Social workers skill needs. A forecasting model

Skill needs analysis of employed people has brought about large investments to realize ad hoc local and professional research as shared models at a national level are missing. In order to contribute towards standardizing models, the authors suggest utilizing administrative data as much as possible so as to render the analysis more reliable and less costly. Furthermore they provide an analytical model to measure the gap of professional competences based on the European Qualification Framework. The model was experimented on the social workers in the Piedmont region, delivering a questionnaire to a sample of about 500 professionals and managers employed in the local social services. A representation of the professions and training needs was found that highlights the divergence between the current orientation of social policies towards greater integration and local cooperation and the professional competences mainly focused on the relationship with users. The aforesaid results emphasise the necessity to realize training on the job processes jointly with organizational changes that are more coherent with current policies.

Keywords: Social Workers, competences, skill needs

Adriana Luciano, Roberto Di Monaco, Prevedere la domanda di lavoro e di formazione. Il caso delle professioni sociali in "SOCIOLOGIA DEL LAVORO " 120/2010, pp 105-138, DOI: 10.3280/SL2010-120006