Skills

Cedefop’s European skills and jobs survey (ESJS) has revealed that about 45% of EU adult workers believe that their skills can either be better developed or utilised at work. European policy that mitigates skill mismatch can thus be conducive to raising productivity and improving worker well-being.

But better matching a country’s skill supply to the needs of its economy is a dynamic process that requires policies to increase education and training responsiveness to labour market needs. Mitigating skill mismatch in an era of fast-paced digitalisation, AI and automation requires a well-developed skills anticipation infrastructure in countries and an integrative approach to skills governance.

This Cedefop’s initiative explored the potential of employers’ survey as a tool to identify skill needs and skill gaps at workplace level. The aim was to develop a tool or instrument to reliably identify future needs of skills, competences, occupations and qualifications in public and private enterprises in Europe as input for broader skill needs analyses.

The European Qualifications Framework (EQF) is a common European reference framework whose purpose is to make qualifications more readable and understandable across different countries and systems. Covering qualifications at all levels and in all sub-systems of education and training, the EQF provides a comprehensive overview over qualifications in the 41 European countries currently involved in its implementation. In close cooperation with the European Commission, Cedefop provides analytical and coordination support for the implementation of the EQF and carries out a number of comparative studies and analysis on issues related to the implementation of the framework at EU, national and sectoral level.

Cedefop looks into selected sectors of the economy to identify new and emerging skill needs. Sectoral workshops are organised regularly to discuss the current situation and the development potential of a particular sector focusing on future skill requirements. A background study, if available, workshop proceedings and a Skillsnet ‘sector flash’ are published by Cedefop after each sectoral workshop highlighting the main trends, developments and skill needs in the sector. Cedefop has looked into selected sectors of the economy to identify the latest trends and skill needs. It investigates future skill needs but mainly the emergence of new skill needs which are not (yet) covered by related policies and statistics. This information is necessary for future-oriented policies, defining and validating skills, knowledge and competences and implementing them in curricula, training regulations, and qualification standards as well as using them for vocational guidance.

Cedefop Skills Forecast provides comprehensive information on future labour market trends in Europe. The forecast acts as an early warning mechanism to help alleviating potential labour market imbalances and support different labour market actors in making informed decisions.