ABSTRACT
This chapter provides a European perspective on British policy questions relating to intermediate skills, drawing especially on a study of changing employment patterns in five European Community countries which synthesized the available evidence both at the aggregate level and from case studies. It examines changes in the pattern of labour demand, emphasizing qualitative aspects which affect intermediate skills. The chapter deals with the interactions between education, training and the labour market. Conventional economic analysis of industrial-occupational change does, however, tend to ignore changes taking place in job content within occupations and in the relationships between occupations. Turning to the case-study evidence on changing job content, a combination of 'stylized facts and related issues' emerges rather than clear international contrasts. The chapter is concerned particularly with intermediate skills, the qualitative evidence will focus on those skills.
