Skills Development in the Knowledge-Based Economy
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Conference: |
June 22-23, 1999
Moncton, New Brunswick |
Skills Development in the Knowledge-based Economy was a conference organized and hosted, in
the spirit of collaboration, by the Policy Research Secretariat, Industry Canada, Human
Resources Development Canada, the Atlantic Provinces Economic Council and the Atlantic
Canada Opportunities Agency in Moncton, New Brunswick on June 22-23, 1999.
The conference, which brought together various experts in the areas of skills development and the
knowledge economy from Canada, the United States and Europe, was designed to examine the
current state of employable skills in domestic and international labour markets, matched
specifically to the needs of knowledge economy enterprises. This report effectively summarizes the conference’s key issues
and conclusions.
Executive Summary
The demand for highly skilled workers is increasing: The conference achieved many points
of consensus regarding the role, nature and definition of skills in the knowledge-based economy.
Most importantly, the transition toward a global economy based on the acquisition and
application of knowledge as the driving force for new processes, businesses and industries
depends extensively on progressively higher levels of skills in the labour markets of
industrialized nations. In this regard, the demand for workers possessing appropriate and high
level skills has increased dramatically over the past several years and will continue to increase
over the next decades.
Technical and "soft" skills are both important components of the KBE: Skills were defined
in a variety of ways, but largely as belonging to two main sub-sets: technical and/or process-specific;
and general and/or soft. In the former category, skill definitions conformed to ready and
existing models, including facility with language and/or literacy, numeracy and familiarity with
technological – particularly information technology – systems and processes. In the latter
category considerable examination identified skills such as communications, creativity, analytical
thinking, cognitive ability, adaptability and flexibility and judgement. These general or "soft"
skills are widely considered to be at least as important as trainable "hard" skills in determining
the eventual success of individuals operating in the knowledge economy.
There is no generalized skills gap in Canada: The conference explored the question as to
whether there now exists a "skills gap" which must be addressed in the interests of future
productivity gains and competitiveness. Research was presented which employed both existing
and available labour market examinations in an attempt to answer the question. In general, the
conclusions were that, at present, the Canadian economy possesses the skills it needs in sufficient
quantities and at a sufficient level of proficiency to meet its needs for several years to come.
However, this does not preclude that there are or will be shortages or skills gaps in some specific
sectors or regions of the country.
The gap between the "knows" and "know-nots" is growing: At the same time, however,
there is a growing body of evidence to suggest that the gap between the "know" and the "know-nots"
is growing, presenting policy makers with a clear and urgent challenge to develop ways to
expand labour force participation across under-represented groups in the knowledge economy.
This situation reflects the need to highlight the human purpose of the knowledge-based economy
which is to ensure a higher quality of life for the general population.
The wage gap may be a constraint for Atlantic Canada: Another real concern for
stakeholders in society, particularly in Atlantic Canada, is the threat of a growing "wage gap"
related to skills development. Current research clearly indicates that many firms in various
regions are either unwilling or unable, for a variety of reasons, to provide competitive
compensation to otherwise willing, and skilled, job candidates. This, in turn, is helping to feed a
"brain drain" from less industrially robust areas, such as Atlantic Canada, to other parts of the
country and/or the United States.
Life-long learning is a critical approach to life skills development: An overarching theme
which emerged was the critical importance of a lifelong learning approach to skills development.
Such an approach would encourage the growth of a new "ethic" both inside post-secondary
institutions and outside in the private training institutions and, fundamentally, in the workforce.
There is a need for regional and cross-sectoral alliances: The creation and use of regional and
cross-sectoral alliances and partnerships, among government, industry, the academic community
and the research and development community, was strongly emphasized as a means of
addressing many, if not all, of the key policy issues and challenges related to skills development
in the 21st Century.
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