New publication analyses policy implications of mismatched skills

The mismatch between skills and jobs is a complex phenomenon that affects individuals, enterprises, economies and societies. A mismatch often takes the form of a skills gap or shortage, but can also refer to cases where skills exceed job requirements.

 

Cedefop’s latest contribution to the debate on skills aims to structure the data available today on the mismatch of skills and jobs by analysing a series of important questions. The report discusses the features of the skill mismatch phenomenon and provides an overview of factors contributing to it; analyses its economic and social costs; and argues that the issue should be taken seriously by national and European policy-makers. The report also discusses how skill mismatch can be better measured in surveys; this will make it possible to provide more detailed and sound analyses in the coming years.