was funded by a grant from the Ontario Human Capital Research and Innovation Fund from the Ontario Ministry of Advanced Education and Skills Development. We acknowledge the generous support of the University of Toronto’s Department of Political Science, the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy, and the University of Toronto at Scarborough Faculty of Management. We also acknowledge the research support of Kourtney Koebel and the research support and production assistance of Beth Martin. Responsibility for any errors , interpretations, or omissions lies solely with us.

Department of Political Science, University of Washington

Funding text 1: This research was funded by a grant from the Ontario Human Capital Research and Innovation Fund from the Ontario Ministry of Advanced Education and Skills Development. We acknowledge the generous support of the University of Toronto's Department of Political Science, the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy, and the University of Toronto at Scarborough Faculty of Management. We also acknowledge the research support of Kourtney Koebel and the research support and production assistance of Beth Martin. Responsibility for any errors, interpretations, or omissions lies solely with us.; Funding text 2: This research was funded by a grant from the Ontario Human Capital Research and Innovation Fund from the Ontario Ministry of Advanced Education and Skills Development. We acknowledge the generous support of the University of Toronto’s Department of Political Science, the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy, and the University of Toronto at Scarborough Faculty of Management. We also acknowledge the research support of Kourtney Koebel and the research support and production assistance of Beth Martin. Responsibility for any errors , interpretations, or omissions lies solely with us.

University of Toronto, UofT

Funding text 1: This research was funded by a grant from the Ontario Human Capital Research and Innovation Fund from the Ontario Ministry of Advanced Education and Skills Development. We acknowledge the generous support of the University of Toronto's Department of Political Science, the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy, and the University of Toronto at Scarborough Faculty of Management. We also acknowledge the research support of Kourtney Koebel and the research support and production assistance of Beth Martin. Responsibility for any errors, interpretations, or omissions lies solely with us.; Funding text 2: This research was funded by a grant from the Ontario Human Capital Research and Innovation Fund from the Ontario Ministry of Advanced Education and Skills Development. We acknowledge the generous support of the University of Toronto’s Department of Political Science, the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy, and the University of Toronto at Scarborough Faculty of Management. We also acknowledge the research support of Kourtney Koebel and the research support and production assistance of Beth Martin. Responsibility for any errors , interpretations, or omissions lies solely with us.

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Training and skills development policy options for the changing world of work

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