Skills Mismatch in Europe – Between 25 and 45 per cent of workers in Europe are either over – or under-qualified says ILO

Between 25 and 45 per cent of workers in Europe are either over – or under-qualified for their job, leading to a substantial mismatch between supply and demand in the labour market, a new ILO study says.

Covering 24 European countries, the study shows that mismatches between workers’ competences and what is required by their job are widespread – with marked differences between countries.

In nine European countries* more than 25 per cent of workers are under-qualified. In Portugal, even more than half of workers fall into this category.

In 2012, the percentage of workers that were over-qualified ranged from 10 to 20 per cent in most countries for which data are available, although there were large variations across countries. In countries like the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal and Switzerland, less than 6 per cent of workers were overqualified, but their number exceeded 20 per cent in Cyprus and Russia.

While over-qualification was increasing in most countries between 2002 and 2012, under-qualification went down in a majority of countries.

Chosen excerpts by Job Market Monitor. Read the whole story at Labour market: ILO reveals substantial skills mismatch in Europe.