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EurOccupations Newsletter, August 2008
The topics of this fourth issue of the EurOccupations newsletter are:
The improved expert questionnaire * The international expert conference in Marseille * Contribute to EurOccupations * The final conference in Brussels/Leuven *The winners of the occupational workers enquiry
Report international expert conference Marseille
The international expert conference took place on 21 and 22 May at the Holiday Inn Avenue du Prado in Marseille, France. The conference proved to be a great success. An international group of experts from Spain, France, Belgium, Poland, The Netherlands and the United Kingdom conferred about the occupational and educational structure of occupations, relevant developments and certain ‘problematic’ occupations. In each of the eight session, occupations from clusters of occupations were discussed (transport, construction, trade and agriculture, information communication finance and legal, clerks staff management army & police, manufacturing, care & welfare, education). Below, you will find a summary of each expert session. It is also possible to download the presentations, the preliminary cluster reports and the results from our website. Please click; http://www.euroccupations.org/main/internationalconference
Transport
The transport expert session focused on the key occupation ‘international truck driver’ and, more specifically, the consequences of new European-level legislation (Directive 2003/59/EC) for international truck drivers in the eight countries. This directive’s aim is to enhance the quality of the profession by regulating (1) the initial qualification, and (2) periodic training of professional drivers. As a consequence of this new European legislation, all truck drivers in the EU will have to meet minimum ability standards and keep them up to date.
The following topics were addressed during the session:
Discussing how the implementation of the new legislation diverges between the eight countries.
Identifying the consequences of the new legislation for the occupation ‘(international) truck driver’ in the eight countries.
Discussing the challenges faced by educational and training systems as a consequence of the new legislation in the eight countries.
Assessing the expected effects of the new legislation on the ‘quality’ of (international) truck drivers.
Discussing how the new legislation will affect labour migration of (international) truck drivers.
Information, communication, finance and legal
In this session the developments in the IT-sector were discussed. Points of discussion were:
A high(er) level of educational mismatch in this cluster.
Some broad (or sector and not occupationspecific) skills would be more important.
‘Professional’ (defined as related to competences tought through formal education leading towards an occupation) competences would be less important in this cluster.
One explanation for a higher importance of general over specific skills could be a stronger presence of teamwork in this cluster, which requires more of the former sort of skills.
Clerks, staff, management, army and police
In this session the issue of heterogeneity was the main focus. The data of two occupations i.e. Filing clerk and Secretary (general) were looked at in more detail. Points of discussion were:
A review of the variety of skill levels in this cluster – what problems does this pose for cross-national comparability; are different definitions used in different settings?
How to recognise skill levels from the job title.
Treatment of these occupations in ISCO and national occupational classifications.
Variations in educational requirements and occupational tasks.
Construction
In this session the development of the occupation “European active roofer” and the possibilities of introducing Skill Cards was the main focus. Points of discussion were:
What are the main advantages and disadvantageous of the Skill Card?
In what ways can a Skill Card contribute to European transparency?
For which target groups is the Skill Card advantageous?
What is the optimal coverage of a Skill Card? What should or should not be included in a Skill Card?
Which factors are decisive for a successful implementation of the Skill Card? Which challenges will have to be faced?
Manufacturing
In expert session manufacturing the following points were discussed on the basis of occupation ‘Sewer’:
Identifying the differences in the occupational activities and educational requirements across countries.
Identifying the determinants of the changes in the manufacturing occupations.
Evaluating the relevance and limits of cross-countries comparison.
Discussing the direction of changes in occupational activities and their consequences for workers education and training.
Trade and Agriculture
In this session three occupations that reflect the diversity within the cluster were chosen:
Hairdresser (qualifications, skill, training, licensing procedures).
Horse riding instructor (job content, educational requirements, health and safety).
Farmers and farming occupations across the EU (which relates to the key occupations: Field crop or vegetable grower, Mixed crop farm manager) relating the occupational tasks to management structure, family business versus agribusiness, etc.
Education, research and personnel
In expert session education certain difficulties within the cluster are discussed namely;
Professions and occupations, with a special regard to ‘psychologist’, ‘researcher’ and ‘university researcher’.
Coincidences and disagreement between educational systems, and projection of it at occupational level. Inadequacy of ‘Post-secondary education teacher’. The question of management.
Convenience of identify the ‘Human Resources technician’, and eliminate the ‘payroll clerk’.
Inadequacies of translation.
To download the reports go to: http://www.euroccupations.org/main/internationalconference
Contribute to EurOccupations
If you are an expert or if you know experts that are willing to contribute to our project by completing our enquiry, please visit our website www.euroccupations.org to apply. The recruitment of experts to complete occupation questionnaires will continue until the end of December 2008.
Final conference Leuven/Brussels
Our final conference will take place on 23 April in Brussels, where the results of the expert inquiry and other main conclusions from EurOccupations will be presented. The conference will be continued on 24 April in Leuven, where the use of the occupations database for surveys will be presented. The program and content of this conference will be announced in the next newsletter.
Winners occupational workers enquiry
During the last few weeks we have selected prize-winners among the respondents of the occupational workers enquiry. The lucky winners of the Creative Zen MP3 players are from the following countries:
1. The Netherlands (2 prize winners)
2. Poland (1 prize winner)
3. Austria (1 prize winner)
It is still possible to win one of the Creative Zen MP3 players. If you currently work in one of the key occupations please fill in the enquiry and have a chance at winning one of the MP3 players! By this we would like to show our appreciation for your contribution to the project. Please click to go to the occupational workers enquiry:
http://www.euroccupations.org/main/occupationalworkers
Contact us
For questions on the expert research, you can contact the National Coordinators. Click here to send a message.
Belgium
Yves De Weerdt, Catholic University of Leuven
France
Sylvie-Anne Meriot, Centre d’études et de recherches sur les qualifications (CEREQ)
Germany
Anni Weiler, AWWW GmbH
The Netherlands
Judith de Ruijter, Arbeid Opleidingen Consult
Poland
Piotr Michon, Poznan University of Economics
Spain
Esteban Villarejo, Foundation Centre for European
initiatives and research in the Mediterranean (CIREM)
United Kingdom
Ritva Ellison, University of Warwick
Italy
Cinzia Meraviglia, Universitá degli Studi del Piemonte Orientale
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In the Spotlight: project partner Germany, Anni Weiler
Anni Weiler is a managing director and a senior researcher of the German research and consultancy company AWWW GmbH ArbeitsWelt – Working World.
She holds a degree both in management studies and social sciences and a PhD from Göttingen University in social sciences. She is a renowned expert on European Union policies and has an extensive list of publications in the field She has been involved in numerous European, comparative and national studies in Germany in the areas of industrial relations, working conditions, human resource management, and managing change. She has been the EU level correspondent of the European Working Conditions Observatory, the European Industrial Relations Observatory and the European Restructuring Monitor.
Anni Weiler managed European research projects. Jointly with IT specialists she developed several state of art web-based tools tailored to research purposes. Her experiences in European and comparative research projects include in particular methodological project foundation, company case studies, surveys, and statistical analysis.
Since 2006, she is the German coordinator of the EurOccupations project.
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