European skills and jobs survey (ESJS)

The 1st ESJS was carried out in 2014 in all EU27 Member States and UK and surveyed about 49,000 adult employees. The survey examines drivers of skill development and the dynamic evolution of skill mismatch of adult employees in relation to changing task complexity and skills requirements of their jobs.

The 1st ESJS collected information on education and skill needs in different occupations and sectors and assessed the extent to which basic, digital and transversal skills of EU workers are valued in the job market. It also investigated the capacity of initial (e.g. work-based learning) and continuing vocational education and training to mitigate skill mismatch.

The 1st ESJS was a valuable resource informing the development of the European Commission’s 2016 ‘New Skills Agenda for Europe’.

Key findings

The 1st ESJS revealed that about 30% of European employees are mismatched in their qualifications and 45% believe that their skills can be better developed or deployed at work. Using ESJS data, it has been estimated that skill mismatch entails, on average, a 2% loss in labour productivity for the EU economy. The survey has therefore highlighted that European policy to mitigate skill mismatch can be conducive to raising the productivity of EU enterprises and improving worker well-being.

The ESJS data has also been used to provide clarity on the impact of different types of skill mismatch. It has facilitated numerous research studies, including:

• the extent to which employees’ skills are developed, via non-formal and informal learning, and used in their workplaces over time (skill utilisation);
• determinants of overeducation and EU workers’ skill mismatch transitions;
• the impact of digitalisation and automation on skill needs of EU workers;
• the incidence and consequences of the ‘digital divide’, including gaps in digital and associated skills, for EU labour markets;
• the  labour market reintegration challenges of the long-term unemployed;
• the gender wage gap in Europe;
• the determinants of social distancing risk of EU jobs due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Key outputs

The reports ‘Insights into skill shortages and skill mismatch: Learning from Cedefop’s European skills and jobs survey’ and ‘Skills, qualifications and jobs: the making of a perfect match?’ contain a comprehensive analysis of the ESJS data and derive key policy messages. A summary flyer ‘Matching skills and jobs in Europe’ provided a first glimpse into the data.

The #ESJsurvey Insights are short analytical research pieces that use the data of the Cedefop ESJS to explore issues of contemporary policy importance (e.g. digitalisation and automation, skill gaps and mismatches of EU workforce, challenges for EU Skills Agenda, etc.).

Key statistics and indicators from the ESJS are also available in the Skills Intelligence.

The microdata of Cedefop’s ESJS are publicly available and can be downloaded for free (in SPSS format), conditional on completion of an online access registration form. Interested researchers and analysts can also consult the full questionnaire of the ESJS or view a schematic representation of the ESJS structure. 

Cedefop debated the findings of the ESJS during the high-level conference ‘Maximising skills for jobs and jobs for skills’ and the policy forum ‘Vocational training for the long-term unemployed’.

A selected number of peer-reviewed academic studies based on the ESJS data has been published as special Cedefop-IZA issue Vol. 45 ‘Skill mismatch in labour markets’ at the journal Research in Labor Economics.

Survey microdata

• Access to Cedefop European skills and jobs survey microdata

To inform the policy debate and vocational education and training (VET) responsiveness to future of work trends, Cedefop is collecting a second wave of the European skills and jobs survey (ESJS). The 2nd ESJS focuses on the changing skill needs and job tasks of EU workers due to digitalisation and their adaptability to technological change via quality initial and continuing VET.

The 2nd wave of the European skills and jobs survey, carried out in 2021, aims to inform the ongoing policy debate about the impact of digitalisation on the future of jobs and the changing nature of work, as well as heightened concerns about the long-term effect of the Covid-19 crisis on EU digital skill needs and new forms of digital and distance learning. It will do so by analysing comparative information from about 45 000 adult employees from all EU Member States plus Norway and Iceland.

The 2nd ESJS will produce new statistics and facilitate timely research on:

• the exposure and recent trends in the use of digital and automating technologies by EU workers in a cross-country comparative context;
• the impact of technological change and digitalisation in EU workplaces on skills and learning needs and skill mismatches of EU workers;
• the extent to which EU workers are adapting to digitalisation and changing technologies in their jobs via continuing learning and workplace practices;
• the degree to which EU workers’ digital skill gaps are impeding their productivity and job performance;
• the type of permanent changes to the use of digital/remote work and skills following the Covid-19 crisis.

The 2nd ESJS aims to inform EU policy development and particularly the Skills Agenda for Europe and the Digital Agenda for Europe.

Cedefop has built the 2nd ESJS with the assistance of a technical expert working group comprised of leading labour market and digitalisation experts.

Cedefop will be publishing very soon the first insights from the 2nd ESJS.