Private Sector-Led Sector Workforce Councils in Kosovo to Articulate Skills Demand

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Proposal

IREX with consortium partner Crimson Capital are implementing the five-year $10 million USAID-funded Private Sector-Led Workforce Development (PSWD) Activity in Kosovo. One of the main activities of the Activity is to create and build the capacity of Sector Workforce Councils (SWCs) in four target high growth sectors.

The presentation will focus on the creation and early activities of three SWCs already established in agribusiness, information and communication technology (ICT), and wood processing. Each SWC is led by the corresponding industry association, comprised of 20-22 members from the private, public, and civil society sectors. These SWCs serve as a primary platform for data exchange, stakeholder coordination, and implementation of workforce development solutions.

The Sector Workforce Councils aim to engage relevant actors, analyze market needs, and develop workforce development solutions aligned with private sector requirements. Their mission involves strengthening links and cooperation among stakeholders in relevant industries to create a more robust and efficient labor market. This is achieved through advancing private sector leadership in determining, designing, and financing tailored workforce solutions, enhancing the capabilities of key workforce ecosystem actors, and fostering sustained collaboration on inclusive employment solutions. PSWD has already seen early success and can share lessons in forming SWCs and planning to build their capacity over time.

Additionally, the presentation will highlight the organization of three Data Swap workshops that conducted comprehensive market research to identify labor market gaps and emerging industry trends in the current three sectors. These workshops aimed to present findings from a rapid desk-based scan of available data, define and prioritize private sector needs for specific jobs and skills, and identify data availability and usage regarding workforce development. SWC members, along with representatives from relevant donor organizations, participated in these workshops. Group work sessions allowed participants to validate data, identify occupational standards, and recognize in-demand and difficult-to-fill skills and job positions within each sector. These findings were shared with partners and beneficiaries to facilitate the development of demand-driven training programs, increasing employability in high-demand sectors. Reports summarizing the findings were published on council’s leads’ websites and social media platforms.

The presentation also addresses the issuance of Workforce Innovation Grants by the activity. Informed by Data Swap workshop, SWCs were invited to develop grant criteria which will lead to the financing of workforce development solutions targeted to private sector needs. These grants aimed to support the development of new training programs or enhance existing ones to address identified private-sector skills needs. The goal is to ensure that graduates from these programs possess the skills demanded by private sector employers, thereby increasing their employability and improving productivity for private sector firms.

Overall, the presentation will emphasize how SWCs can be leveraged to help the private sector articulate and advocate for its skill needs and how Data Swaps and targeted competitive grant programs can be used to operationalize SWCs.

Authors

• Valmira Haxhaj Gushlla, International Research & Exchanges Board (IREX)

• Liza Marku, International Research & Exchanges Board (IREX)

• Donika Macastena, Crimson Capital/IREX