Changing working life and more complicated work tasks, changes in the field of work and the diversity of working life require, in addition to a strong and wide-ranging basic education, the continuous development of skills throughout life and working career. This is what the Ministry of Education and Culture states in its 2018 publication "Work transition and lifelong learning". In simpler terms, the text means that if you do not maintain your skills, you will soon be of no use.
Discussions about the skills shortage in the public often quickly lead to the demand for more study places. There is nothing wrong with this goal in itself, but the effects on the problem itself are questionable when the age groups are getting smaller and the pass rates in higher education institutions, for example in the field of technology, do not stand up to a very in-depth examination. A quick look at the statistics also makes it clear that those who have studied construction do not necessarily even stay in the field. And that one in four graduates from vocational schools in the field will be unemployed. This applies even to the big cities of southern Finland. Although at the same time there is a huge shortage of skilled workers.
Since the education system cannot adequately meet the skills needs, we have to prepare for increasingly faster and more flexible ways to offer continuing education. The difficulty is that nobody has a good picture of what we can do. Partly it's about the diversity of learning and assimilation: at work, let alone in hobbies, it's difficult to keep track of what you've learned.
In the real estate and construction industry, degrees, qualifications and personal certifications facilitate the identification of expertise and bring much-needed uniformity to the whole. However, all this information is scattered in different operators' own registers. How does an individual carpenter remember all the courses he has taken? Or find the training you need? Or how does he remember which online services have been filled in with which information? Or why would he get an education in general if the other option is to spend his free time under the sun in, say, Pattaya?
Funded by the Ministry of Labor and the Economy (as part of the government's TE-digi flagship project), Rakennusteollisuus RT, Rakennusliitto and Suomen Tilaajavastuu Oy are developing the Trusted Employee platform, which will revolutionize our understanding of job hunting and skill maintenance. The platform enables the user to manage all information related to education and working life in one place - easily and simply. Education and degree information, skills mapping, qualifications and references. All confirmed by the authorities. In addition to that, work history and your own personal information and skills.
This opens up enormous opportunities for both individuals and companies and society as a whole. In addition to the fact that we get a more accurate picture of Finns' competence, it also makes it easier for an individual to find employment and his competence path becomes clearer.
Through the new digital platform, it is clear that developing skills is worthwhile. The service warns in advance about skills becoming obsolete and encourages you to keep your qualifications valid. With the help of extensive databases, the service makes suggestions for supplementing personal skills and tells what is needed for employment.
The service offers the unemployed all career opportunities in the real estate and construction industry in one go. When you add to this the e-learning opportunities of RATEKO and other operators or, for example, the utilization of MOOCs for foreign language experts, we have in our hands the keys to real highways of knowledge. If in the field, that's what we want.
The text was originally published Rakennuslehten On the Viewpoint section.
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