Problem addressed

Every year, billions of euros are invested in skills development across the EU, with €30–35 billion allocated to vocational training in France, ~€30 billion in Spain, ~€25 billion in Italy, and ~€42 billion in the UK. Additionally, for the 2021–2027 period, the European Social Fund Plus (ESF+) has allocated €40.4 billion for skills development, with total investments in skills under EU cohesion funds reaching €67.7 billion. However, despite this massive financial commitment, there remains limited evidence on the long-term impact of VET programs. Where evidence does exist, it is often fragmented or inconclusive, making it difficult to identify what works, for whom, and under which conditions.

A meta-analysis of the European Social Fund’s Youth Employment Initiative (YEI) found that while training programs showed fewer positive results than other interventions (e.g., subsidies, internships), their effectiveness increased over time. The 2023 J-PAL review of 28 randomised evaluations of TVET programs worldwide echoed this finding, noting that the long-term impact of vocational training remains unclear. This persistent gap in knowledge limits the ability of VET providers, policymakers, and funders to make data-driven decisions and optimise the return on investment of large-scale skills development efforts.

Furthermore, current evaluation frameworks focus heavily on short-term indicators, such as enrolment rates, course completion rates, and immediate job placements, as seen in Cedefop’s VET indicators. In many cases, tracking stops before or immediately after graduation, meaning we often don’t know if participants secured sustained employment, experienced salary growth, or remained in their roles. This is particularly problematic when designing interventions for vulnerable populations, where understanding long-term outcomes is essential to adjust services and increase the effectiveness of public and private investment in the skilling ecosystem. Without this visibility, policymakers are left with an incomplete picture of VET’s true impact.

Additionally, existing long-term impact measurement methods face key limitations. Randomised control trials (RCTs) and counterfactual impact evaluations, while considered the gold standard, are expensive, time-intensive, and ethically complex to implement at scale. Administrative data sources (e.g., employment and income records) can provide cost-effective insights but are often inaccessible or incomplete due to data privacy constraints and the need for cross-institutional partnerships. In contrast, scalable and systematic data collection through participant surveys offers a more agile and replicable approach, allowing providers to capture the “what,” “why,” and “how” behind program outcomes in real time.

Finally, the growing impact of automation and AI on the labour market underscores the need for VET providers to continuously adapt and respond to evolving industry demands. The 2025 World Economic Forum Future of Jobs Report found that 63% of employers identified skills gaps as a major barrier to business transformation, and 39% of current skill sets are expected to be outdated by 2030. This reality reinforces the urgency of tracking long-term VET outcomes to ensure that training remains not only effective, but also relevant and resilient in a rapidly shifting world of work.

Innovative solution

Generation’s innovative solution lies in our comprehensive, multi-year learner data tracking system - one of the most extensive in the VET space globally. At the heart of our approach is a firm belief that true impact must be measured not only by how many people we serve (breadth), but also by how deeply and sustainably our programs transform lives (depth and durability). While many training providers focus on short-term outputs like graduation or initial placement, Generation systematically tracks learner outcomes for up to five years post-programme—something few, if any, VET providers do at this scale and granularity.

Our data framework follows each learner across their full journey, from application to long-term career growth, capturing detailed, real-time insights across multiple dimensions: employment status, wage evolution, promotion rates, financial resilience, mental and physical well-being, sense of purpose, and learning experience. As shown in our Learner Data Map, data is collected across pre-programme, in-programme, and post-programme phases using a range of tools such as Qualtrics surveys, Salesforce, technical assessments, mentor evaluations, and alumni follow-ups. These diverse inputs feed into a sophisticated data infrastructure powering a suite of interactive dashboards that support both global monitoring and local program improvement.

Specifically, our Impact Dashboard synthesises key metrics across countries and professions, measuring and comparing breadth (reach), depth (programme quality and outcomes), and durability (long-term impact) over time. The Alumni Survey Dashboard, conducted annually, allows us to track outcomes such as job retention, wage progression, promotion, and personal well-being up to five years after graduation. Additional dashboards such as the Mobilisation Dashboard, Learner Support Dashboard and Placement Dashboard provide granular insight into critical transition points and success drivers that influence outcomes.

This level of durability-focused impact tracking is rare in the VET field, where most programs stop tracking outcomes at or shortly after graduation. We go further - finding answers to the questions that matter most: Did our graduates remain employed? Did their earnings increase over time? Are they thriving, not just surviving? For example, by tracking cumulative earnings and comparing them to our self-developed living wage benchmarks (used to fill in gaps in countries where public ones don’t exist), we assess long-term economic mobility grounded in real-world conditions.

Maintaining this longitudinal data tracking system is challenging: it requires multi-channel follow-ups via SMS, WhatsApp, voice calls, emails, alumni events, and even interactive voice response tools. Yet we persist, because without this insight, we risk mistaking short-term outputs for real, lasting change. By investing in data collection that costs only about 1% of the overall cost per learner, we generate critical insights that improve service delivery, inform funders, and help public-private stakeholders make smarter, evidence-based decisions.

In short, Generation’s innovation is not just in collecting data, but in how comprehensively and purposefully we go to understand the full trajectory of our learners’ lives, long after training ends. By embedding durability into the core of our impact model, we are helping shift the sector toward a more accountable, adaptive, and human-centred approach to VET.

Key results and benefits

Generation’s data-driven system has led to significant results and measurable benefits at all levels of our work, enabling us to deliver higher quality training, respond quickly to emerging challenges, and enhance the overall impact of the resources we deploy.

Our extensive suite of operational dashboards allows us to monitor and respond to programme performance in real time. These dashboards, covering areas such as recruitment, learner experience, instructor and mentor performance, placement rates, and alumni outcomes, are central to our ability to quickly diagnose problems and adjust our operations dynamically. If learner satisfaction drops, instructor performance varies, or placement outcomes shift, we detect it early and intervene immediately.

This system enables us to deeply understand who our learners are and what barriers they face, not only through demographics but also through data on financial situation, learning access, and risk indicators. As a result, we tailor our programmes to match the specific needs of different learner profiles, improving engagement, satisfaction, and outcomes. At the learner level, this means more personalised and equitable support. At the programme level, it allows us to refine staffing, curriculum, and delivery models to match demand and improve cost-effectiveness.

Our data also underpins a structured quality assurance process. From programme design to launch and evaluation, each stage includes clearly defined steps, such as learner persona development, curriculum alignment with employer needs, instructor onboarding and observation cycles, and post-programme data analysis. This ensures that every programme is launched with clear goals, real-time feedback loops, and mechanisms for continuous improvement.

We prioritise data completeness and quality through dedicated systems and protocols to maximize survey response rates (e.g., through multi-channel follow-up) and protect data integrity. This gives us confidence that the insights we derive are reliable and actionable, allowing us to benchmark across countries and make informed strategic decisions.

The benefits of this approach are multi-layered:

- For learners, we deliver a more responsive, tailored experience that adapts to their feedback, needs, and realities;

- For staff, data helps us focus our limited time and resources on the areas of greatest need and impact. In addition, we use instructor/mentor feedback and observational data to help coach and provide continuous support to staff;

- For funders, especially public sector partners, we offer a high level of transparency and accountability, linking investments to real outcomes and demonstrating responsible use of public and philanthropic funds;

- For society, we model how a training provider can embed accountability and quality at scale, raising standards and lifting performance across the entire VET sector.

This innovation was replicated and scaled-up in all 17 countries where Generation is operating: Australia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, France, Ghana, Hong Kong, India, Ireland, Italy, Kenya, Mexico, Singapore, Spain, Thailand, UK, USA. 

Potential for mainstreaming

The potential for mainstreaming Generation’s data tracking and impact measurement system is exceptionally high. Our approach is proven, cost-effective, and scalable, and we are actively building the infrastructure to support its adoption across the broader social impact and vocational training sectors.

First, the model is affordable. Our comprehensive data tracking, including pre-, in-, and post-programme indicators, as well as alumni follow-ups up to five years post-graduation, costs only about 1% of the total cost per learner. This is a modest investment with a high return in terms of quality assurance, program effectiveness, and accountability. Moreover, the majority of the tools we use (e.g., Salesforce, Qualtrics, Snowflake, Power BI, Google Analytics) are commercially available technologies already accessible to most organisations. What makes our approach unique is not the technology itself, but how we integrate, interpret, and act on the data.

Second, we are not keeping this to ourselves. In May 2025, Generation co-launched The Durability Collective, a growing community of funders, practitioners, and experts committed to measuring and advancing long-term social impact. As an inaugural member, Generation is helping to lead the way by promoting the adoption of durability measurement, an approach that captures employment, income, and well-being outcomes years after programme completion.

One of the core initiatives of The Durability Collective is the launch of the Durability Academy, a two-year capacity-building program that enables other nonprofits to integrate long-term impact measurement into their operations. The first cohort of six organisations begins in June 2025, with new cohorts launching every six months. Generation offers this programme free of charge, ensuring that cost is not a barrier to participation. By the end of the programme, participating nonprofits will have operationalised long-term data collection systems, conducted analysis, and developed actionable insights to improve their interventions.

The benefits of mainstreaming this approach are clear. If more training providers adopt durability-focused impact measurement, it will lift the overall performance of theVET sector, enabling organisations to better serve learners, maximise the value of public and private funds, and deliver sustained outcomes that matter to individuals and society. It will also contribute to a shared evidence base that can guide investment toward the highest-impact models.

By combining cost-efficiency, replicable tools, and a growing support ecosystem, Generation’s approach to long-term impact tracking is not only scalable, but it has the potential to become a new standard for quality and accountability in skills development and beyond.