In the global labor market, main focus is shifting from degrees to practical skills — OECD

In the global labor market, focus is shifting more toward practical skills than degrees — OECD

In the world labor market, attention is increasingly shifting from higher education diplomas toward an employee's practical skills and capability to perform real tasks. This was announced on October 29 by El-Iza Mohamedou, Head of the OECD Centre for Skills, during the Global Talent Forum international conference held in Samarkand.

The OECD's 2026 study covers 38 countries. According to it, a shortage of qualified personnel is observed in information and communication technologies, healthcare, teaching, science, and engineering fields.

According to the organization's forecasts, in regions with the most rapidly aging populations, the labor shortage could increase by nearly 15 percent over the next 15 years. This situation is linked not only to population aging, but also to digitalization, the development of artificial intelligence technologies, and structural changes in the economy.

The presentation by the Head of the OECD Centre for Skills placed special emphasis on the opportunity for adults to update their professional knowledge.

According to OECD data, 49 percent of employed individuals participate in non-formal education — that is, courses, trainings, and professional development programs not aimed at obtaining a degree. Among the unemployed, this figure stands at 34 percent, and among the population outside the labor market, it is 17 percent.

There is also a significant gap by level of education. While 61 percent of adults with higher education participate in additional education, among those without a full secondary education, this figure is only 19 percent.

The Head of the Centre for Skills emphasized that segments of the population that might feel a greater need for new knowledge and skills use fewer opportunities to acquire them. This creates a risk of further deepening inequality in the labor market.

The presentation also provided data on international education and the mobility of highly qualified specialists. In OECD countries, foreigners accounted for an average of 11 percent of newly admitted undergraduate students in 2024. In master's programs, this figure reached 24 percent, and in doctoral studies, 34 percent.

This indicates that the share of foreign students increases significantly at higher education levels.

Thirty percent of foreign graduates received diplomas in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. Among local graduates, this figure stands at 23 percent. These numbers demonstrate growing competition among countries to attract highly qualified talent. However, educating foreign students alone does not guarantee that they will subsequently remain and work in that country.

According to the OECD approach, for educational migration to be effective, studies, employment, professional networks, and long-term opportunities must be interconnected. In this regard, a specialist's return to their homeland can also serve the exchange of knowledge and experience between countries.

In assessing labor market needs, the OECD emphasizes the necessity of paying attention not only to a person's formal education, but also to what they can actually do in practice.

The organization's PISA-VET initiative involves assessing the knowledge and skills of vocational education learners in three ways: questions testing professional knowledge, digital simulations, and practical tasks observed by experts.

In this context, reading and writing literacy, problem-solving skills, and the ability to work collaboratively with others are also considered important.

According to the OECD approach, for an effective labor market, simply teaching people the necessary skills is not enough. It is also necessary to correctly assess their existing capabilities, connect them with employers, and create opportunities for professional growth.