Skills supply and governance in the Bothnian Arc cross-border region

Abstract

This study investigates the state of play of skills supply and demand in the Bothnian Arc cross-border region. Empirical evidence is gathered to shed light on some of the reasons behind the present and future challenges in meeting the demand for skills supply.

Re-start competence mobility in the Nordic Region

“…While mobility may entail the risk of a brain-drain of highly educated people, it perhaps represents even more of an opportunity to gain skills from cross-border networks and complementary labour markets (Giacometti & Cuadrado, 2020).…”

A review of the challenges and strategies of delivering services of general interest in European rural areas

“…Nonetheless, even in rural areas with a strong economy (e.g., in Germany), companies face difficulties in recruiting adequately skilled workers. This is exacerbated by rapid technological change and shifts in the labour market, which reinforce the importance of training opportunities throughout a person's working life (Giacometti & Cuadrado, 2020). Yet the intensifying pace of labour market transformations (e.g., through the digitalisation of the workplace, sector shifts) renders it increasingly difficult for education systems and individuals to stay connected for the skills they need (HIE, 2015).…”

“…Yet the intensifying pace of labour market transformations (e.g., through the digitalisation of the workplace, sector shifts) renders it increasingly difficult for education systems and individuals to stay connected for the skills they need (HIE, 2015). The continuous learning of new skills is ultimately essential for thriving societies, economies, and for individuals' selfactualization (Ferrara & Nisticò, 2015;Giacometti & Cuadrado, 2020).Directly linked to this is the challenge of aligning the labour demands of the economy with the educational offers of regional providers. On the one hand, this generates vertical mismatches -i.e., when skill levels are either too high (overqualified) or too low (underqualified) relative to the available jobs (Cedefop, 2019).…”

“…On the other hand, horizontal mismatches occur when workers are employed in a different field than the one in which they have specialised (OECD, 2017a). Thus, communication between the different actors and sectors of the education system is also a key challenge of this area of SGI (Giacometti & Cuadrado, 2020). Moreover, vocational training schools often lack the technical equipment required to teach specific skills which are sought on the labour market.…”