The ILO estimates that unemployment is up by more than 30 million worldwide since 2007. The number of unemployed youth increased by 8.5 million between 2008 and 2009, the largest year-on-year increase in at least ten years. Against this sombre economic background, technical and vocational education and training (TVET) systems worldwide are under pressure to deal with a host of employment and workplace challenges.
On the ILO website, the complete report for discussion at the Global Dialogue Forum on Vocational Education and Training (29–30 September 2010 at the International Labour Office, Geneva) is available, as well as an interview with the ILO specialists Bill Ratteree and Michael Axmann about how TVET systems can respond to these challenges.