Presentation by Spyros Nakos (Social Scientist, European Commission expert speaker, member of Team Europe) on the occasion of the EESC Labour Market Observatory conference held on 3 December 2013 in Thessaloniki, Greece

1. EU employability policies and
their implementation
SPYROS NAKOS
“SKILLS AND MOBILITY FOR
COMPETITIVENESS”
THESSALONIKI, 3 DECEMBER 2013

2. What is employability
Employability refers to a person's capability of
gaining employment.
It depends on:
 the knowledge, skills and attitudes of the person.
 labour market rules and institutions and their
impact on the ability of an individual to gain
employment.
Employability combines employment and education
policies

3. Skills and employability
 Fall short in providing right skills for employability
 Learning models to help transition from school to
work
 Promote partnership
 Mobility (ERASMUS +)

4. Employability: priorities
 Cover the need for higher and relevant skills
 Young people
 Entrepreneurial skills
 Connection between employability and employment
 Language learning
 Improve adult learning

5. Employability policies in practice
 EES improved the VET & ALMP
 Limited number of adequate long term policies
 Distance between educational environment &
workplace

6. Employability policies in practice
 Bureaucracy & limited information
 Funding education
 Lack of partnerships between public & private sector

7. NEET rate (15-24 age group)
in the Member States

8. Development of unemployment rates since 2003 in the EU-28, total, youth,
older workers and low-skilled

9. Future challenges
 How to communicate employability need?
 Employability replace employment?
 Employability offers new working opportunities?