This presentation was held by Martin le Vrang at Textkernel's conference Intelligent Machines and the Future of Recruitment on 2 June in Amsterdam. The European Commission is developing a multilingual classification of European Skills, Competences, Qualifications and Occupations (ESCO). This common reference terminology will enhance the functioning of the labour market, help to build an integrated European labour market and bridge the communication gap between work and education/training. ESCO is part of an emerging Semantic Web in the labour market and the education and training sector. Job vacancies, CVs and training curricula would no longer just be documents, but standardised sets of data which can be reused in job matching, HR systems, for career guidance tools or in statistical applications.

1. Semantic
interoperability
in the labour
market
Martin le Vrang
2 June 2016

2. Interoperability: key to a European labour market

3. The digital revolution entirely changed the way the labour
market works:
Jobs are advertised using digital channels Candidates and employers use Social Media
Jobseekers use mobile devices to find jobs Employers want candidates to apply online

4.  Support (digital) transactions in the labour market
with a common language:
 Publish job offers
 Create online CVs or profiles
 Search for jobs
 Search for candidates
 Online job matching
 Online applications
 Usually, different actors are involved in these
transactions.
Micro-transactions in the digital labour market

5. Interoperability in the labour market
 Legal interoperability
 Organisational interoperability
 Semantic interoperability
 Precise meaning of exchanged information which is
preserved and understood by all parties
 Includes syntactic interoperability
 Technical interoperability

6. The multilingualism challenge

7. Multilingualism

8. Multilingualism

9. The skills challenge

10. By 2025, 46% of the job openings will
require high qualifications

11. In the near future, 90% of jobs will
require some level of digital skills

12. 40% of EU citizens have low or no
digital skills

13. 65% of employers believe that entry-level
employees are not adequately prepared

14. The need for lifelong learning:
Office environment 1980 …

15. … and today. The time between these pictures
corresponds to the working life of one individual.

16. Lifelong learning: Major trends require up-
and re-skilling to maintain employability
Technological progress Greening economy Demographic ageing

17. How can we overcome the skills gap?
‒ Intra-EU mobility
‒ Job matching based on skills
‒ Transparency to support recruitment, validation and
recognition
‒ Bridge the communication gap between education
and employment
‒ Better labour market intelligence

18. The ESCO classification

19. A reference language for European Skills, Competences,
Qualifications and Occupations to:
‒ Create a shared understanding
‒ Exchange information
‒ Cooperate across borders and languages
‒ Communicate between labour market
and education/training
‒ Match candidates with jobs
What is ESCO?

20. ESCO
Occupations
Knowledge,
Skills,
Competences
Qualifications
What is ESCO?

21. ESCO occupation example
sound technician
Description: Sound technicians set up, prepare, check and
maintain equipment in order to provide
optimal sound quality for a live performance.
They cooperate with road crew to unload, set
up and operate sound equipment and
instruments.
This occupation is focused on live performance
and not on media or broadcast activities.
Includes activities in event and rental
companies.
Scope note:

22. ESCO occupation example
sound technician
NPT: sound engineer; audio engineer; PA man; PA
woman; stage manager; front of house sound
engineer; live sound engineer
3521 - Broadcasting and audiovisual
technicians
ISCO-08:
90.02 - Support activities to performing artsNACE rev.2:

23. ESCO occupation example
sound technician
Essential: ‒ perform soundchecks
‒ maintain sound equipment
‒ fit up sound on stage
‒ work safely in heights
‒ de-rig electronic equipment
‒ adapt to artists' creative demands
…
‒ edit recorded sound
‒ adapt artistic plan to location
…
Optional:

24. ESCO skill example
recommend wines
Description: Recommend customers available wines and
advice combinations of wines with specific
dishes on the menu.
NPT: advise on match of foods with wines; match
wines to dishes; offer advice on wines

25. ESCO skill example
recommend wines
Essential for: ‒ restaurant sommelier
‒ head sommelier
‒ waiter/waitress
…
Optional for:

26. Qualifications
ESCONQD
Other
qualifi-
cations

27. Publishing ESCO

28. Publishing ESCO
‒ Building block for applications
‒ Easy to implement (open data, APIs)
‒ Easy to interconnect (linked data)
‒ Versioning mechanism
‒ Will be mapped to national classifications of
Member States

29. Developing ESCO
2013 2016
ESCO v0 (pilot version)
ESCO v1 (full version)
Piloting &
testing
Continuous
updating

30. Time for your questions and comments