The Future of Skills: A Case Study of the Agri-Tech Sector in Israel

In November 2018 the European Training Foundation (ETF) launched an international reflection to investigate how global trends impact developing and transition economies and to discuss what actions need to be taken to prepare people for a changing world and manage their transitions towards uncertain futures. This study on the future of skills in the agri-tech sector in Israel aims to investigate how various drivers of change -- principally technological ones -- impact occupations and related skills in the sector and how education and training adapt to these changing needs. The study concentrates on changing skills needs and documents changes in occupations and related skills driven by technological innovation primarily. The study also provides some information about how companies find (or not) the skills they need and how they reskill their employees to meet the new needs. The analysis shows the top professional and associate professional occupations most likely to be affected by technological change. Its aim is to raise awareness about the changing skills demand, identify pointers of change and stimulate a discussion among policy-makers and practitioners in the field so that the findings can be further exploited and used to adapt education and training provision. Being the first pilot study of its kind, the report documents all steps of the research and presents the findings in a detailed manner. This is because the ETF wants to raise awareness of all stakeholders in the partner countries, be it researchers, practitioners or policy-makers, about the changing skills needs in the sectors covered by the research. The findings not only raise awareness but also provide food for thought especially in relation to the ability of education and training systems to face the changing skills demand and to prepare workers for the new jobs and occupations. [For the summary note, see ED610862.]