Employment

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. The Survey of Adult Skills, a product of the OECD Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC), was designed to provide insights into the availability of some key skills in society and how they are used at work and at home. The first survey of its kind, it directly measures proficiency in several information-processing skills – namely literacy, numeracy and problem solving in technology-rich environments.

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 33 countries and regions that participated in the 1st and 2nd round of the Survey of Adult Skills in 2011-12 and in 2014-15, this report describes adults’ proficiency in three information-processing skills, and examines how proficiency is related to labour-market and social outcomes. It also places special emphasis on the results from the 3rd and final round of the first cycle of PIAAC in 2017-18, which included 6 countries (Ecuador, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Mexico, Peru and the United States). The Survey of Adult Skills, a product of the OECD Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC), was designed to provide insights into the availability of some of these key skills in society and how they are used at work and at home. The first survey of its kind, it directly measures proficiency in three information-processing skills: literacy, numeracy and problem-solving in technology-rich environments.

Half a million higher education graduates enter the labour market every year in Mexico. While their labour market outcomes are considerably better on average than those of upper secondary education graduates, some higher education graduates face periods of inactivity and unemployment. Many graduates who find work end up being over-qualified or working in the informal sector. This report finds that the Mexican higher education system needs to be better aligned with the labour market to help students develop the skills employers seek. Students need better support to succeed in their higher education studies and develop labour market relevant skills, which will help facilitate their achievement of good outcomes in the workforce. This calls for a comprehensive whole-of-government approach and the involvement of all higher education stakeholders. The report proposes a set of policy recommendations to address these issues and help Mexican higher education graduates achieve better outcomes in the labour market. The report was developed as part of the OECD Enhancing Higher Education System Performance project and is a companion to the OECD report, The Future of Mexican Higher Education: Promoting Quality and Equity, which focuses on broader issues in higher education, including governance, funding, quality and equity, as well as two key sectors of higher education: teacher education colleges and professional and technical institutions.

Skills are central to Mexico’s future prosperity and the well-being of its people. Improving opportunities for all Mexicans to develop high quality and relevant skills and supporting employers to improve their human resources management can help Mexico to raise productivity levels and, by extension, the incentives for employers to hire individuals in the formal sector. Fostering better and more equitable skills outcomes, especially for women and youth, will also provide the foundation for building a healthier, more equitable, and more cohesive society. The OECD Skills Strategy Diagnostic Report: Mexico sets out eight skills challenges for Mexico. These challenges were identified through two interactive workshops with stakeholders, bilateral meetings, internal discussions with experts at the OECD, and analysis of documents and data produced by the OECD and other organisations. The first six challenges refer to specific outcomes across the three pillars of developing, activating and using skills. The next two challenges refer to the 'enabling' conditions that strengthen the overall skills system. Success in tackling these skills challenges will boost performance across the whole skills system.

Mexico is slowly advancing on the path to gender equality. Many public policies aimed at empowering women are now in place: over the past two decades, Mexico has increased investments in girls' education, greatly expanded childcare and preschool, improved gender mainstreaming in government, and ensured that female politicians are well-represented at the ballot box. Yet, despite these efforts, many Mexican women still do not feel the effects of these policies at home, at work, or in public spaces. Large gender gaps remain in educational outcomes, participation in the labour market, pay, informality status, and hours of unpaid childcare and housework. 'Unlocking Mexico’s full potential,' as Mexico's National Development Plan prescribes, will depend crucially on how well Mexico closes existing gender gaps in political, social and economic life and promotes real social change. Mexico must continue to invest in social and labour market policies that empower women, and reinvigorate efforts to reduce inequalities in education, labour force participation, job quality, unpaid work, and leadership. This will require embedding gender equality objectives in all public policies and budgets, across all levels of government, and ensuring the effective implementation, enforcement, and evaluation of policies and laws to achieve inclusive outcomes.

How can citizens’ health and well-being be improved when public resources are limited? What practices allow hospitals and health clinics to get state of art medical equipment and medicine at the right price? The OECD Procurement Review of the Mexican State’s Employees’ Social Security and Social Services Institute (ISSSTE) looks at the public entity responsible for providing medical and social services to Mexican civil servants. It provides a comprehensive assessment of its procurement function and how to improve it in order to enhance the overall efficiency and transparency of the organisation and the quality of the services it provides. The review builds on the OECD Principles for Enhancing Integrity in Public Procurement, good practices of other health organisations as well as comparative data on public procurement in OECD countries.

Getting it Right is one of the most complete toolkits that the OECD has designed to help a country at the start of a new government administration. In this publication, the focus of the Organisation’s multidisciplinary knowledge is on Mexico; the discussion is enriched with international experience, and comparison based on best practices. In addition, the report identifies the Mexican economy’s strengths and weaknesses so as to support the design, promotion and implementation of key public policies for better economic performance.