Across the developed world, most of us who work now earn our living in the service sector. However, the issue of what kind of service economy is sustainable and desirable, both in economic and social terms, is rarely debated. This book argues that this needs to change. National governments have emphasised the role of skills in achieving international competitiveness, higher living standards, and social inclusion. However, even prior to the 2008 financial crisis, problems of over-qualification, skills wastage, and poor job quality were becoming difficult to ignore. This raises important questions about what kind of service sector jobs will be on offer to meet the aspirations of an increasingly qualified workforce and what role can governments play in raising the skills required in jobs and the quality of jobs and services? Work organisation and job design are key factors shaping the skill content of work and the opportunities workers have to deploy their skills and capabilities. Through cross-national comparative research, this book examines whether and why service sector jobs vary across countries. Drawing upon detailed empirical research, the jobs of vocational teacher, fitness instructor, and cafe worker in the UK, Norway, and France are compared, allowing an exploration of the role of national institutions, sectors, and organisations in shaping work organisation and job quality. The findings contribute to the comparative study of work organisation, the relationship between skills and performance, the role and purpose of education and the prospects for better jobs in 'the age of over-qualification'.

The OECD Employment Outlook 2014 includes chapters on recent labour market developments with a special section on earnings, job quality, youth employment, and forms of employment and employment protection.

"Human capital theory, or the notion that there is a direct relationship between educational investment and prosperity, has governed Western approaches to education and labor for the past fifty years. However, many degree recipients have experienced the opposite. This book demonstrates that the human capital story is one of a failed revolution that requires an alternative approach to education, jobs, and income inequalities. Rather than abandoning human capital theory, the book calls for a broader view of education not merely as schooling, but as the process of acquiring the skills necessary to take on a flexible range of jobs and roles. In a rapidly changing job market, workers will need to capitalize on the skills, talents, and personality traits that they have honed through a lifetime of learning, rather than their academic credentials. A controversial challenge to the reigning ideology on economics and education, this text provides important insights into the current plight of the overqualified, underemployed labor market"--

Digitalisation, globalisation, demographic shifts and other changes in work organisation are constantly reshaping skill needs. This can lead to persistent skill shortages and mismatch which are costly for individuals, firms and society in terms of lost wages and lower productivity and growth.

This edited volume examines European approaches to migrants, European Union migration policies, and the EU-Turkey refugee agreement through macro-level and micro-level analysis. It analyzes issues related to migration in Turkey and Syria and specifically studies at the Syrian refugee crisis. The contributors explore the migration phenomenon through economic and judicial perspectives.

The report describes the state of implementation of the Bologna Process in 2012 from various perspectives and with data ranging from 2010 to 2011 as well as with earlier trends data for some statistical figures. --Ed.

This publication gathers the papers presented at the “OECD-EU dialogue on mobility and international migration: matching economic migration with labour market needs” (Brussels, 24-25 February 2014), a conference jointly organised by the European Commission and the OECD.