Vocational education and training - VET

Countries with strong vocational education show lower youth unemployment rates.
http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/todays-paper/tp-opinion/innovating-on-skills/article5449629.ece

The biggest threat facing the economy is a massive shortage of qualified workers. It is estimated that there will be 1.5 million skilled job vacancies in 2016, and 2.6 million by 2021.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/ottawa-poised-to-revisit-skills-gap-in-federal-budget/article9860886/ Related news. 
Canada. What to do about a massive shortage of qualified workers 
http://www.macleans.ca/economy/business/why-canada-doesnt-work/ ;

Real change starts with a clear, nationally owned vision for the role of skills in development and supported by adequate capacity and participatory governance.
http://www.norrag.org/en/publications/norrag-news/online-version/2012-the-year-of-global-reports-on-tvet-skills-jobs-consensus-or-diversity/detail/global-insights-towards-vet-reform.html

Every organization must have a regular training and development plan for establishing qualifications and improving the competencies of employees. Selecting the appropriate training course requires a clear understanding of the competencies, knowledge and qualifications that make up a training package.
http://www.appliedtrainingsolutions.com.au/rto/choosing-the-right-training-and-development-for-employees/

Business executives care more about their new hires' thinking, communication and problem-solving skills than they do about their undergraduate majors,
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/04/10/survey-finds-business-executives-arent-focused-majors-those-they-hire
Related survey. USA. It Takes More Than a Major: Employer Priorities for College Learning and Student Success
http://www.aacu.org/leap/documents/2013_EmployerSurvey.pdf

A brash tech entrepreneur thinks he can reinvent higher education by stripping it down to its essence, eliminating lectures and tenure along with football games, ivy-covered buildings, and research libraries. What if he's right? 

Apprenticeship and youth unemployment: some employers are getting it right! The article raises some interesting points about how committed employers can solve their own “skills shortage” … if they are willing to make the investment.
http://blogs.windsorstar.com/2013/03/21/the-labour-shortage-and-youth-unemployment/

Canadian businesses had just under 200,000 vacancies in December 2013, the lowest number since March 2011. The question of whether or not there is a labour shortage depends on where in Canada you're trying to find a job. The ratio of unemployed people to vacant jobs worsened in every province in December, but the absolute numbers were dramatically different from one province to another.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/job-vacancies-were-lowest-in-3-years-in-december-1.2577323
Related report. Job vacancies, three-month average ending in December 2013
Canadian businesses reported 200,000 job vacancies in December, down 21,000 compared with 12 months earlier. There were 6.3 unemployed people for every job vacancy, up from 5.7 in December 2012. The increase in the unemployment-to-job vacancies ratio was the result of fewer job vacancies, as the number of unemployed people was little changed.
http://www.statcan.gc.ca/daily-quotidien/140318/dq140318b-eng.pdf  ;