Skills matching ranks low as a motive in individuals’ job choices, while job mobility favours the most skilled. Skill gaps are prevalent in some occupations and sectors and for some population groups (re)entering the job market (e.g. long-term unemployed); yet too many of EU workers’ skills are underused and unidentified.

In the fifth in a series of articles on insights from the European skills and jobs (ESJ) survey, Cedefop expert Konstantinos Pouliakas looks at the key challenges for the New skills agenda for Europe, which is set to be adopted by the European Council in June.

He notes that ‘a New skills agenda for Europe must further facilitate the transparency and validation of qualifications and skills and invest in better skills intelligence. This will ultimately foster mobility of the groups most in need.’

Cedefop’s ESJ survey was carried out in 2014 in all 28 EU Member States, collecting information on the match of the skills of about 49 000 EU workers.

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