WorldSkills explained

WorldSkills is an international charity that organises world and national championships for vocational skills^[1] and is held every two years in different parts of the world, and also hosts conferences about vocational skills.^[2] WorldSkills describes itself as the global hub for skills.^[3] The aims of the competitions include demonstrating the advantages of learning a vocational skill,^[4] and encouraging 'parity of esteem' between vocational and academic qualifications.^[5]

The city of Kazan, Russia, hosted the 45th WorldSkills Competition in 2019. At the previous event, WorldSkills Abu Dhabi 2017, there were competitions in 51 skills areas with roughly 1,300 young people taking part.^[6]

WorldSkills International, formerly known as the International Vocational Training Organization (IVTO), was founded in the 1940s with the goal of creating new employment opportunities for young people in some of the economies that were devastated by the Second World War.^[7] ^[8] ^[9] It operates in 85 countries and regions.^[10]

Overview

WorldSkills rose out of the ruins of the Second World War, which devastated the economies of Europe and created a huge skills shortage that threatened a new economic depression. Some took this challenge as an opportunity to introduce young people to the world of vocational skills. Francisco Albert Vidal was charged with creating a skills contest for the youth of Spain and Portugal. Madrid 1950 was a modest event by today’s standards but an international movement was born. The competition grew rapidly. Young participants from Germany, Great Britain, France, Morocco, and Switzerland responded to the invitation, with two contestants making an unannounced journey to Spain at their own cost. The competition ventured overseas for the first time, relocating to Brussels, Belgium. This marked the beginning of the global expansion of the WorldSkills movement. By the late 1960s, competitions had been hosted in Germany, Great Britain, Ireland, the Netherlands, and Switzerland. The next significant milestone came with Tokyo hosting the event in 1970. By the end of the 1980s, Atlanta in the USA, Sydney in Australia, Seoul in Korea, and Chinese Taipei had all welcomed what was becoming the world’s greatest international vocational skills event.^[11]

Governed by an international Board of Directors and administered by the WorldSkills Secretariat, WSI's mission is "To raise the profile and recognition of skilled people, and show how important skills are in achieving economic growth and personal success".

Among its main objectives are:

Promote the exchange between young professionals from various regions of the world.
Exchange of skills, experience and technological innovations.
Raise the understanding in governments, education and industry to the importance of skills training.
Raise the awareness of youth and those who influence youth to the opportunities available in skilled professions.

Medals are awarded during the competition: gold, silver and bronze. Medallions for Excellence are also awarded to those Competitors who achieve above-average scores in their contest areas.

Competitions

The WorldSkills Competition is currently held every two years.

Previous Competitions

Edition	Year	Host City	Country	Skills	Countries
*As International Vocational Training Organization (IVTO)*
1	1950	Madrid
2	1951	Madrid
3	1953	Madrid
4	1955	Madrid
5	1956	Madrid
6	1957	Madrid
7	1958	Brussels
8	1959	Modena
9	1960	Barcelona
10	1961	Duisburg
11	1962	Gijón
12	1963	Dublin
13	1964	Lisbon
14	1965	Glasgow
15	1966	Utrecht
16	1967	Madrid
17	1968	Bern
18	1969	Brussels
19	1970	Tokyo
20	1971	Gijón
21	1973	Munich
22	1975	Madrid
23	1977	Utrecht
24	1978	Busan
25	1979	Cork
26	1981	Atlanta
27	1983	Linz
28	1985	Osaka
29	1988	Sydney
30	1989	Birmingham
31	1991	Amsterdam
32	1993		Chinese Taipei
33	1995	Lyon
34	1997	St. Gallen
*As WorldSkills International*
35	1999	Montreal
36	2001	Seoul
37	2003	St. Gallen
38	2005	Helsinki
39	2007	Shizuoka
40	2009	Calgary		45	51
41	2011	London
42	2013	Leipzig
43	2015	São Paulo		45	55
44	2017	Abu Dhabi		51	59
45	2019	Kazan		56	63
46	2022	Shanghai	China
47	2024	Lyon	France
48	2026	Brasília

^[12] ^[13]

By country

Country	Competitions hosted
	11 (1950, 1951, 1953, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1960, 1962, 1967, 1971, 1975)
	3 (1966, 1977, 1991)
	3 (1968, 1997, 2003)
	3 (1970, 1985, 2007)
	3 (1965, 1989, 2011)
	3 (1961, 1973, 2013)
	2 (1958, 1969)
	2 (1963, 1979)
	2 (1978, 2001)
	2 (2015,2026)
	2 (1999, 2009)
	1 (1995) (Scheduled for 2024)
	1 (1959)
	1 (1964)
	1 (1981)
	1 (1983)
	1 (1988)
	1 (1993)
	1 (2005)
	1 (2017)
	1 (2019)
	0 (Scheduled for 2022)

WorldSkills Shanghai 2022

The 46th WorldSkills event will be held in Shanghai, as confirmed by the WorldSkills General Assembly in October 2017. The event was originally scheduled for September 2021, but due to the COVID-19 global pandemic, it was decided to shift the event to 2022.^[14] The actual rescheduled date is not yet finalized but is expected to be held from 12 to 17 of October 2022, The slogan for WorldSkills Shanghai 2022 is “New Youth, New Skills, New Dream”.

Some WorldSkills Competition events took place in Cleveland, Ohio in October 2022.^[15] ^[16] while others took place in Salzburg, Austria and Finland.^[17] ^[18] ^[19] WorldSkills Competition 2022 Special Edition was the official replacement for WorldSkills Shanghai 2022, cancelled in May due to the pandemic.

Future Competitions

WorldSkills Lyon 2024

Lyon, France was selected as the host city for the 47th WorldSkills competition.^[20] Originally scheduled for 12–17 September 2023, it has been moved back one year due to the decision to postpone by one year the 46th Worldskills event originally scheduled to be held in 2021 due to the COVID-19 global pandemic.^[21] This will be the second time that France has hosted the WorldSkills competition, the first time being in 1995.