Job tasks in the EU: Implications for skills and labour shortages
Published: 4 September 2025
This paper provides new evidence on the types of tasks that are carried out at work in the European Union (EU). It highlights the changes in the recent structural composition of employment in the EU-27, and it analyses the data on tasks in the context of labour and skills shortages and skill utilisation. Modern employment research relies on the theory and data of job tasks – units of work within the production process that are bundled into jobs and may require different skills. The task approach is used in the related literature to study structural employment trends and the impact of new technologies on work and to make predictions on the share of the labour force exposed to automation and offshoring or that is capable of telework.
This section provides information on the data contained in this publication.
The Eurofound research paper contains the following lists of tables and graphs.
List of tables
Table 1: Distribution of responses on task content and use of digital devices
Table 2: Distribution of responses on repetitiveness and standardisation
Table 3: Distribution of responses on job autonomy
Table 4: Encoding of frequency and extent scale
Table 5: Encoding of autonomy scale
Table 6: Aggregating task indices
Table 7: Value-added, employment and productivity change in sector groups, 2011–2020
Table 8: Average task indices by sector group
Table 9: The 10 fastest-growing jobs between 2011 and 2022
Table 10: The 10 fastest-shrinking jobs between 2011 and 2022
Table 11: Task profiles of shortage occupations, by current employment in the EU-27
Table 12: Member States reporting shortages and surpluses for selected occupations in NACE Q – Human health and social work activities
Table 13: Task indices for largest occupations in NACE Q – human health and social work activities
Table 14: Share of respondents doing few cognitive or digital tasks, by education level
Table 15: Concepts, questionnaire and derived variables in the 2022 EU LFS module on job skills
Table 16: Sample size of EU LFS and ad hoc module on job skills
Table 17: Average task indices by Member State
Table 18: Task indices by NACE one-digit section, 2022, EU-27
Table 19: Grouping of sectors of economic activity and employment numbers (age 15–65), EU-27
Table 20: Ranking of occupations by task indices
List of figures
Figure 1:Task indices for occupation major groups (ISCO one-digit)
Figure 2: Variation in tasks along the income distribution
Figure 3: Task indices of women relative to men, % difference
Figure 4: Average task indices for firms of different sizes
Figure 5: Member State variation of task indices for office clerks
Figure 6: Digital and autonomy indices – predicted and observed values by Member State
Eurofound recommends citing this publication in the following way.
Eurofound (2025), Job tasks in the EU: Implications for skills and labour shortages, Eurofound research paper, Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg.
