The Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC), co‑ordinated by the Organisation for Economic Co‑operation and Development (OECD), is a major initiative to assess the skills of adults worldwide. PIAAC plays a crucial role in informing policy decisions, supporting research and assisting stakeholders in the field of education and employment through evidence‑based insights.
This report focuses on a specific component of PIAAC – the PIAAC Employer Survey Module on Skill Gaps. The Employer Module is designed to provide insights into employers’ perspectives on current and future skill needs and the human resource practices used to meet these challenges. By collecting information in a consistent and standardised manner across OECD countries, the Module provides a comparative view of employer practices, enriching existing national employer skills surveys and the insights on skill mismatches gained from the PIAAC household survey.
This first iteration of the Employer Module was implemented in five European countries – Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal and the Slovak Republic – in 2021 and 2022 as part of the European Continuing Vocational Training Survey (CVTS). The reference year for the survey is 2020. The OECD is grateful to the European Commission, DG Employment, for its financial support for the development and implementation of the Employer Module, with special thanks to Manuela Vahovska. Thanks are also due to the ministries, statistical offices and other relevant national authorities of the participating countries for their commitment and contributions, notably: Katalin Dudás (Hungarian Central Statistical Office), Manuela Nicosia and Alessandro Faramondi (Italian National Institute of Statistics), Fabio Roma (Italian National Institute for Public Policies Analysis), Jesper van Thor and Astrid Pleijers (Statistics Netherlands), Luís Rothes and João Queirós (PIAAC Project Group – Portuguese Agency for Qualification and Vocational Education and Training) and Ildikó Pathóová (Ministry of Education, Research, Development and Youth of the Slovak Republic).
This report was written by Elif Bahar and Anja Meierkord (Project Lead) under the supervision of Stijn Broecke (Senior Economist) and Glenda Quintini (Head of the Skills and Future Readiness Division) of the OECD Directorate for Employment, Labour and Social Affairs. The authors would like to thank colleagues from the Skills and Future Readiness Division of the Directorate for Employment, Labour and Social Affairs and the PIAAC team of the Directorate for Education and Skills for their helpful comments and support during the preparation of the report. Special thanks are given to Luca Marcolin from the Economics Department for his earlier involvement in the development and implementation of the survey and his helpful comments.
This document was produced with the financial assistance of the European Union. The views expressed herein can in no way be taken to reflect the official opinion of the European Union.