The aim of this article is to show the increased relevance of soft skills in a continuously changing environment. A research was carried out to examine and compare students' and employers' perceptions regarding the importance of soft skills in different European countries. Results show that 86% of respondents indicate an increased emphasis on soft…

Luxembourg exhibits strong transnational traits within its skills regime, defying any neat fit with existing educational typologies. It is characterised by its high-skill economy, cross-cultural characteristics, and central location within the European Union. As such, Luxembourg has developed a hybrid strategy of responding to labour market…

The question of skill development in temporary work has so far been neglected in research and practice. The expansion and speciality of this way of earning a living--particularly as a result of the frequently changing demands on different workplaces and the strategy of lifelong learning favoured by educational policy in order to obtain and improve…

Increasing enterprises' expenditure on their employees' vocational education and training (VET) is of concern for governments in many countries. This article identifies and discusses policy goals for increased enterprise expenditure on VET and elaborates options for achieving these goals. Throughout, measures that attempt to mandate and regulate…

This issue of a biannual journal on vocational training focuses on national and European Community initiatives for the training of trainers. The 14 articles are as follows: "Training Personnel--The Mainstay of Success" (Helmut Brumhard); "Training of Trainers--An Essential Subject in the Social Dialogue" (Joao Proenca);…

A survey of French research by CEREQ ("A French research centre for analysis of occupations and of vocational education and training") shows that firms have undertaken a number of experiments, most of them large scale, to retrain their work force. These initiatives are situated within a general context of change. Training programs based…

This document contains 11 reports from a 2-day meeting on how to report on investments in vocational education and training in enterprises and whether such reporting is worthwhile. The document begins with a brief overview of the meeting and the meeting agenda. The remainder of the report is devoted to the meeting papers, which are titled as…

A 2-day regional seminar was held to raise awareness of the problem of youth unemployment in Southeastern Europe and assist countries in the region to develop their own framework of action and concrete projects. The following were among the topics discussed: ways policymakers can help young people find valid employment opportunities within…