Occupational field development against the background of current developments and structural change
The project analyses the impact of various current developments, such as digitalisation, COVID-19 and climate change, on the labour market and training and continuing education in various occupational fields.
The three trends analysed in this project differ significantly in terms of how they emerged and their impact. Digitalisation, a collective term for various technological innovations, is a driving force behind continual structural change of the economy. By contrast, COVID-19 came as a complete surprise. It had a shock impact on the markets, including the labour market, which nevertheless recovered relatively quickly. Climate change, on the other hand, has been going on for many decades. However, it took a long time before it was recognised as a man-made challenge for the economy and society and before political measures were taken to combat it.
This project explores the current range of instruments available in occupational field development through a combination of literature analysis and interviews with experts. Occupational field development here refers to the process of the emergence, change and ending of occupational fields and occupations.
The analysis of the three trends shows that their impact is wide-ranging. The labour market and education system have so far proven capable of continually meeting the demands of technological development and those presented by the COVID-19 pandemic short-term in crisis mode. However, in the case of climate change and environmental issues, it is not sufficient to rely on the flexible adaptability of the labour market and education system. Carefully devised political measures are needed. The state can also support the organisational capacity of the economy and social issues in general in new occupational fields. There are nevertheless good reasons for the collective management of the education system whereby the partnership between the Confederation, cantons and professional organisations (VPET partners) and federalism play a key role. Centralised state control would not be able to respond adequately or quickly enough to the new developments whose impact differs depending on the occupational field.
The project is based on a combination of literature analysis and interviews with experts. Firstly, research results on the impact of developments and megatrends on the education system and labour market as well as literature on occupational field development were selected. The analysis of this specialist literature provides an overview of the adjustment to date of the education system and the labour market to the new framework conditions. It focuses on the themes of COVID-19, the climate crisis and digitalisation. Both specialist articles from international research and studies on Switzerland were included.
The interviews systematically addressed how the various shocks – in particular COVID-19, the climate crisis and digitalisation – impacted on the labour market and the various educational levels in the relevant occupational field. The interview guidelines were structured according to the corresponding thematic areas.