The new Cedefop database ‘Matching skills: Inspiring policies for anticipating and matching skill needs’ presents education and training and labour market policy instruments in EU Member States that aim to match individuals’ skills (jobseekers and students) to current and anticipated labour market needs.

These policy instruments use an evidence-based approach to inform and shape upskilling or other skills matching policies for the current and future world of work.

The tool, which is designed for policy-makers working on education and training, skills, (active) labour market policy and related policy areas, showcases innovative and recently implemented policy instruments aimed at tackling unemployment or making vocational education and training (VET) more responsive to future labour market developments, using information on labour market trends and anticipated skill needs.

It helps understand, in a comparative manner, the approaches used and the rationales behind them; it provides information on practical organisation, funding and stakeholder involvement; it also provides insight on how innovative and successful a policy instrument is and whether it could be successfully applied elsewhere.

The database structures and displays information in a way that can be readily accessed and interpreted. It includes:

  • 126 current skills matching policies – to aid jobseekers’ return to work and job mobility, and provide better guidance for school-to-work transitions;
  • 31 anticipating future skills policies – to better prepare the workforce for the future of work;
  • Comprehensive overviews for all EU Member States – to learn and understand what EU countries are doing to promote better skills matching;
  • A map interface to quickly locate policy instruments in particular countries;
  • A user feedback section and a template to report on additional skills matching policies in each Member State.

We want to interact with you!

Send us feedback and let us know how this information tool can inspire you and inform the design or reform of forward-looking skills matching policies and practices in your country or region. Use the template so that the tool can grow and become a rich platform for policy learning. 

Stay tuned for more content on skills anticipation instruments in EU countries and VET/lifelong learning policies to prepare workers for the digitalisation challenges and the future of work.