Vocational Education and Training and the Labour Market in Latvia

Qualifications and skills.  Supply and demand
 

Qualifications and skills in demand on the labour market

Changes in the demand for qualifications can be seen when comparing the results of CBS Labour Force Surveys of various years.  The surveys classify qualifications according to the Major Groups found in the Classification of Occupations of the Republic of Latvia.  Group 1 includes legislators, senior state officials, managers (this includes also local government leaders and heads of various levels of institutions and organisations); Group 2 includes professionals (this applies to professions where there is a need for a high level of theoretical and practical knowledge in the natural or social sciences, or the humanities); Group 3 – technicians and associate professionals (this includes occupations which require technical knowledge in the technology, natural or social sciences and the humanities); Group 4 – clerks (secretaries, cashiers, client information providers, accountants, financial and clerical workers); Group 5 – service workers and commercial workers (shop assistants, workers in public catering, security, personal care and other services); Group 6 – skilled agricultural and fishery workers (growers of produce, grain and livestock; foresters, fishery workers and hunters); Group 7 – craft and related trades workers (this group includes workers in various industries and traditional craftsmen, who require knowledge, experience and crafts skills); Group 8 – plant and machine operators and assemblers (this includes professions which require knowledge and skills in the operation and servicing of industrial machines); Group 9 – elementary occupations (janitors, custodians, grounds keepers, transportation workers and performers of other little qualified work in construction, agriculture, forestry and elsewhere).

Figure 12.

The vocational education and training system provides qualifications pertaining to occupations in Major Groups 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8.  As can be seen in figure 12., the most rapid growth has taken place in the proportion of service and commercial workers (Major Group 5 – 13.2% in 1997; 14.9% in 1999; 15.2% in 2000), and the proportion of craft and related trades workers has decreased (Major Group 7 – 18.1% in 1997; 16.7% in 1999; 16.5% in 2000). Never-the-less this group still makes up the largest proportion within the total number of employed.

In October 1999 young people most frequently worked as service and commercial workers (25% of those employed in the 15 to 24 age group), as well as craft and related trades workers (20% of those employed in the 15 to 24 age group).

A summary of the 882 employment offers listed in the newspapers “Diena” and “Chass”, and in the web pages www.cv.lv and www.doska.lv in the month of January 2001 shows that there is most frequently a need for sales assistants, sales managers, marketing specialists (mentioned in 194 advertisements); information technology specialists (107);  secretaries and office managers (56); bookkeepers and economists (57); labourers, stevedores (56); engineers (39).  In 393 advertisements, employers mention that the potential candidate should have a university diploma, but 489 advertisements do not require this.  Higher education is most often required of various information technology specialists (mentioned in 71 advertisements).  It seems that the fact that one third of the advertisements (36 of the total) do not require a university diploma, but only work experience of IT specialists, means that the demand for these workers is very high and employers need them so badly that they are willing to go to great lengths to hire these specialists.  The next highest demand is for various types of sales managers and marketing specialists (mentioned in 68 advertisements) and secretaries-clerks (mentioned in 56 advertisements).

Table 1. summarises the ten most frequently demanded qualifications which do not require a higher education.  As can be seen, the greatest demand, both at the beginning of the year 2001 and in January 2001, is for sales assistants.  It is notable that the demand is almost twice that of any other qualification.  This indicates that there is an overproduction of goods on the market and it is more important to sell what is in stock rather than to manufacture new goods.

 Table 1. Most in-demand qualifications which do not require a higher education

 Almost all of the most popular qualifications require the ability to deal with clients, to persuade them.  This becomes one of the most important skills required on the labour market.

With increasing competition, it becomes more and more difficult to sell goods.  The sales assistant’s income also depends on how much and how profitably he sells his wares.  It is clear that sales skills alone are insufficient, because employers are looking for people who have a knowledge of the goods and services which they wish to sell.  This again proves that marketing needs to be integrated into all vocational training programmes, because this improves the competitiveness of graduates on the labour market.  For example, if someone with a seamstress’ qualification cannot find sewing work, s/he can sell fabrics, threads, sewing machines, etc.

While sales assistants are most in demand on the labour market, it must be taken into account that this is not a prestigious profession (it is also not mentioned on the list of professions which school children are interested in pursuing).  This work is often associated with a low and unsteady income (in October 1999, service and sales workers had the lowest average gross hourly wage – 0.49 LVL, or 61% of the national average, this major group also had the lowest wage in 2000, making only 34% of the average wage of various levels of managers), also, employers not rarely promise more than they are realistically able to earn, staff are not provided with any social guarantees, they can also be the victims of swindling.  So students should be taught to evaluate risk at vocational training establishments.

The other group in demand is various types of manual labourers.  The demand for labour in this group is created for the most part by low wage levels.  People in elementary occupations are the second least paid major group (in October 1999 the average gross wage in elementary occupations was 0.50 LVL per hour, or 62% of the national average).  Wages for craft and related trades workers are considerably higher (in October 1999 the average was 0.74 LVL per hour, or 93% of the average).

The list of most in-demand qualifications shows that the assistance of the State Employment Service and advertisements are used by many employers, looking for low paid workers.

Along with the formal qualification, employers require additional skills of their employees.  As in 1996, in 2001 potential employees were also asked to meet the following requirements:

·        practical work experience,
·        computer skills,
·        foreign language skills,
·        communications skills,
·        a valid driver’s licence.

The poor technical facilities and low teachers’ salaries at vocational schools are the reason why graduates of these schools do not always posses the necessary computer and foreign language skills.  Both computer specialists and foreign language teachers are in very high demand on the labour market, and therefor schools have difficulty in attracting qualified staff, because they cannot compete in terms of salary or working conditions.  This, in turn, prompts graduates of vocational schools to provide for their own means of acquiring the necessary skills.  This is shown by the results of the May 2000 CBS labour force survey, which indicate that among the total number of vocational school graduates who go on to supplement their knowledge, almost one third have taken computer courses and every fifth person has taken language courses.

Professions chosen by students

The Career Counselling Centre (CCC) performs surveys to determine which professions leavers of the 9^th and 12^th form wish to acquire.  The results of these surveys reflect those professions which are popularly considered to be lucrative, because 74% of the surveyed students mentioned a good salary as the most important factor in their choice of profession.

A comparison of 9^th form surveys performed in 1996 and in 1999 shows that two professions have dropped out of the list of most popular – doctor and teacher – and have been replaced by secretary and welder.

Table 2. 10 most popular professions among 9^th form students

 The most popular profession is still that of the lawyer, although it is not a qualification that can be said to be in high demand on the labour market.  The students’ wish to acquire this profession can be explained by the popular opinion that lawyers earn a lot of money.  This is compounded by statistics: for example, in October 1999, the gross wage for lawyers was 1.92 LVL per hour, that is, 2.4 times greater than the average, or almost 4 times as much as for a sales worker.

Twelfth form leavers generally mention professions that can be acquired at university.  The ten most popular professions among upper secondary school leavers in 1999 are:

- economist,
- lawyer,
- teacher,
- psychologist,
- interpreter,
- police officer,
- doctor,
- designer,
- programmer,
- travel agent.

The most popular courses of studies have the greatest enrolment competition.  According to data of the Ministry of Education and Science, the greatest competition at Latvian universities in the 2000/01 academic year was in legal sciences – 12.1:1; economics – 6.0:1; computer science – 3.3:1.  On the whole, those courses of study which were popular 5-6 years ago are still popular in this academic year.

While the survey shows the opinions of young people regarding the most popular professions, it must be remembered that of survey participants in 1999, only 33.9% of students in 9^th form and 32% of students in 12^th form could state that they had chosen their future profession.

figure 13.

Study paths chosen by students in 1999

 Data of the 1999 CCC upper secondary school leavers survey show that 5% of 12^th form students intend to continue their studies at vocational education establishments, however, statistics indicate that actually 11% do, which leads one to think that vocational education establishments attract those students who haven’t really decided what to do, as well as those who don’t get into university or can’t afford higher education.  This trend is evident also in previous years.

Each year there is also an increase in the number of 12^th form students who plan to combine studies with work after leaving secondary school – in 1997 this was the intention of 21% of those surveyed, but in 1999 – 28%.  The need to earn money while pursuing studies places an additional load both on the student and on the schools, and to a certain extent also affects the quality of education, while at the same time ensuring much greater practical work experience.

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