Overview of Cedefop main activities on Skill mismatch: events, news, publications

Cedefop supports the European Commission and Member States by investigating skill mismatch in Europe and appropriate policies that can prevent them. The project explores how different labour market trends shape skill needs, how learning contributes to skill supply and to what extent educational and training systems, the labour market and other institutional factors interact in fostering or mitigating skill mismatch.

About four in ten enterprises in EU regions and sectors claim that they cannot meet their needs for labour and skills despite high unemployment. At the same time about 30% of European employees are either over- or under-qualified, with over-qualification increasing over the past decade and during the economic crisis. Cedefop’s research shows that the goal of reducing skills mismatches requires reforms to increase the responsiveness of education and training systems to labour market needs. But ultimately it is dependent on the provision of better workplaces and good quality jobs.