OECD Skills Summit

Since 2016, the OECD has organised biennial OECD Skills Summits together with host countries. OECD Skills Summits provide ministers and senior officials with a unique opportunity to learn from each other’s’ experience in designing and implementing skills policy reforms, as well as to discuss how to best elevate skills policy on the public policy agenda.

Belgium hosted the OECD Skills Summit 2024 on 21-22 February 2024 in the Palace of the Academies, Brussels. The Summit brought together ministers and senior officials from 36 countries and 8 international organisations. During the two-day event, participants engaged in discussions on “Skills for the future - Building bridges to new opportunities”. 

The three themes of the summit were: i) Establishing a vision of future skills needs; ii) Creating learning and career pathways that lead to new opportunities; iii) Enabling everyone to develop the skills for new opportunities. 

Discussions focused on finding opportunities in times of rapid technological, socio-economic, and ecological changes, as required skills will change and the importance of lifelong learning will continue to increase. The OECD Skills Summit 2024 also emphasised the importance of partnerships between different policy domains, between training providers and employers, and between sectors to make the most of these opportunities.

The OECD Skills Summit 2024 was conducted as an in-person only ministerial ‘retreat’, with informal receptions, interactive discussions with keynote speakers, a tour de table and bilateral meetings. Discussions were subject to “Chatham House” rules, and designed to encourage candid and open exchanges, raise challenging questions, offer concrete policy examples from a range of countries, and share state-of-the-art analysis by the OECD on skills. Participation was by invitation only.

• Agenda (en français)
• Issues for discussion paper (en français)
• Presentations
  • Jo Brouns, Flemish Minister for Economy, Innovation, Work, Social Economy and Agriculture
  • Mathias Cormann, OECD Secretary-General
  • Shravan-Goli, Chief Operating Officer of Coursera
  • Mia Seppo, Assistant Director-General for the Jobs and Social Protection Cluster, International Labour Organization (ILO)
  • Mona Laroussi, Director of the Institute of the Francophonie for Education and TVET (IFEF)
  • Stefano Scarpetta, Director, OECD Directorate for Employment Labour and Social Affairs
  • Andreas Schleicher, Director, OECD Directorate for Education and Skills
• Joint Summary (en français)

Watch the official opening of the OECD Skills Summit 2024.

Watch the aftermovie.

Visit the event website, hosted by Belgium.

For further information contact: OECDCentre4Skills@oecd.org

The OECD Skills Summit 2024 built on findings from previous OECD Skills Summits in Norway (2016), Portugal (2018), Slovenia (2020), and Colombia (2022). These summits already highlighted the importance of developing skills for future economies and societies (e.g. with discussions on “Skills for a digital world” in 2018), lifelong learning (e.g. with “Skills Strategies for a world in recovery” in 2020) and inclusiveness of skills systems (e.g. with “Strengthening skills for equity and sustainability” in 2022).

The 4th OECD Skills Summit was organised by the Government of Colombia and the OECD on the topic of “Strengthening Skills for Equity and Sustainability – Providing Effective Up-and reskilling Opportunities for All” . It brought together ministers and senior officials with responsibilities for diverse skills-relevant portfolios from 39 countries, from the OECD and beyond, as well as representatives from 9 international and regional organisations. It was the first Skills Summit held in Colombia, and the first Skills Summit in Latin America.

• Annotated agenda (English)
• Issues paper (English/French/Spanish)
• Joint summary (English/French/Spanish)
• Video
• Presentations
  • Mathias Cormann, OECD Secretary-General
  • Stefano Scarpetta, Director, OECD Directorate for Employment Labour and Social Affairs
  • Andreas Schleicher, Director, OECD Directorate for Education and Skills

The virtual event in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic brought together ministers, senior officials and delegates from 36 countries, the European Commission, Council of Europe, UNESCO, BIAC, and TUAC. 

Discussions focused on countries’ lifelong learning and skills use policy responses to the COVID-19 crisis, the relevance of skills in the context of megatrends, and the role of skills in ensuring better health outcomes and higher levels of well-being for all.

• Agenda
• Issues for discussion paper
• Joint Summary

The event brought together 23 ministers, deputy ministers, state secretaries and deputy state secretaries from 22 countries as well as representatives of the European Commission to discuss the implications of the digital transformation for the skills people need as well as for skills policy.

• Agenda
• Issues for discussion paper
• Joint summary

The first OECD Skills Summit brought together 24 ministers, state secretaries and senior officials representing a range of skills-relevant portfolios from 15 countries, plus 2 EU Commissioners.

Participants discussed and recognised the importance of skills for productivity, innovation and inclusive growth; shared experiences with building effective, forward-looking, whole-of-government approaches to skills policies; and agreed on the need to build more flexible and resilient skills systems.

• Agenda
• Issues for discussion paper
• Chair's summary