Skill Utilization for Sustainable Economies: The Illusion of an Optimal Skills Mix

LIVINGSTONE Canada Research Chair in Lifelong Learning and Work and Professor Emeritus Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the University of Toronto Basic Challenges in Assessing Skill Use • Acceptable definition of skill • Agreement on appropriate use • Willful suspension of disbelief Theoretical Perspective on Skill Use • Inter-firm competition, conflicts between employers and employee. [...] Basic Contradiction • development of forces of knowledge production (expressed by the explosive growth of the Internet) • concentration of ownership of private enterprises (indicated by the concentration of control within global transnational corporations) Global Internet Users 1995 to 2013 and Global Concentration of Corporate Power 2011 3,000 [VALUE] 2,500 2,405 2,267 2,000 1,971 1,802 1,574 1,5. [...] Changing Nature of Work and Lifelong Learning • Changing Nature of Work and Lifelong Learning Research Network (www.wallnetwork.ca) • Research funded by SSHRC under a series of Strategic Research Grants and the Canada Research Chairs Program • Includes 1998, 2004 and 2010 representative national surveys of randomly selected respondents over 18 on many issues of working. [...] ] Participation Rates in Paid and Unpaid Work and Informal Learning, 2010 (%) 100 98 79 75 80 64 71 50 58 25 0 Paid work Volunteer work Household work Participation in this form of work % of all adults Sources: WALL 2010 Survey. [...] Changing Nature of Work and Lifelong Learning • Changing Nature of Work and Lifelong Learning Research Network (www.wallnetwork.ca) • Research funded by SSHRC under a series of Strategic Research Grants and the Canada Research Chairs Program • Includes 1998, 2004 and 2010 representative national surveys of randomly selected respondents over 18 on many issues of working.