In spring 2014, a total of 48 676 adult employees in the 28 EU Member States were asked about their qualifications and the extent to which their skills were a good match with those required by their jobs.

The survey examines, among others:

• drivers of skill development and mismatches in relation to changing technologies affecting people’s jobs as well as other socioeconomic characteristics;
• the path of an individual’s skill mismatch transition between his/her previous and current jobs;
• changing education and skill needs in different occupations and sectors and the extent to which basic, digital and transferable skills of individuals are valued in the job market;
• the capacity of initial (e.g. work-based learning) and continuing vocational training to mitigate skill mismatch.

Academic researchers, students, policy-makers, consultants, journalists can all now download the ESJ survey data after filling in a preregistration form. They will then receive an automatic link to download the micro dataset (in SPSS or Microsoft excel format). 

The survey data have already been a significant information source of the European Commission’s New skills agenda for Europe, and are used and cited by major international organisations (including the OECD, the World Bank, the European Institute for Gender Equality) and universities worldwide (Maastricht University, Economic and Social Research Institute, KU Leuven, Warsaw School of Economics, University of West Australia, Swansea University, Aberdeen University etc.). Various research studies undertaken using the Cedefop ESJ survey will be published as a special issue of the scientific IZA journal Research in Labor Economics in 2017.

The report ‘Skills, qualifications and jobs: the making of a perfect match?’ contains a full analysis of the ESJ data and derives key policy messages. Key statistics and data from the ESJS are also available in the Skills Panorama website.

Download short analytical pieces – the #ESJsurvey insights based on analysis of the survey and Cedefop’s wider research on skill mismatch.

Interested analysts can download the full questionnaire of the ESJ survey or view a schematic representation of its structure.

For further information on the project, contact Cedefop expert Konstantinos Pouliakas [email protected]

Skill gaps and surpluses at time of recruitment, EU adult employees, 2014, EU28

Source: Cedefop European skills and jobs survey.

Skills mismatch transitions between jobs, EU adult employees, 2014, EU28

Source: Cedefop European skills and jobs survey.