European Skills and Jobs Survey

Over the last years, technological change has produced major transformations in the labour markets, some occupations are disappearing, others are being created, and most are being transformed. This implies that the development of skills is also changing both on the supply and on the demand side. In this process, the gaps between worker’s qualifications and the demands of the productive sector intensify.

Latin America is a region characterized by high levels of unemployment and informality with many workers in occupations for which they are overqualified. Paradoxically, employers claim difficulties in finding workers with the required skills and the evidence suggests that it is one of the regions with the largest skills gap.

The development of relevant labour market information is a very powerful tool that policy makers can use to help deal with this situation. In recent years, many countries in the region have devoted resources to identify employer’s labour demand. Surveys have been designed and implemented both at the national level (Peru: Survey of job skills 2017-2018) and at the sectoral level (Chile: National Survey of Labor Demand 2019, Costa Rica: National Survey of Work Positions 2018, Paraguay: Demand Occupational and Labor Skills required by various sectors 2019).

The European Skills and Jobs Survey (ESJS) is Cedefop’s EU-wide survey aimed at collecting information on the skill requirements, skill mismatches and initial and continuing learning of adult workers in EU labour markets. It is carried out in all EU Member States and its main findings constitute key labour information to guide the skills development and planning for educators, youth and workers.