Small enterprises, self-employment and the informal economy
People working in small enterprises and in self-employment, including those in rural
areas and in the informal economy, as well as people in irregular work and precarious employment, should also have access to skills development and lifelong learning
programmes. “Second chance” programmes, as well as drop-out prevention at an earlier
stage, contribute to social inclusion. Vocational guidance and employment services can
often be improved to match people with training opportunities and to get trained people
into jobs. Specific and targeted policies are required to assist small enterprises in investing in the skills required.
Cooperative solutions, including the pooling of information and support mechanisms,
offer a good approach to skills development for small enterprises. Communitybased training combined with post-training support in entrepreneurship and access to
credit and product markets can foster local enterprises. Pre-training investment in literacy (especially for women), and in participatory planning tools within communities to
identify services and products with growth potential, is also required.
Education and skills training form a logical part of a comprehensive approach to
facilitating the transition of informal activities to the formal economy. Ways of recognizing skills acquired through informal training and on-the-job experience may help
workers secure better jobs.
Upgrading the technical quality of informal apprenticeships,
paying attention to how this kind of training can open up opportunities in particular for
girls in non-traditional occupations, and improving working conditions and health and
safety practices can help young people not only acquire skills but ease their way into
the formal economy.
Not just training, but using that training
Efforts of all the kinds described above show their worth in greater self-esteem on the
part of workers and more productive and versatile workplaces. Training needs to be
accompanied by policies and employment services to help keep skills up to date and
workers employable.
For the potential of education and training to be fully realized,
complementary policies are needed to help families balance work and family life, to
help keep older workers in productive employment, and to help young people capitalize
on their training.
To be effective, then, a skills strategy cannot be developed in isolation but must
be embedded in the wider economic and social policy environments. For instance, in
nearly all countries there are large “gaps” in training participation between older and
younger people and between the less and more educated.
Moreover, many individuals
already have skills that are unused or underused: this is particularly the case among
migrants, women and older workers. Tackling these issues requires a broader approach,
going beyond a narrow focus on education and training policies to incorporate other
labour market and social policies (e.g. retirement policies, pay-setting arrangements
and family-friendly employment policies) that can also play an important role. For
32 A Skilled Workforce for Strong, Sustainable and Balanced Growth
example, reforming early retirement provisions may improve the expected returns from
training older workers, and offering more flexible arrangements for combining study
and work may make it easier for people subject to time constraints, especially women
with young children, to participate in training.
