Members of Gaidar Institute attend the 2014 OECD Forum

Sergey Prikhodko made a report at the plenary session Think-tank – Close the gap between competences. He pointed out in his report that the key problem faced by employers is that they found it impossible to find the sufficient quantity of qualified, gifted persons despite a high level of unemployment. Young people should have good professional skills to be able to succeed in the contemporary labor market.

Professional training itself cannot cope with unemployment, however it can mitigate substantially its effects. Countries with strongly inherited traditions of professional training ( like Germany, Austria, and Switzerland) have rapidly recovered from the recession of 2008. They show just 9% level of unemployment among young people relative to 16% in the OECD member countries at large. Therefore, the OECD member countries have regarded professional skills training as a key item in the Action Plan for the Youth, while G20 called for broadening investment in professional training.

Sergey Prikhodko, Sergei Drobyshevsky and Pavel Trunin met as part of the Forum with A. Wergeter, Head of Economic Department OECD, K. Kastrup, Director of Center for Political Research of Economic Department OECD, M. Mesnard, Senior Advisor to the OECD Secretary General, as well as Anthony Gooch, Director of Public Affairs and Communications at the OECD. They discussed the issues associated with the cooperation between Gaidar Institute and the OECD in undertaking joint scientific research and events like in Moscow and Paris.