This research examines the perceptions of employers and decision-makers on the role of a local multi-stakeholder partnership in Portugal. It is well documented in the literature that the nature and drivers of skill problems vary significantly across regions (Sharma, Oczkowski, and Hicks 2017) and therefore education and training decisions must take at regional level and actors in consideration (Froy, Giguère, and Hofer 2012; Sevinc et al. 2020). The Famalicão Made In partnership was implemented by the city council with a set of stakeholders, notably education and vocational training (VET) and higher education institutions, and firms. The goal is to promote education and training, entrepreneurship, and innovation at the local level. However, the assessment of such initiative is missing in the literature. Our research draws on data collected through semi-structured interviews with a set of employers (N=19) and local decision-makers responsible for the initiative (N=4) to explore their perception on how well this partnership responds their pervasive skill shortages. The VET system in Portugal is highly centralised notwithstanding recent initiatives to promote a greater involvement of regional stakeholders (OECD 2020). The research on the shortages faced by employers and their perception of the local initiatives is a timely debate in a country trying to reconfigure the supply of skills. Employers report persistent skill shortages and implement different solutions to tackle them, the most widespread being workplace training. There is a prevalent positive perception of the role of local partnership in fostering economic performance and tackling the region’s development by opening to international market and encouraging innovation. However, much work remains to be done to reduce skill shortages and the partnership has more recently engaged to tackle them.

This work was financed by Portuguese funds through FCT - Foundation for Science and Technology in the framework of the project no. 030016, “BRIGHET- Bringing together Higher Education, Training, and Job Quality”, Reference: PTDC/SOC-SOC/30016/2017