10 Standards for Skills Friendly Cities

What's a Skills Friendly City?

Cities are often considered the best place to generate wealth and improve living standards at a faster rate because of density, interaction, and networks. Leaders of cities often have the power to influence educational institutions and help to oversee policies and practices that govern these institutions. In the Fourth Industrial Revolution, city policies will become even more relevant as they are able to react quickly to local trends and be responsive to large proportions of young people. And while this level of policy engagement could prove quite effective in migrating the future of work and sustainability for young people, the diversity within each city context will require flexible and adaptive approaches to youth skills.

Skills Friendly Cities are working to build more equitable and effective skills enabling environments for young people, at the local level, alongside the business community, education institutions and youth. They strive for conditions and collaboration among actors to positively impact a young person's ability to acquire relevant skills or a quality job. A skills friendly city fully cultivates a collaborative ecosystem for young people ages 15-25 encompassing (1) education and training; (2) public policies and public sector efforts; (3) employers; (4) connections and matchmaking between jobseekers and employers; (5) funding and investment from public, private and other actors.

The Skills Friendly City initiative outlines ten standards needed to create a "skills friendly" city, including critical activities and indicators of success that lead to a better prepared generation of youth ready to enter the workforce.

10 minimum standards for a Skills Friendly City

1. Direct engagement with young people.

Youth are engaged and involved in efforts related to their future,
especially closing the skills and employment gaps.

2. A focus on underserved youth.

There is a commitment to identifying, monitoring and targeting underserved
youth with opportunities for skills and employment.

3. Inclusive and equitable, quality education systems.

Local education systems are equitable, accessible, and
sufficiently resourced.

4. Pathways from education to employment.

Clear pathways exist in the city at the high school and post-secondary level.

5. Curriculum adapted to future workforce skills.

Curriculum has explicit focus on 4IR skills (workforce readiness, soft skills, technical skills, entrepreneurship and resilience).

6. Employer engagement in building opportunity pipelines.

Employers proactively engage with public policy officials, school systems and government agencies to build pathways from education to employment.

7. Meaningful and equitable employment.

Employment is meaningful, pays a livable wage and respects the dignity and contributions of young people.

8. Youth-focused funding partnerships.

Local funding and philanthropy, from public to private, reflects the city’s priority on youth futures through programs, subsidies, incentives, and scholarships.

9. Supportive ecosystem.

The design of public services and policies create an ecosystem of support for young people on the pathway from education to employment, including transportation, health care, mental health services, childcare and quality food.

10. Dedicated platform for opportunity dissemination and matchmaking.

The city has a central clearing house, platform, or other mechanisms for making information about skills training, employment and other opportunities available to youth.