Support employers in promoting skills development in Latvia

The Commission has helped the Latvian authorities to prepare a new regulatory framework aiming to support employers’, and in particular SMEs, in up-/re-skilling their employees. Policy recommendations to reform employer-led training, practical guidelines to develop a regulatory framework, and a roadmap to look beyond were developed, after in-depth consultations of stakeholders.

Context

In line with EU’s country specific recommendations, Latvia is working to improve adult participation in learning, which remains significantly below the EU average. According to the Law on Education, Latvia must develop a regulatory framework to support and incentivise through public co-funding employers to invest in the up- and re-skilling of their employees.

As a milestone of the Recovery and Resilience Plan for Latvia, a regulatory framework describing eligibility criteria and procedures was to be introduced by the end of 2023. In this context, the Latvian Ministry of Education and Science has requested the EU’s technical support to develop this framework including financial and non-financial measures to support employers.

Support delivered

Based on EU good practice and stakeholders’ consultations, the project was implemented by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in cooperation with the European Commission (DG for structural reform support), from July 2021 to September 2023, and provided the Latvian authorities with:

• An assessment of the barriers and enabling conditions for employers to invest in skills development (full report in English, summary in Latvian). The field research took place with high levels of engagement from stakeholders.
• Good practices in Europe for supporting employers to promote skills development (full report in English, summary in Latvian). An international workshop gathered in 2022 some 120 Latvian stakeholders and experts from Sweden, Estonia, and Ireland.
• A policy package for the regulatory framework to help employers investing in skills (full report in English, summary in Latvian)
• Practical guidelines (full guidelines in English, summary in Latvian)
• Indicators and methodology for monitoring the implementation of the support measures (full report in English, summary in Latvian)
• A roadmap with supplementary measures to ensure sustainability in the longer term.

Results expected

As an outcome of the project, Latvian authorities have been enabled to support employers’ investment in skills by designing and monitoring a new regulatory framework involving public co-funding and key stakeholders. Latvia’s education guidelines for 2021-2027 aim to increase participation in adult learning (in the last 4 weeks) to 8% by 2024 and to 12% by 2027. If the roadmap is implemented, more sustainable financing models (less dependent from EU funding) will emerge in the future, as well as additional support measures for employers and for individuals. Lastly, considerations for evaluating the policy package will have started on time.

Useful links

Published deliverables: Supporting employers to promote skills development in Latvia - OECD

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More about the project

You can read the final report and linked documents here: