This first OECD Skills Outlook presents the initial results of the OECD Survey of Adult Skills, which evaluates the skills of adults in 22 OECD and 2 non-OECD partner countries.

In the wake of the technological revolution that began in the last decades of the 20th century, labour-market demand for information-processing and other high-level cognitive and interpersonal skills have been growing substantially. Based on the results from the 39 countries and regions that participated in the 1st cycle of the Survey of Adult Skills (PIAAC), it places special emphasis on the results from the 3rd round of this cycle, with 6 new countries collecting data in 2018-19. This report describes adults’ proficiency in information-processing skills and examines how proficiency is related to education, labour-market and social outcomes.

The way we live and work has changed profoundly - and so has the set of skills we need to participate fully in and benefit from our hyper-connected societies ... Our new publication series, the OECD Skills Outlook, aims to provide that picture.

In the wake of the technological revolution that began in the last decades of the 20th century, labour market demand for information-processing and other high-level cognitive and interpersonal skills is growing substantially.

This edition of the Reader’s Companion accompanies Skills Matter: Additional Results from the Survey of Adult Skills that reports the results from the 39 countries and regions that participated in the 3 rounds of data collection in the first cycle of PIAAC, with a particular focus on the 6 countries that participated in the third round of the study (Ecuador, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Mexico, Peru and the United States). It describes the design and methodology of the survey and its relationship to other international assessments of young students and adults.

This study identifies key lessons about the strategic objectives and directions which should form a frame for policy development in the US, including policy on adult learning and schooling.

Young people around the world are struggling to enter the labour market. In some OECD countries, one in four 16-29 year-olds is neither employed nor in education or training. The OECD Skills Outlook 2015 shows how improving the employability of youth requires a comprehensive approach. While ...