Creative FLIP holds an ESCO Focus Group on Cultural and Creative Occupations and Skills

On 12 March 2020 in Brussels, the Creative FLIP project team held an expert Focus Group centred on the topic of ESCO and the representation of the Cultural and Creative Occupations and Skills within this classification. The Focus group was organized in close cooperation with the ESCO Project Team from the European Commission, Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion (DG EMPL).

ESCO – the European Skills, Competences, Qualifications and Occupations classification identifies, describes and groups occupations, skills, and qualifications relevant for the EU labour market and education and training. It intends to aid recruiters, HR professionals, education and training providers, professional and industry associations in understanding which occupations are relevant in different subsections of the labour market, which skills profiles are required in particular areas of occupational activity and which knowledge, skills and competences are obtained as learning outcomes of a specific qualification.

Presently, neither the occupations nor the skills relevant in cultural and creative industries (CCI) are highlighted in ESCO as a particular area of expertise, making it difficult to access or analyse them from this particular angle. The Creative FLIP project seeks to change this by developing a roadmap towards more visible and also more accurate information on professional requirements in CCI.

To validate and complement our analysis, the Creative FLIP team has invited expert representatives to join the Focus group meeting and help the project team in developing recommendations for making ESCO better suited for the purposes of CCIs. The focus group was targeted at recruiters, education and training professionals, industry and professional associations, sector skills councils and networks active at European level in the three CCI sub-sectors Creative FLIP is currently researching (Design and creative services, Performance and celebration, Visual arts and crafts).

The main questions discussed were:

• The visibility / accessibility of cultural and creative occupations within the taxonomy;
• The occupational breakdown of the above mentioned CCI sub-sectors;
• The consideration of current skills needs in selected occupations.

The inputs from the discussion will be integrated into the final recommendations from the Creative FLIP project and will be shared with the European Commission, with the goal of improving the representation of the CCI occupations and skills in the next ESCO version scheduled to be launched in 2021.