The Covid-19 pandemic has left the entire world in a complex situation in more ways than one. A global economic downturn represented the biggest crisis in recent years, followed by a global recovery with some regions experiencing faster growth and others struggling to keep pace with leading countries in this context. Profound transformations have taken place in various areas, from demographic and population trends to climate change, shifts in business models, work organization, and hiring practices, as well as the convergence and acceleration of technologies.

Just as in previous industrial revolutions, Industry 4.0 unfolds not with a specific technology, but rather relies on a general-purpose technology such as artificial intelligence. These advances substantially modify two aspects of the productive world: a) the resources, tools, and techniques that people use in their activities; b) "work" itself, the very act of participating in the work process, for the personal growth of the worker and for community development. New risks also emerge, such as the polarization of the labor market, gender inequalities, the exclusion of those who cannot access digital training and technology, job insecurity, and so on.

In Latin America, these global transformations are framed within a social and economic structure in which a large part of the economically active population has historically faced challenges in labor market integration (open unemployment, informal employment, and labor market informality). The pandemic exacerbated these processes, given that productive structures and labor markets suffered significant fragmentation and widened social, labor, productive, technological, and skills gaps.

To this context must be added the post-Covid-19 situation, which, while showing a progressive economic recovery in Latin America, is skewed by growing inequality in the distribution of wealth and in its development models. In addition to the impact on societies of the loss of so many lives due to this disease, there is a socio-economic context in which inequality is deepening, in a region that already exhibited significant inequities.

In this context, as a working group, we have adopted a perspective that integrates the fields of education and labor into the discussion of a development agenda within a context of significant structural heterogeneity. In other words, we recognize the challenge that education and labor face in contributing to a context of social and economic development, considering the inequality related to access to technology and qualifications, and overcoming the aforementioned gaps. Our aim is to articulate the relationship between qualifications and employment by integrating a technological, labor, and productive culture with a concept of development associated with collective learning. This involves generating input by integrating union and academic perspectives for the design of public policies in this area.

In short, the link between education and work faces new challenges in thinking about development in countries like those in our region, with strong social and productive divides, based on an agenda that operates from public employment and training policies, favoring transitional schemes from informal segments to greater formalization, technological content of tasks, higher qualifications, technology transfer to workers, better working conditions, among other elements.

Within this framework, the transmission of knowledge and skills can be designed in different contexts and formats, but what is undoubtedly key is what happens in both educational and productive spaces, as individuals participate in this encounter between the educational and productive communities. Reconstructing the experience of shared and situated teaching and learning processes refers to the content circulating in this context and is a key focus of this Working Group. Likewise, it is necessary to discuss its contribution to the development of key competencies for the future of work, transferable to different occupations, coexisting with training programs for more traditional jobs with less technological content. These competencies are the foundation for adapting to technological changes and shifts in work organization.

The focus of this work will be on developing technical and vocational education and training policies from a comprehensive perspective, framed within the principles of lifelong learning. This involves analyzing the articulation with different levels of qualification systems and public-private partnerships, considering the dynamic nature of these policies, which will adopt different strategies depending on the community involved, without losing the central role of the State required for the development of public policies for training and employment. In this sense, public policies in the field of technical and vocational education, as developed by Latin American countries, are characterized by actions that intervene in the organization of training opportunities for workers. Generally, these are macro-level policies and actions, and only in a few cases are micro-level actions explicitly addressed. Micro-level actions are understood as the development of institutional management models that respond to and enable the assumptions outlined at the macro level and that allow for feedback between these models in a process of interaction between both levels.

To fulfill these proposals, we need trained, motivated professionals and change leaders who can propose ideas and community projects with social impact. We also need teachers who are sensitive to and capable of responding to the needs of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, with a vision for a better future, respecting beliefs and worldviews, and, very importantly, maintaining a balance with the environment, taking responsibility for their actions, and seeking solutions that benefit all forms of life.

Therefore, it is essential, especially in these contexts of fragmented social structures with high rates of informality among workers, to bridge the gap between education and work. We are committed to improved training that contributes to the development of communities, translating into better employment conditions, increased productivity, and a higher quality of life for the people who comprise them. For this to be possible, it is crucial to have the participation of various social actors, discuss training methodologies in technical and procedural matters, and reflect on the existing and potential connections between vocational training and the different levels and modalities of the formal education system. This training must promote equal opportunities and social inclusion, encompass all dimensions and needs of individuals, be developed under appropriate and healthy working conditions, and respond to the requirements of productive development, technological and demographic changes, and new forms of work organization.

Job qualifications refer to the set of competencies that can serve as a benchmark for an employee's performance within a work organization (Testa and Figari, 2005). They encompass the knowledge and skills, including behavioral patterns and abilities, that individuals acquire during socialization and education/training processes (Jobert et al., 1992).

Given its interrelation with the work context, that is, with the effective conditions for putting certain skills into practice, the social dimension of qualification is the theoretical-methodological starting point (Lichtenberger, 1992).

In the terms of Mertens (1997), vocational training based on a competency-based approach values ​​labor resources and capabilities, understood as something more than a set of learned knowledge, attitudes and skills.

The concept of labor competence emerged in the eighties of the last century in industrialized countries, especially in those that had been noticing greater problems in relating the educational system to the productive one, where the prevailing education-training systems no longer corresponded to the new signs of the times.

Transformations in work organization and technological innovation have brought with them new requirements for job skills. Traditional trades and mechanized jobs have become blurred by the trend toward the expansion and diversification of tasks (multi-skilling at the same level of task complexity, versatility, and cross-functional roles that integrate several traditional trades). In other words, multiple productivity goals are also reflected in the multiple tasks that workers perform.

However, the speed of change in the production system has not necessarily been matched by updates in the education system. The traditional transmission of mechanical skills for a trade is being challenged by the need to incorporate transversal knowledge that is constantly being reformulated and is more closely linked to the individual than to the job.

Historically, vocational training programs were designed around the instrumental qualifications of workers. Currently, vocational training institutions are being challenged to design curricula based on a different educational paradigm, one that not only transmits knowledge and manual skills, but also considers cultural, social, and attitudinal aspects related to people's capabilities. Cognitive abilities such as perception and problem-solving, technical and professional autonomy, flexibility in setting objectives, and the integration of different roles are some of the attributes that workers should possess as assets in their working lives.

The culture of productive modernization, based on the criteria of quality, productivity, efficiency, competitiveness, cannot be addressed from training programs focused on enabling for certain jobs, when these are susceptible to continuous changes.

On the other hand, the importance of tacit knowledge is highlighted by an extensive multidisciplinary literature consolidated in recent years that associates economic growth with the emergence of a "Knowledge Era" or "Information Era" articulated with contemporary globalization trends (Jones and Wood, 1984).

These processes have enabled not only the valuation of productive knowledge accumulated throughout workers' lives in different work environments, but also the recognition of new learning and professional development processes. Knowing in terms of knowledge, knowing as practice, and knowing-how as the accumulation and learning of lived experiences constitute the three substantive axes of the evaluation of workers' qualifications and competencies (Lichtenberger, 1992).

The recognition—and certification—of this tacit knowledge by technical and vocational education institutions presents additional challenges to the education system and the planning of training content. Integrating prior knowledge into vocational training, as well as connecting vocational training with the socio-productive environment, are essential links in an educational process that promotes labor market integration, improves employability, and ensures higher levels of productivity.

Within this debate on competencies, it is important to consider the field of vocational training, which, following Casanova (2003), is recognized as an educational, work-related, technological, and innovative activity linked to continuing education. The interaction between Vocational Training (VT) and labor relations, as well as its connection to technological development, is crucial. This is also linked to a context where vocational training has become a dimension present throughout an individual's entire work and life trajectory, requiring flexible and diverse institutional modes of entry and exit from training systems for the different stages of a worker's life (Montanaro, 2009). In this sense, a systemic and comprehensive perspective on the diverse set of learning experiences present in a community can be considered (Verdier, 1998).

Alexin (2006) follows this link between the world of work and training, raising the need for the development of continuous training systems, which can help improve the quality of labor institutions, focusing on the social and labor integration of broad socio-occupational segments, in addition to its contribution to the dynamics of development of the productive sectors through qualification of the workforce.

Authors such as Briasco (2014) introduce the concept of a National System of Professional Qualifications, a concept that allows for the articulated integration of all learning processes that have different modalities, contents, formats, etc., and facilitates a general orientation of public policies in each of the countries.

Thinking about these types of systems also requires including perspectives such as that of the ILO, which can be summarized in Recommendation 195, specifically its reference to tripartism and lifelong learning, skills, qualifications, and the concept of "employability." This Recommendation seeks to develop a framework of guidelines for the design and implementation of public policies on vocational training. It promotes the development of job skills, as well as their certification, and encourages the diversification of training opportunities in countries through "social dialogue," strengthening the role of social actors who actively participate in the management of these policies. (Pronko, 2005).