European Training and Learning Survey

The fieldwork of the ETLS was carried out in 2024.

The ETLS aims to provide robust information from representative samples of adult workers from the 27 EU Member States plus Iceland and Norway. These samples contain information on a set of core variables, including:

• sociodemographic worker characteristics;
• job characteristics and firmographics;
• progress in skills development (incremental ability to do one’s job well);
• frequency of participation in learning activities, both organised by the employer and personal learning activities;
• individual attitudes towards learning for work;
• contextual characteristics, workplace features affecting skills development;
• type and quality of relationships established at work;
• labour market outcomes (wages, job satisfaction).

The ETLS is a survey instrument aiming to enrich our understanding of learning for work among EU workers. This is of significant policy interest, as it can inform policy on additional ways to increase participation in learning activities, and to attain targets on participation in adult learning.

The ETLS can also inform the policy debate on the impact of new digital technologies and technological change on the future of work and skills. One of the consequences of human-centric technological development is the empowerment of workers. This empowerment implies that workers are now in a position to assume broader responsibilities and to operate with increasing autonomy. Worker empowerment must be accompanied by learning. Empowerment requires a specific type of learning, one that support employees in both doing things right and doing the right thing. The ETLS focuses on the personal and contextual characteristics that support this type of learning.

Cedefop developed the ETLS instrument primarily with in-house expertise and in cooperation with leading skills experts.