European Commission’s DG Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion organised a lunchtime presentation and discussion of the first results of Cedefop’s real-time labour market and skills intelligence, in Brussels, on 10 April.

This first data release focuses on analysis of over 30 million online job vacancies collected across seven European Union Member States in the period from July to December 2018.

Over the past 15 years, Cedefop has created a battery of methods and tools for anticipating potential skill needs, including the regular EU-wide skill supply and demand forecasts. The forecasts offer neither future facts nor fiction but, by showing trends in the longer term, they act like an alert system to help policy-makers take action now.

However, they are just one piece of information needed for informed decision-making on skills and jobs. The new Cedefop tool based on big data is another important piece which can help provide missing information about employers’ needs.

The discussion was attended by around 20 European Commission Directors and triggered interesting and fruitful exchanges. Cedefop received very positive and constructive feedback, and a lot of suggestions on how to take this initiative forward to serve wider needs of the community and various policy areas.