Skill mismatch: more than meets the eye

Unemployment in many European Union countries is alarmingly high. Yet, surveys still find that firms have problems filling vacancies. 

Many argue that this is because young graduates and other workers are ill-prepared and the lack of the right skills is responsible for Europe’s high rates of unemployment.

However, there is evidence that factors other than skill deficits are mostly responsible for rising unemployment coexisting with unfilled job vacancies.