There has recently been a plethora of reports highlighting the transformational changes affecting the ways we work and live. They analyse how the nature of work is being changed through a variety of national factors and global trends. A recent notification about research commissioned by Pearson and conducted by Oxford University and innovation foundation, Nesta, identifies seven major trends that will continue to impact on future job opportunities, interacting to create new jobs and render others obsolete: globalization, demographic change, environmental sustainability, technological change, urbanization, increasing inequality and political uncertainty. Certainly, the nature and types of jobs and careers that people will have are likely to be significantly different. In fact, the World Economic Forum estimates that 65% entering primary school today will end up working in completely new job types that do not yet exist (Business Council of Australia, 2017). The Workforce Development Needs Survey 2018 (Australian Industry Group, 2018) furnishes significant data about the workforce development and skills needs of employers. Undertaken every two years since 2012, this survey enables a time series comparison. The 2018 survey attracted responses from 298 companies employing a total of 111,209 employees. Among other findings, it states that employers are increasingly concerned about the suitability of applicants and low levels of literacy and numeracy are affecting their businesses. Relevant work experience is identified as the most important factor in recruiting, and enterprise and employability skills have increased in importance as a recruiting factor. There is an urgent need for workers with transferable skills to navigate the changes they face in uncertain job roles and job markets. The Foundation for Youth Australia (2018) has found that, in particular, young people at 25 years are increasingly reporting they feel like they can not get anywhere and are struggling to navigate a career path in a rapidly changing world of work. Labelled as ‘the quarter-life crisis’, its prevalence is reported to be increasing. These changes call into question the types of skills required to get into and remain in the world of work. What skills are sought by employers? What skills are applicants for jobs wanting to develop? What skills are the focus of training providers? Despite the need for generic skill development and employers stating their preference for such skills in applicants they recruit, there remain a number of significant issues relating to what are now commonly called employability skills, and in other countries and international organizations come under a number of different labels. Such issues include: what are they, how are they defined and made operational, who is responsible for developing them, how are they developed, assessed and reported, how well do vocational teachers (and students) understand them, and what national and institutional policies might be the most appropriate? INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF TRAINING RESEARCH 2018, VOL. 16, NO. 3, 195–199 https://doi.org/10.1080/14480220.2018.1576330

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社论：技能的重要性–但是哪些技能？

最近有大量报告重点介绍了影响我们工作和生活方式的变革性变化。他们分析了各种国家因素和全球趋势如何改变工作的性质。皮尔森委托牛津大学和创新基金会Nesta进行的有关研究的最新通知指出了七个主要趋势，这些趋势将继续影响未来的工作机会，相互作用以创造新的工作机会，并使其他人过时：全球化，人口变化，环境可持续性，技术变革，城市化，不平等加剧和政治不确定性。当然，人们将拥有的工作和职业的性质和类型可能会大不相同。事实上，据世界经济论坛（World Economic Forum）估计，如今有65％的学生进入小学就可以从事尚不存在的全新工作类型（澳大利亚商业委员会，2017年）。《 2018年劳动力发展需求调查》（澳大利亚工业集团，2018年）提供了有关雇主的劳动力发展和技能需求的重要数据。自2012年以来每两年进行一次，这项调查可以进行时间序列比较。2018年的调查吸引了298家公司的反馈，这些公司雇用了111,209名员工。除其他发现外，该报告还指出，雇主越来越关注申请人的适合性，而较低的识字和计算能力正在影响他们的业务。相关的工作经验被认为是招聘的最重要因素，企业和就业能力作为招聘因素的重要性在增加。迫切需要具有可迁移技能的工人来应对他们在不确定的工作角色和工作市场中所面临的变化。澳大利亚青年基金会（2018）发现，尤其是25岁的年轻人越来越多地报告说，他们觉得自己无所适从，并在瞬息万变的工作世界中努力寻找职业道路。据报道，被称为“四分之一寿命危机”的患病率正在上升。这些变化使人们对进入和留在工作世界中所需的技能类型提出了质疑。雇主寻求什么技能？申请人想要发展什么技能？培训提供者的重点是什么技能？尽管有必要发展通用技能，并且雇主在招募的申请人中表明他们偏爱这种技能，但仍然存在许多与现在所谓的就业技能有关的重大问题，在其他国家和国际组织中却存在许多不同的问题标签。这些问题包括：它们是什么，它们是如何定义和运作的，由谁负责开发，它们是如何开发，评估和报告的，职业教师（和学生）对它们的理解程度如何，以及哪些国家和机构政策也许最合适？国际培训研究杂志2018，卷。16号 3，