Activation Policies for the Poor in OIC Member States
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work-based, classroom based, or self-directed learning. Within the context of activations strategies,
skills training is usually provided free of charge and focused on improving employability. However,
the majority of training (to all citizens) is delivered within the wider context of a country’s education
and workforce development policies. Consequently, there can be a tension between ‘work first’ (the
emphasis of activation strategies) and ‘human capital’ (education and skills enhancement) policies.
In this study, we concentrate solely on what role training can play in activation and increasing
employability has been concentrated on, although the important contribution that training can make
to a low income country which has a low skill base is recognised.
The degree of emphasis on training in activation strategies often changes with the economic cycle. In
economic downturns, when there are low numbers of vacancies, the focus of activation tends to
switch to training. This has the advantages of:
 Maintaining participation in activity by jobseekers
 Re-skilling unemployed workers where their skills may be out-of-date
 Up skilling, especially young people, for the new jobs and industries that are forecast to grow
with an upturn in the economy
In buoyant labour markets, activation strategies place more emphasis on job search, but training can
still have an important role in improving employability. In upturns, greater attention is given to:
 Identifying and helping those that require literacy and numeracy
 Helping those with no academic qualifications to attain a qualification that will assist them in
the labour market
 Vocational qualifications geared to the needs of industrial sectors, especially those that are
growing
A recent international review3 of training programmes for the unemployed that have been
rigorously evaluated found that:
 Training has a positive impact on participants’ employment or earnings in more than half
the evaluations reviewed
 Short programmes (below six months, and probably below four months) are optimal for less
formal training activity. Longer programmes generate employment gains when the content
is skill-intensive
 On the job training programmes outperform classroom-based training programmes
 Employer co-design and activities that closely mirror actual jobs appear to be key design
elements
 The state of the economy is not a major factor in the performance of training programmes;
programme design features appear to be more important than macroeconomic factors
The broad recommendations and findings of the review to policy-makers were:
 Involve employers in the design of the training programme and providing on-the-job
training
 The longer the length of a training programme, the greater the need for extra support to
participants to counteract the ‘lock-in’ effects of being taken away from job search
 Extending shorter length training programmes to a wider group of recipients is likely to
produce a better success rate than providing longer training to a smaller group
3 ‘Review of Employment and Training’, the What Works Centre for Local Economic Growth, London, 2014