Labour force participation rate,

ASSESSMENT AND RECOMMENDATIONS OECD ECONOMIC SURVEYS: ESTONIA © OECD 2017 41 Skills The rapid transformation of skills requirements has complicated the task of aligning educational content with labour market needs. An increasing share of jobs requires high education levels and competencies to adapt to a changing environment. New OECD estimates show that differences in countries’ capacity to endow the population with the right mix of skills can lead to significant differences in exports. Estonians’ high educational attainment and appropriate skill mix make them well equipped to benefit from increased trade and openness OECD, 2017c. Tertiary educational attainment in Estonia is among the highest in the OECD, and adults rank highly in information-processing skills. Nevertheless, they lag behind in the capacity to solve problems in a technology-rich environment Ministry of Education and Research, 2015. Around 30 of adults do not have a professional qualification. Moreover, in 2014, around 40 of employees reported insufficient skills for their job at the time of hiring, one of the highest shares in the European Union Figure 26. Providing information on labour market opportunities and better career guidance are central to helping students choose courses that will lead to good jobs. Such information and guidance can also be used to fight gender stereotypes as women tend to be under- represented in scientific areas, including computer science and engineering, where needs are large see Figure 18, Panel B. Only 11 of Estonians have used career guidance, around half the EU average European Union, 2014. The qualification and career counselling system has been strengthened in recent years, notably with the provision of guidance at the secondary school level, the publication of performance indicators and the establishment of guidance centres. The Unemployment Insurance Fund has also started to provide career advice to those in work, but the take-up has been relatively low. A skill forecasting system OSKA that analyses changes in skills requirements and labour market developments has been implemented, but it remains to be seen how it is used by educational institutions. While these are welcome steps, more needs to be done in basic education, where the quality of counselling services remains poor Santiago et al., 2016. Figure 26. A large share of Estonians feels under-skilled The share of employees reporting lower skill level than required for their jobs at the time of hiring, 2014 Source: CEDEFOP 2016, “Skills Panorama – The EU workforce: under-skilled at hiring”, http:skillspanorama.cedefop.europa.eu. 1 2 http:dx.doi.org10.1787888933582094 10 20 30 40 50 10 20 30 40 50 LU X ES P SV N DE U NL D BE L G RC IT A AU T HU N SW E PO L G BR FR A PR T DN K IR L FI N CZ E SV K LV A LT U ES T