The 2019 OECD Local Development Forum will bring together hundreds of local development practitioners, entrepreneurs and social innovators to share good practices about how employment and skills programmes are meeting employer demand and what’s being done to help people and places catch-up.
Unemployment across the OECD sits at 5.3% – the lowest rate in the last 20 years. More employers than ever are struggling to fill open jobs — by some estimates, 45%of firms across the OECD say they can’t find the skills they need, up from 40% in 2017. Emerging technologies will continue to alter company hiring needs.
At the same time, some people and places are struggling to keep pace. The future prosperity of regions and cities will depend not only on equipping the existing workforce with the right skills but also on successfully engaging disadvantaged groups so that they are fully contributing to local labour markets.
The 2019 annual conference of the Forum will bring together over 300 participants who will take away new insights on:
- How are the skills needs of firms (especially SMEs) changing due to automation and digitalisation?
- How can regions and cities promote lifelong learning and engage those who are either unemployed or not seeking employment?
- How can social innovation help to advance local development opportunities while building sustainable and enabling labour markets?
VENUE:
Antwerp, Belgium
10-11 December 2019
Original source: OECD
Published on 05 November 2019
