Foreword

The economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic have been profound and widespread, prompting the examination of labour and skill needs and their alignment with training opportunities. Umbria, like many regions worldwide, is grappling with the challenges of digitalisation and shifting labour markets.

In response to these challenges, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the Umbrian regional agency for active labour policies (ARPAL Umbria) have collaborated to examine Umbria’s labour market through an innovative lens. Applying big data techniques to online job postings (OJPs), the study aims to understand the changing labour and skill demands of the region, and how well the offerings in the Regional Training Catalogue (RTC) align with these demands.

This study represents a pioneering effort in Italy and Europe, developing new indicators for measuring alignment of RTC course content with labour market demands with the goal to inform policy action for the RTC to better match the rapidly evolving needs of the Umbrian economy.

This work has been carried out by Annikka Lemmens, Filippo Pallucchini, Vito Stefano Bramante and Diego Eslava, under the supervision of Fabio Manca in the OECD Directorate for Employment, Labour and Social Affairs. The report benefitted from comments by colleagues in the OECD, including Stefano Scarpetta (OECD Director for Employment, Labour and Social Affairs) and Glenda Quintini (OECD, Senior Economist, Skills and Employability Division, Directorate for Employment, Labour and Social Affairs). Comments were also kindly provided by Paola Nicastro (Direttore di ARPAL Umbria – Agenzia Regionale per le Politiche Attive del Lavoro), Stefano Sacchi (Professor of Political Science in the Department of Management and Production Engineering at the Polytechnic University of Turin) and Andrea Ricci (Dirigente di Ricerca, INAPP- Istituto Nazionale Analisi delle Politiche Pubbliche). Editorial assistance was provided by Natalie Corry. This report is published with the financial assistance of ARPAL Umbria.

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