EU and ILO mark anniversary of the Council Recommendation on a European framework for quality and effective apprenticeships

At a high-level conference on quality and effective apprenticeships, organized by the ILO and the European Alliance for Apprenticeships, the ILO Director-General said that the pandemic has severely affected skills and lifelong learning. The effects of the pandemic on apprenticeships and internships stand to last long after the lockdown measures are lifted.

News | 15 March 2021
Commissioner Schmit,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

Today we are marking the third anniversary of the adoption of an important measure; the European Council Recommendation on the European Framework for Quality and Effective Apprenticeships.

Let me congratulate the Commission - and in particular, the European Alliance for Apprenticeships - for their excellent work in promoting quality apprenticeships in EU member States.

We all know that the world of work has been massively disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The strength and endurance of our societies and our economies are being tested as never before in time of peace.

Massive destruction of work.

Dramatic loss of wages and learning opportunities.

Growing inequality and poverty.

Let me cite one statistic. The ILO estimates there was an 8.8 percent loss in global working hours in 2020, as compared to the last quarter of 2019. That’s equivalent to the loss of 255 million full time jobs.

What’s even more worrying is that this damage is not being equally shared. Women and young workers are bearing the brunt.

We also know that the pandemic has severely affected skills and lifelong learning. To find out more about this the ILO, with the European Commission and other partners, conducted a global survey.

We found that nearly 85 per cent of apprentices and interns had had their training interrupted in ways that damage their long-term employment prospects. Nearly half of the enterprises and organizations surveyed had stopped paying stipends or wages to their apprentices and interns. And over half of these enterprises and organizations said that they intended to cut investment in staff training.

In sum – we found that the effects of the pandemic on apprenticeships and internships stand to last long after the immediate lockdown measures have gone.

It’s true that a lot of countries were able to introduce learning via digital platforms, to replace face-to-face teaching. But not all countries have this ability. Not all would-be learners are connected.

We live in a world of ‘digital divide’. Some have been held back. Others excluded altogether. Without urgent and effective policy action, this digital divide is likely to get worse. And the skills gap it causes will be with us for a very long time.

In this situation, a human-centred approach to the future of work is more important than ever. How to implement it is the question. And we have a roadmap: the ILO’s Centenary Declaration for the Future of Work. It calls for investment in people and their capacities; in the institutions of labour; and in the decent jobs of the future. Quality and effective apprenticeships tick all three of those investment boxes.

The Declaration provides specific guidance for improving systems for skills training and lifelong learning. We need to support and develop people’s capabilities so that they have the skills and resilience that they need to overcome future crises and to adapt to the changing world of work.

However, to do all of this, we need to resolve some very significant challenges.

Firstly, many countries simply do not have a well-functioning apprenticeship system. Even though we know that apprenticeships cost much less than training via educational institutions.

Secondly, in many countries apprenticeships don’t offer access to higher education or cover emerging sectors such as high-tech and associated services. Nor do they allow for the reskilling and upskilling of established workers. Consequently, apprentice programmes are sometimes seen as old-fashioned, inflexible, and somehow second-best.

Our research has also found that apprentices and interns are at a greater risk of losing their jobs than are other workers. This does not encourage people to become apprentices.

The ILO is determined to address these challenges, together with its allies. And we are developing a range of tools and strategies to do just this.

These include a project on Apprenticeship Development for Universal Lifelong Learning and Training. We are implementing this with support from the Government of Flanders. It aims to generate new ideas and policy options to modernise apprenticeships and develop broader, work-based learning.

Another example is our new Massive Open Online Course on Quality Apprenticeships. The very first time this course was offered, it attracted participants from more than 120 countries.

And it has also been a valuable learning experience for us, because it required us to work in new ways, with experts from the Commission, CEDEFOP, UNESCO, the European Training Foundation, and other development bodies. This is an excellent example of the kind of inter-agency collaboration that we need more of to tackle the challenges we face.

In the same vein we are engaging with the private sector, for example through the Global Apprenticeship Network, to engage enterprises and employers’ organizations who have such a fundamental role to play.

I must also highlight the discussion on skills and lifelong learning scheduled for our annual International Labour Conference this summer. This discussion will bring together representatives of governments, workers’ and employers’ organizations from one hundred and eighty seven ILO Member States. So, the broadest possible range of views and expertise will be brought to bear.

After that - if our Governing Body agrees – there will be a two-year consultation process, designed to lead to a new Convention and/or Recommendation on apprenticeships.

A new International Labour Standard to shape a new era of apprenticeships and lifelong learning. That is potentially a crucial component of a human-centred future of work with quality and effective apprenticeships.

Broad stakeholder engagement starting with the ILO’s tripartite constituents – Governments, trade unions and employers’ organizations - will be essential if we are to meet the labour market challenges created by the pandemic and build the future of work that we want.

The European Commission is an essential partner in this endeavour, and I am looking forward to strengthening our collaboration.