Presentation by Sigrid Rand (Manager of the European Network on Regional Labour Market Monitoring) on the occasion of the EESC Labour Market Observatory conference held on 3 December 2013 in Thessaloniki, Greece.

1. Quantiative and Qualitative Approaches to
Skills Monitoring in European Regions:
Experiences from the European Network on
Regional Labour Market Monitoring (EN
RLMM)
European Network on
Regional Labour Market
Monitoring – EN RLMM

2. European Network on
Regional Labour Market
Monitoring – EN RLMM
European Network on Labour Market
Monitoring – EN RLMM
• Founded in 2005 – more than 400 members in all
European countries
• Labour market monitoring on regional and local level
• Processes of mutual exchange and learning
• Extension in 2009: Initiative for Networking Regional and
Local Labour Market Observatories Across Europe
• Current discussions: shifting roles and functions of
regional and local labour market observatories in the
past years

3. European Network on
Regional Labour Market
Monitoring – EN RLMM
IWAK – Institute for Economics, Labour and Culture
Since 2002: branch-related labour market monitoring
systems (health and elderly care sector) in Hesse and
Rhineland-Palatinate (Germany).
Users:
• Political and administrative decision-makers and social
partners (federal state level)
• Administrative districts and cities
• Placement offices
• Employers
• Workers
• Unemployed
Skills monitoring is combining qualitative and quantitative
approaches in order to:
• Improve data quality
• Satisfy user needs

4. European Network on
Regional Labour Market
Monitoring – EN RLMM
Users of Labour Market Intelligence (LMI)
User Groups
Stakeholders on the regional and local level need forwardlooking information on the labour market – differences in
the LMI demand and affinity of the user groups.
PRIMARY USERS:
members of the
Public
Employment
Services
SECONDARY USERS I:
decision-makers
(politics, administratio
n), social
partners, interest
groups
SECONDARY USERS II:
employers, workers, un
employed
Source: EN RLMM/IWAK

5. European Network on
Regional Labour Market
Monitoring – EN RLMM
Users of Labour Market Intelligence (LMI)
User Groups‘ LMI Needs
PRIMARY USERS:
have strong affinity
to LMI, possess the
necessary skills their demand is
covered
Source: EN RLMM/IWAK
SECONDARY USERS I:
some discrepancies between
the available LMI and their
information needs; own data
stocks - very specific needs
not satisfied by available
data
SECONDARY USERS II:
very specific needs, do not
know about the
existence/benefits of
monitoring systems

6. European Network on
Regional Labour Market
Monitoring – EN RLMM
regio pro – Hesse, Germany
Background
• Skills forecasting system established in 2007: supply of
and demand for professions and qualifications on the
level of administrative districts in the federal state of
Hesse (5 years)
• Close cooperation with the Hessian Social Ministry

7. European Network on
Regional Labour Market
Monitoring – EN RLMM
regio pro – Hesse, Germany
Example

8. European Network on
Regional Labour Market
Monitoring – EN RLMM
regio pro – Hesse, Germany
Example

9. European Network on
Regional Labour Market
Monitoring – EN RLMM
regio pro – Hesse, Germany
Example

10. European Network on
Regional Labour Market
Monitoring – EN RLMM
regio pro – Hesse, Germany
History
Combination of quantitative and qualitative skills
monitoring:
• Since 2009, experts validating structural data (improving
data quality)
• Since 2012, focus groups in administrative districts
validating forecasting data and developing strategies
(satisfying user needs)

11. European Network on
Regional Labour Market
Monitoring – EN RLMM
regio pro – Hesse, Germany
Goals
Two-fold responsibility in the process of labour market
monitoring:
• Support and guidance for secondary users for informed
and advanced use of LMI (acquiring labour market
competence)
• Participatory approach in defining and implementing
regional development strategies (involving the
knowledge and experiences of existing regional/local
stakeholder networks)
LMI + knowledge about the interest/actions of the
stakeholders in the region/on the local level =>>
informed decision-making

12. European Network on
Regional Labour Market
Monitoring – EN RLMM
regio pro – Hesse, Germany
Approach
•
•
Development of skills strategies on administrative district
level
Specific professions: locally relevant determinants for its
prospective development
LEAD: Skilled Labour Alliances of the Federal Employment
Agency; Regional enterprise development agencies; regional
development agencies; municipal employment centre
FOCUS GROUPS : input of monitoring data as a starting point.
Different perspectives, interactive discourse.

13. European Network on
Regional Labour Market
Monitoring – EN RLMM
regio pro – Hesse, Germany
Challenges of Participatory Strategy Development
•
•
•
To some extent, the participation depends on the lead in
the administrative district.
Trade union : often not enough personnel for
participating in such processes.
Employers: difficult to reach; (indirectly) represented
through regional enterprise development agencies,
industry and trade chambers, crafts chambers. More
possibilities for involvement in the implementation
phase.

14. European Network on
Regional Labour Market
Monitoring – EN RLMM
Skills Monitoring in Other European Regions
•
The Basque Country

15. European Network on
Regional Labour Market
Monitoring – EN RLMM
Sigrid Rand
Manager of the European Network on Regional Labour Market Monitoring
Institute for Economics, Labour and Culture (IWAK)
Centre of Goethe University Frankfurt am Main, Germany
+49-69-79825474
s.rand@em.uni-frankfurt.de
www.regionallabourmarketmonitoring.net