PROJECT ACTIVITIES – RESEARCH WORK PACKAGES

WORK PACKAGE 2. Designing of the shortage model for recruitment of skilled workers in the countries of destination and transition countries (France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Lithuania, Norway, UK) by referring to the agency of existing skill partnerships in these countries. Implementation period: January-December 2024. Leading partner: Leeds University Business School.

Identification of the demand of qualifications in the sectors of economy and explanation of the reasons of existing shortages of qualifications (e.g., low esteem of qualifications in society, poorly informed educational and career choices, lack of supply of education and training programmes and places, lack of capacities of the VET and HE systems, insufficient or deficient monitoring of skills needs in the labour market, insufficient involvement of social partners in the development of qualifications etc.).
Identification of the changes in the demand of skills in the selected occupations with the most important shortages of skilled workforce by applying work process analysis (identification of the change of skills needs in the occupations caused by the change of technologies, work organization, customers’ needs and requirements of civil society through the analysis of work processes related to the most deficient occupations and qualifications by analyzing up to 10 occupations/qualifications per country).
Disclosing availability of the free skilled workforce – statistical data on job seekers, graduates- in the labour market; analysis of the graduate tracking data, analysis of the available statistical data on the key transitions of workforce in the labour market, including their mobility between the sectors of economy, reintegration in the labour market etc, This activity will involve analysis of the national statistical databases on employment.
Disclosing capacities of the national system of qualifications (responsible institutions and processes) to adjust the existing supply of qualifications to the changing demand by analyzing agility and flexibility of the design, updating/maintenance and quality assurance of qualifications, as well as the flexibility of the pathways of their awarding.
Research of capacities of the education and training providers to match their curricula of vocational training and higher education with the changing skills needs, including flexibility and outcomes orientation of the curriculum design, application of work-based learning.
Assessing the need to expand workforce in the destination and transition countries by recruiting foreign labour and taking into consideration other measures, which include motivating wage policies, education and upskilling of the local workforce, investments in the automation of work processes.

WORK PACKAGE 3. Evaluation of the labour market in analysing matching needs and shortages of skilled workforce in the countries of origin compared to the countries of destination and transition countries (Ukraine, Turkiye, North Macedonia, Ethiopia). Implementation period: January-December 2024. Leading partner:

Ss. Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje.

Analysis of the changes of demand and supply of skilled workforce in the national economy by considering the implications of local factors which push emigration, such as wars (aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine) and military conflicts (Ethiopia), socio-economic, environmental, climate and other crisis.
Analysis of the changes in the systems of qualifications and education (from 2010).

Topics of analysis:

availability of the national (and corporate) qualifications and their providers in the sectors of economy;
diversity and flexibility of available qualifications in terms of their scope and content (full, partial, micro-qualifications);
changes of the volume and characteristics of the holders of qualifications;
the state of education and training of the vulnerable groups of society mostly susceptible to emigration, including internally displaced persons (IDPs): participation, access regimes, problems and challenges, accessibility and the mechanisms of access to VET, HE and related qualifications; exploration of the local investments in upskilling local workforce and it’s relationship to the proportions of recruited workforce;
evaluation of the agility and effectiveness of the national systems of qualifications in handling the changes of demand and supply of skills and qualifications brought by the military conflicts (Ukraine, Ethiopia), natural disasters and other disruptions, which could focus on: 1) flexibility of the design of qualifications, 2) mechanisms and regimes of adjustment of awarding of qualifications and their quality assurance to the conditions of disruptions;
estimation of the specific demand of qualifications and skills related to the plans of socio-economic recovery of societies and economies impacted by disruptions, for example, recovery of societies and economies after the wars and military conflicts (Ukraine and Ethiopia), solution of the humanitarian and socioeconomic crisis caused by the natural catastrophes (Turkiye), inflow of refugees in the countries neighboring areas of conflicts (Turkiye);
identification of the portability of skills and qualifications acquired by migrants in the countries of origin (including refugees acquiring skills and qualifications in the refugee camps located in the countries of origin) in the labour market and education system of the countries of destination / and vice versum – identifying portability of skills and qualifications acquired in the countries of destination for the labour market of the origin countries in case of return.

WORK PACKAGE 4. Surveying skilled migrant workers in the countries of destination and origin (returned migrants). This work package will consist of quantitative survey of migrant workers by surveying in face-to-face and online formats, as well as a qualitative study bv interviewing at least 20 migrants /returned migrants in each partner country. Implementation period: January-December 2025. Leading partner: University of Ankara.

This survey seeks to provide the perspective of migrants to the above discussed questions of research. Here the quantitative survey could be supplemented with the qualitative study (interviews and focus groups). The survey contains three key themes each covering below indicated topics:

1) skill formation of migrant workforce in the origin and destination countries:

characteristics of human capital, skill shortages
participation of migrants in the skill formation processes
experience of training, competence development and employment
consideration of the prospects of return /repatriation in planning of skill formation

2) mobility patterns and their relations with skill formation:

reasons of migration and their relations to skills
choices of mobility patterns and their relation to skills
impact of mobility patterns to skill formation and employment in the countries of destination and origin
potential of using the skills acquired in the destination countries in the jobs at homeland after return/repatriation.

3) participation of migrants in the local development of the origin and destination countries:

participation in the employment relations and social dialogue in the origin and destination countries
participation in the vocational education and /or continuing training
economic participation: employment, self-employment, etc.
socio-cultural local participation: involvement in the activities of migrant communities and organizations
civic participation: involvement in the local civil society in the countries of origin and destination, supporting development of the countries of origin, planning the contribution /participation in the reconstruction of the country after the wars (Ukraine, Ethiopia), natural disasters, etc.

The partners will access the research population by contacting the migrant communities and organisations, governmental bodies and NGOs working in the field of defending of rights of migrant workers or provision of support and assistance.

WORK PACKAGE 5. Analysis of conditions of local development processes, foreign upskilling and recruitment, capitalization on the positive effects of migration for skill development. Implementation period: January – June 2025. Leading partner: ITB University of Bremen.

This work package deals with disclosing conditions which influence positively or negatively local development processes vis-à-vis foreign upskilling and recruitment.

Here is a brief presentation of this work package by the team of ITB University of Bremen:

WORK PACKAGE 6. Toolkit for establishment and maintaining of skill partnerships between the origin, transitional and destination countries aimed to foster sustainable and fair practices of skill formation, mobility and recruitment of the migrant workers. Implementation period: July – December 2026. Leading partner: Warsaw University School of Economics.

The content of toolkit will be based on the above described research findings.

Presumably, the toolkit should tackle the following topics of skill partnerships:

Identification of the scope and volume of skill partnerships executed on the level of companies and training providers, sectors and at the national level.
Legal regulation and contractualization of skill partnerships.
Financing of skill partnership activities.
Organization of the skill formation and deployment activities in the framework of skill partnerships (customization of the provision of education and training, human resource management and development activities – recruitment, career design etc.).
Stakeholder involvement and social dialogue in the skill partnerships.
Management of mobilities of migrant workers in the framework of skill partnerships.
Prevention of exploitation, free riding and brain drain in the skill partnerships, respecting human rights and ethical principles in creating decent employment and learning opportunities for the local applicants and migrant workers.

Each topic will consist of the presentation of the related problem(-s), overviewing and discussing on how these problems are being tackled in the project partner countries (by providing examples and findings from research) concluded with the list of policy and practical recommendations.