Matching skills and jobs in the European Union

Briefing 05-01-2016

Skills mismatch (the discrepancy between workers' skills and labour market needs) is not only a problem encountered by jobseekers; it also affects employees working in positions below their levels of qualification or outside their fields of study, and concerns some groups of older workers that face difficulties in keeping their skills up to date. According to studies, various solutions include adapting education and training more closely to labour market needs; providing flexible arrangements and appropriate facilities at the workplace; and enhancing labour mobility and lifelong learning. In order to better understand skills mismatch, the European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training (Cedefop) carried out in 2014 the first pan-European skills survey, the initial results of which were published in October 2015. The European Union (EU) is dealing with the issue of skills mismatch in different ways, particularly by making recommendations to national and/or local authorities responsible for labour markets or for the content of education and training; enhancing the mobility of workers, for example through deepening international cooperation; implementing Community instruments such as the job search platform EURES; and facilitating the matching of skills and jobs through EU funding.