**Data for each module come from a variety of sources.** The program pools together existing information in the United States’ labor market information system<sup>4</sup> and collects additional data through 7 specific questionnaires: education and training (6 items), knowledge (32 items), work activities (41 items), work context (57 items), work styles (14 items), abilities (52 items), and skills (35 items). The questionnaires use a set of scales to measure the requirements. Many of them use an importance scale, which goes from 1 ( _not important_ ) to 5 ( _extremely important_ ), and a level scale, which goes from 1 ( _basic_ ) to 7 ( _sophisticated_ ). To avoid burdening respondents, O*NET mostly uses occupational analysts for questions containing more abstract concepts (i.e., abilities and skills) and occupational experts for occupations for which workers are difficult to find (Fleisher and Tsacoumis 2012; Rivkin, Lewis, and Cox 2001). However, a study comparing skills ratings across a large sample of occupations found minimal differences between ratings provided by job incumbents and those provided by occupational analysts.<sup>5</sup>

**The O*NET content model is attractive for replication for several reasons.** First, the O*NET content model describes occupations at a level of detail not found elsewhere, with the information included ranging from tasks and activities performed to tools and technologies to skills and abilities required to perform a job well. Second, the model has a modular format that allows for replication of individual modules of interest (e.g. on tasks or skills) with the potential to build sophistication as capacity develops. Third, O*NET is a globally recognized database widely used by academics, policy makers, and end users. Finally, O*NET questionnaires are publicly available.

# _PIAAC and STEP_

**The SDS also draws on two other skill measurement efforts the Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) and the Survey Toward Employability and Productivity (STEP).**<sup>6</sup> The OECD carries out PIAAC in more than 40 high-income countries. The World Bank carries out STEP in selected low- and middle-income countries. Both household surveys have a module capturing the frequency of a set of skills used at work to assess the skills the workforce needs to sustain a productive working life. The surveys also assess key information-processing skills (literacy, numeracy, and problem solving).<sup>7</sup> Neither PIAAC nor STEP have been adopted by countries for regular implementation and, although these surveys collect job titles to standardize them into the International Standard Classification of Occupations (ISCO), neither has been used to inform occupational and skills profiling at a disaggregated level. For instance, the STEP database is publicly available at the sub-major group (2-digit ISCO). Therefore,

> 4 For example, the components on Technology Skills and Tools come from big data analyses, and the Occupational Profiles and Labor Market Information data come from data collected by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

> 5 However, analysts were preferred for practical considerations (i.e., time, costs, and convenience ) (Tsacoumis and Van Iddekinge 2006) .

> 6 Two previous international initiatives aimed at measuring adult skills in 22 OECD countries: the International Adult Literacy Survey, carried out between 1994 and 1998, and the Adult Literacy and Life Skills Survey (ALL), carried out between 2003 and 2008. Based on these surveys, UNESCO began the Literacy Assessment and Monitoring Programme in 2003, which aimed to measure the literacy and numeracy skills of youth and adults in developing countries (OECD 2016a). PIAAC and STEP modules are based on the Skills, Technology, and Management Practices survey, which was developed for the U.S. based on the Current Population Survey and the National Adult Literacy Survey.

> 7 STEP has two surveys: a housheold survey and a firm survey. The household survey includes a direct reading assessment and an indirect (self-reported) assessment of other competencies and job-relevant and behavioral skills (Pierre et al. 2014). The firm module asks about the skills gap that employers perceive at an aggregated occupational level (management, professionals, and technicians and associate professionals).

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