Achieving an appropriate match between skills and tasks, as well as creating opportunities for developing skills and competences are important dimensions of quality of work and employment. Skills are the passport to employment; the better skilled an individual, the more employable they are. Employability is a combination of factors, such as job-specific skills and transversal skills, which enable individuals to enter into employment, stay in employment and advance in their careers.
Eurofound provides extensive knowledge about skills in the European workplace, including information on training, work organisation and job design, job quality and skills mismatches. Skills and training needs are also featuring in research on the digital age and platform work.
Data collection on skills and training
Based on analysis of the European Working Conditions Survey (EWCS) data, Eurofound has established a set of job quality indices, representing different dimensions of job quality, one of which is skills and discretion. This index measures the skills required in the job. It also studies the opportunities workers may have to understand and influence the way work is performed, as well as the possibilities available to develop their job-related skills through training. The EWCS data confirm that access to training provided by the employer has been increasing over time.
The European Working Conditions Telephone Survey (EWCTS) 2021 examines job prospects and workers’ opportunities to use their knowledge and skills in their work, as well as opportunities to develop skills through training and for career advancement. It also looks at access to and demand for training during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The European Company Survey 2019 (ECS 2019), jointly carried out by Eurofound and sister agency Cedefop, collected information on workplace practices with regard to work organisation, human resource management, skills use and skills strategies, direct employee participation and social dialogue in European establishments. The overview report of the ECS 2019 examines skill requirements and skill match, as well as workplace practices on training and learning. Further analysis of the ECS 2019 data examined the links between management strategies and workplace practices aimed at optimising skills use and business performance.
The European Quality of Life Survey (EQLS) collects data on educational attainment of respondents, as well as how they rank the quality of education in their country in terms of facilities, expertise of educators and curriculum. Analysis of this data provides evidence on access to education and training systems across the EU and users’ assessment of the quality of those services over time. The EQLS also looks at digitalisation in health and social care services, the gaps in skills in using e-healthcare, as well as the inequalities in access to services.
The European Jobs Monitor (EJM) also analyses shifts in the employment structure in the EU, examining where jobs are being created and lost. It assesses these shifts using various proxies of job quality, such as wages and skill levels. With this data, Eurofound has also collaborated with Cedefop in its skills forecast up to 2030 to identify how wage structure and job tasks are changing. Analysis also explores the impact of computerisation on the task profile, and hence skills needs, of jobs.
Measures to support skills development
In response to the COVID-19 crisis, Eurofound’s data collection has expanded to include the EU PolicyWatch database of national-level policy responses. The database provides information on initiatives introduced to cushion the effects of the pandemic including measures to support businesses to get back to normal by enhancing training and employability. It incorporates the database of support instruments that are available to companies that are restructuring and the staff affected. It includes measures on skills and training development.
Eurofound’s European Restructuring Monitor (ERM) database on restructuring related legislation provides information on regulations linked to the obligation on employees to undertake training, as well as on employers to provide skill development plans or training.
Digitalisation and skills in the labour market
The digital shift, amplified by COVID-19, is having an impact on labour markets and the employment distribution between occupations, as well as on the content and quality of work and its organisation. Digitalisation in the workplace is having an impact on skills needs and training requirements. Eurofound’s research on the digital age and platform work looks at opportunities and challenges of technological change for the future of work and employment, including training and skills development. Eurofound has developed a platform economy repository bringing together information on the subject, including a dossier on skills use and skills development in platform work.
Research on game-changing technologies also looks at the how these can transform production processes and employment, including the implications for skills use and skills development. Additionally, a pilot project on the future of manufacturing, mandated to Eurofound by the European Commission, also explored the challenges facing national and company apprenticeship systems.
Work organisation and innovation
Research has examined innovations in work organisation and explored the links between these innovations and the potential benefits for employees and employers. Innovative work organisation systems that increase employee autonomy and motivate employees to fully use and further develop their skills are more likely to result in beneficial outcomes for employees and employers. Moreover, as these work organisation systems are aimed at unlocking employee potential, they are more likely to generate ideas for innovations in products and processes.
Youth and NEETs
Eurofound has carried out extensive research over the years on the social and employment situation of young people in Europe, particularly those not in employment, education or training (NEETs), and analysed measures to increase their opportunities for employment, apprenticeship, traineeship and continued education, such as the EU Youth Guarantee.
Lifelong learning
With an increased emphasis on lifelong learning in employment policy, the Skills Agenda aims to help people ‘build their skills throughout life in an environment where lifelong learning is the norm’. This is particularly important in the context of population ageing and the need to keep older workers economically active and in work longer. Eurofound’s EQLS 2016 examines the quality of European society, looking at for instance participation and community engagement, as well as involvement in training and lifelong learning to encourage active citizenship. Based on EWCS 2015 data, research on working conditions of workers of difference ages explores issues around access to training for older workers. Research has also looked into the role of governments and the social partners in keeping older workings in the labour market, as well as national policies that help to achieve sustainable work.
