The emergence of information technology in the last quarter of the 20th century ushered in a new era in which a set of dynamics, products and industries shook the foundations of the economy and long-term development (Pérez 2004). As these were democratised and expanded throughout the productive apparatus, the central role that knowledge applied to production would play in the creation of value became clearer.

The old industrial premise of achieving a "quantity economy" shifted to the weighting of a "knowledge economy", in which the competencies required for employability increasingly include skills and attitudes whose development is strongly based on metacognitive processes, social interaction and "knowing how to be".

A literature review developed by ILO/Cinterfor in 2016 revealed that among the competency frameworks for future employability, transversal and "soft" competencies appear in greater proportion and frequency. In particular communication, collaboration, creativity, critical thinking and problem solving. Digital skills also featured strongly. The latter (problem solving) is dealt with here while the paper deals with the previous five.

Transversal competences are those that enable the worker to be resilient in the face of upcoming trends and changes. In turn, they are central for productive organisations to develop more efficient work processes.

The impact of innovation in all sectors makes it necessary for workers to acquire higher level technical knowledge and skills and to renew this knowledge at shorter and shorter intervals. Moreover, this knowledge and skills will be put into practice in organisations whose processes require teamwork to solve new problems arising from the changing context. This type of work requires communication, effective collaboration and creativity to propose solutions to problems, but based on a critical understanding of the context.

Closing the skills gap is an imperative for the region, where it is now becoming clear that in addition to gaps in technical skills, there is also a gap between demand and supply of "transversal or socio-emotional skills".

In developed economies, particularly in the United States, a phenomenon is perceived where automation will replace routine tasks and in some cases render entire occupations (or almost) obsolete. The replaced tasks generally require average skill levels, which are aligned with average income levels. The changes introduced by technology and automation generate a creative destruction effect. As some tasks and jobs become obsolete, new tasks and occupations emerge.

These phenomena occur differently in each region and country; and although there are no comprehensive studies for LAC, this phenomenon is occurring more slowly and heterogeneously than in other regions (Burdin 2021).

This scenario challenges vocational training, since the new tasks and occupations require a higher level of technical qualification and, on the other hand, generalise the development of transversal skills for employability. This is happening in a context where vocational training also trains for more automatable tasks and occupations.

In this context, vocational training is in a key position of urgent action to articulate the new demands of the productive sector with formal education, and to promote a better qualified workforce that drives the development of countries along with decent and formal employment.

The new digital economy requires societies that are able to learn constantly, but also to adapt quickly to the phenomena of job destruction and job creation. Here, vocational training institutions can contribute to softening these employment shocks by providing a flexible educational offer for the different employment stages of individuals and by making a differential investment in the development of transversal skills.

The development of transversal competences does not occur through isolated, short training experiences and traditional learning strategies and pedagogies. Short cycle/degree/certificate courses are a key area in which the development of this type of competences must be mainstreamed by means of meaningful, realistic training experiences oriented towards problem-solving and product development.

Progress along these lines will depend on training strategies that focus on people's potential rather than on content and technical skills. Strategies oriented towards team action that manage to articulate towards innovation.

In this sense, there are important challenges to be introduced in curriculum design and development, assessment strategies and teacher training. Implementing research-based training strategies (problems or projects) will be key to advancing the capacity of teachers and students to develop these competences.

Sources for this note:

• Reddy, Srinivas. 2019. "Skills for the future: Learning to learn through technology is the new skills visa". ILOBlog (blog). January 17, 2019. https://iloblog.org/2019/01/17/skills-for-the-future-learning-to-learn-through-technology-is-the-new-skills-visa/
• ILO. 2016. "The future of work, employment and skills in Latin America and the Caribbean." https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---americas/---ro-lima/---sro-port_of_spain/documents/publication/wcms_544337.pdf
• Perez, Carlota. 2004. Technological revolutions and financial capital: the dynamics of large financial bubbles and boom times. Retrieved from https://eva.fing.edu.uy/pluginfile.php/309314/mod_resource/content/2/P%C3%A9rez%2C%2BCarlota-Revoluciones-Tecnologicas-y-Capital%2Bfinanciero.compressed.pdf
• Burdin. 2021. "Digitalisation, productivity and employment: elements for thinking about vocational training in Latin America." https://www.oitcinterfor.org/sites/default/files/Burd%C3%ADn_Digitalizaci%C3%B3n,%20productividad%20y%20empleo.pdf