In this workshop we will explore innovative and adaptive ways of matching people with jobs in the context of a Dutch policy initiative aimed at the skills mismatch in the region of Amsterdam, called ‘the House of Skills’. In this project career development plays an important role, although it is organized in a more systemic and network-centric way, in which various stakeholders work together on sustainable careers.
The workshop will consist of three components. We start with ‘setting the scene’: a compact presentation of the main objectives of this policy initiative. Then we ‘zoom in’ on a specific set of pilots, related to skills mismatch, that aims to innovate the matching routines of partners in the network by searching for and experimenting with a digital and data-driven skills- or competency-based approach. We will see that the emphasis at the demand side of the labour market changes from occupations to tasks and skills (World Economic Forum, 2019). Consequently, skills will increasingly prove to be a relevant element in matching people with jobs and turn out to be a suitable proxy for advanced and tailormade career guidance, enabling job-seekers to discover effective and appropriate reskilling pathways and job transitions opportunities. We will study some concrete examples: how does this work in guidance and counseling and what does this mean for our instruments and profession?
The third and important component will be to ‘zoom out’: we will have a critical and hopefully inspiring discussion on the matching theory and Person-Environment (P-E) model. Because there is always this central tension in guidance: fit for whom (Moore, Gunz & Hall, 2007)? The challenging question is therefore: how can we as profession benefit from this concept of fit, and use it in contemporary ICT-driven ways that can help people become more agentic in their career?
