Skills Mismatch, Automation, and Training: Evidence from 17 European Countries Using Survey Data and Online Job Ads

Labor markets face challenges due to globalization, structural transformation, and advancing technological change. This can lead to skills gaps and skills mismatch between firms’ skill demand and employees’ skill supply, which can go in two directions: workers having a skill surplus, where skill supply exceeds demand, or workers experiencing skill shortage, where firms’ skill demand is greater than the skills workers actually possess. In light of this, the EU’s Agenda for New Skills and Jobs (European Commission 2020) states that creating a more skilled workforce “is a considerable challenge given the rapidly-changing skills needed, and the persistent skills mismatches in the EU labor market.” In this report, the Commission also “established the anticipation and matching of labor market and skills needs as a top priority for the EU”