Partner resources

This report outlines business priorities for learning and education systems, the role business can play and the role of OECD as we face unprecedented technological change, and global uncertainty in our economies and societies to which our learning systems must adapt.

This report warns that without stronger, more inclusive lifelong learning systems, the digital, green and demographic transformations risk deepening inequality. It offers a clear roadmap on how countries can build inclusive, forward-looking lifelong learning systems that support workers and enterprises in a transforming world of work.

New University of Warwick research shows that while apprenticeship training costs are higher for employers in England than in Germany or Austria, international comparisons highlight clear opportunities to improve cost-effectiveness and strengthen employer participation.

Quality apprenticeships recommendations (No.208) Infographic

How to organize a tripartite review of national apprenticeships frameworks

R208 Checklist for the tripartite review of national apprenticeships systems and frameworks. Based on this assessment, governments, workers’ and employers’ organizations will be able to identify their priorities for change and potential reforms, and to enter into meaningful tripartite discussions.

The report provides a data-driven ranking of 529 occupations based on income, job growth, vacancies per job seeker, and resistance to automation. It reveals opportunity gaps by comparing these scores with students’ career interests, helping uncover high-potential career paths that might be overlooked by today's youth.

Employer-led green skills case studies via vocational training and apprenticeships; argues for public-private collaboration.

Tools and good practice for EBMOs to lobby and advocate effectively and professionally.

Policy brief discussing research on costs and benefits of apprenticeships; useful for ROI-based advocacy.

Framework for designing and implementing quality apprenticeship systems, including regulation, social dialogue, and inclusion.

Notes how policy is shaped by projected skills needs, includes Australia example and “jobs of the future” implications.

Practical guidance on engaging employers (especially SMEs) in quality apprenticeships, with nine international case studies and a focus on local actors.

Step-by-step approach for moving face-to-face training into blended and digitally enabled formats.

Benchmark national policies, identify opportunities for engagement, support youth inclusion and decent work.

Policies that successfully promote SME investment in skills; common features suited to SMEs.

How WBL functions across tracks; skills gains and smoother transition to work.

Guide to strengthen business-education partnerships; examples for scalable employer collaboration.

Framework with quality indicators and case studies to design, implement, and improve inclusive WBL strategies.

Community-level TVET and entrepreneurship toolkit; ten-point plan; outputs aligned with SDGs.

Calls for recognising refugees’ economic potential and supporting approaches that work for refugees and host communities.

Strategies and tools for inclusive TVET, including five-step framework and 4A tool.

Funding arrangements and incentive models to improve quality and participation.

Economic and social value of quality apprenticeships; supports evidence-based messaging.

High career uncertainty; expectations misaligned with labour market demand; limited engagement in activities linked to better transitions.

Global assessment of GenAI exposure; “transformation, not replacement” framing; task-level approach.

Reviews informal apprenticeship systems and outlines upgrade pathways.

Incentive mechanisms and policy levers for making apprenticeships attractive and scalable.

Cost-benefit modelling and messaging; stresses early support for employers.

Focus on Africa; argues for expanding TVET and WBL for vulnerable youth; lessons may translate elsewhere.

Education attainment and labour underutilisation; highlights skill mismatch and alignment needs.

Indicators on youth engagement in WBL and vocational education to inform youth employment outcomes.

Employers’ view on labour market drivers to 2030 and workforce strategies for 2025–2030.

Flagship indicators; 2025 focus on tertiary education and adult skills (PIAAC 2023); teacher shortage challenges.

Includes net benefit figures per apprenticeship and cost-benefit analysis.

The tentative, and short-lived, recovery in youth labor markets that followed the COVID-19 pandemic has stalled. This edition of the Global Employment Trends for Youth (GET for Youth) finds that slowing global economic growth, diminished job creation, geopolitical tensions and rapid technological change are combining to make the transition from school to decent work increasingly difficult for many young people. After reaching its lowest level in more than two decades in 2023, the global unemployment rate of young people aged 15 to 24 edged up to 12.4 per cent in 2025, equaling 67 million unemployed young people worldwide. The global share of young people not in employment, education or training (NEET) is also again on the rise, reaching 20 per cent in 2025 from 19.7 per cent in 2023. This translated into an increase of 9 million more young people in NEET status since 2023, bringing the total to 257 million in 2025. With many more young people implicated and with youth disengagement harder to redress,1 the increasing trend in the youth NEET rate is especially worrisome.