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A new guide details practical steps to help governments, employers, workers, and training providers anticipate skills needs and improve the connection between training and labour-market demand.
For workers, a changing labour market can mean learning new tools, moving into unfamiliar roles or finding that the skills they built their careers on are no longer enough. For employers, it can mean difficulty finding people with the right capabilities, even when jobseekers are available.
The International Labour Organisation (ILO)’s new publication, Next generation sector skills bodies: Driving productivity, innovation, decent work and social justice, focuses on one way to bridge that gap: stronger Sector Skills Bodies (SSBs).
These bodies bring together employers, workers, training providers, governments, and other stakeholders within a particular industry. In principle, they provide a route for people closest to changing jobs and technologies to influence what is taught, which qualifications are recognised and where training investment is directed.
But the ILO says that the model does not always work as intended.
Across many countries, SSBs have been established but struggle to make a tangible difference. Some are slow to respond when sectors change. Others lack stable funding, have limited industry leadership or struggle to turn meetings and consultation into decisions that affect training on the ground.
The new guide, based on experience from 18 countries, aims to help address those shortcomings. It offers advice both for countries looking to revive SSBs that have lost momentum and for those creating new bodies to support sectors affected by digitalisation and the transition to greener economies.
“Skills systems are the foundation of decent work and social justice,” said ILO Assistant Director-General for Corporate Services Hao Bin at the opening of WorldSkills Shanghai 2026. “To deliver on that promise, they must be inclusive by design – innovation matters as much as ensuring no one is left behind.”
Turning labour-market insight into action
At their best, SSBs can do more than identify a shortage of workers or raise concerns about outdated courses. They can help translate labour-market insight into action.
That begins with understanding what jobs and capabilities are changing. SSBs can use research and labour-market intelligence to identify current gaps and anticipate future needs, whether that involves new digital skills, green technologies or changing technical roles.
They can then work with training providers and public authorities to update occupational standards, qualifications and curricula. This is intended to give learners training that is useful in the workplace, while helping businesses access the skills they need to grow and adapt.
The guide also identifies a broader convening role for SSBs. By bringing together employers, workers, educators, and government agencies, they can support more coordinated decisions about skills priorities. They can advise policymakers, monitor the quality of training and assess whether programmes are actually helping people move into sustainable work.
For this to work, however, the ILO argues that consultation must be meaningful and ongoing.
“Employers and workers need a sustained role in shaping skills priorities,” Hao Bin said. “Sector Skills Bodies can provide that vital bridge, bringing governments, employers and workers together to anticipate change, respond to emerging skills needs and ensure that investment in skills supports both productive enterprises and decent work.”
A framework for long-term reform
The guide is organised around eight elements of an effective SSB system. It looks at how SSBs should be defined, what functions they should carry out and how they can be governed and overseen. It also addresses a key practical issue: funding.
The framework looks like this:
- Introduction: Context, rationale, methodology, and the case for change.
- Understanding SSBs: Defining the “Next Gen” SSB, its strategic value, and key definitions.
- Roles and responsibilities: Core functions, from Labour Market Intelligence (LMI) to standards
development. - Governance arrangements: Structuring legal status, board composition, and membership
models. - Oversight bodies: Mechanisms for coordination, quality assurance, and accountability.
- Funding considerations: Developing sustainable financing models beyond government grants.
- Establishing and operating SSBs: A step-by-step operational roadmap for implementation.
- Challenges and recommendations: Navigating common pitfalls and success factors for long
term impact.
Skills, productivity and decent work
The launch comes as WorldSkills Shanghai 2026 brings together participants from across the skills and vocational education sector. The ILO’s programme at the event includes discussions on green and digital skills, skills recognition and financing, technical and vocational education and training (TVET), and the role of skills in productivity, innovation and decent work.
During the conference, the ILO and WorldSkills International also signed a Memorandum of Understanding formalising their longstanding cooperation. The agreement establishes a framework for collaboration on occupational standards and skills taxonomies, TVET strengthening, research, capacity development and global policy dialogue.
For the ILO, the next generation of Sector Skills Bodies is not primarily about creating another layer of administration. It is about making sure that people working in changing industries, and the employers investing in them, have a practical say in how skills systems evolve.
Lead image / ILO
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