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Cedefop's European skills index (ESI) is a composite indicator that measures the performance of a country's skills system. For the first time it is possible to gauge the relative performance of EU Member State skills systems and, in doing so, contribute to the policy discourse on skills, employment, and growth. Countries need to equip their workforce with the appropriate skills for their labour markets; to do so, they need the right policies. The ESI helps understand which policies work, highlighting trends shaping skills systems across the EU. It allows analysis of a skills system in three different areas: skills development, skills activation and skills matching. Skills development assesses the effectiveness of compulsory and post-compulsory education. Skills activation examines the transition from education to work. Skills matching shows to what extent skills are matched with an appropriate job. The report presents findings from the 2018 ESI update and provides in-depth analysis including individual Member State performances.

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The high level of graduate unemployment, even though it is acknowledged as one of the most distinctive characteristics of the Greek labour market, it has not attracted enough attention in the academic literature. This paper utilizes micro-data from the Labour Force Survey in order to investigate how the employment situation of young (aged 35 and below) graduates varies across fields of study. The findings suggest that graduates of disciplines that have high levels of private sector employment, such as polytechnics and computer science, are in general better off in the Greek labour market. On the other hand, graduates of disciplines that are traditionally related to the needs of the public sector, such as social and humanities, face poor employment prospects. The findings of this study highlight the need for drastic reforms of the higher education system.

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This paper investigates the prevalence of and the factors explaining the under-skilling of the European workforce. Three main causes are theoretically discussed; (a) inefficient signaling, (b) skills shortages and (c) on-the-job training substitution. To test the posited hypotheses, [the authors] use the [European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training European Skills and Jobs] CEDEFOP ESJ Survey to assess whether workers' skills were lower than required at the point when they started their job. [The authors'] results are rather mixed. First, [the authors] find that under-skilling is related to some academic fields such as Health and Medicine, and Engineering. Second, the labour market position of workers is clearly linked to under-skilling, being much more likely for the long-term unemployed. Finally, after controlling for endogeneity, [the authors] find limited support for the on-the-job training substitution hypothesis.

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This paper examines the wage returns to qualifications and academic disciplines in the Greek labour market. Exploring wage responsiveness across various degree subjects in Greece is interesting, as it is characterised by high levels of graduate unemployment, which vary considerably with the field of study, and relatively low levels of wage flexibility. Using micro-data from recently available waves (2002-2003) of the Greek Labour Force Survey, the returns to academic disciplines are estimated by gender and public/private sector. Quantile regressions and cohort interactions are also used to capture the heterogeneity in wage returns across the various disciplines. The results show considerable variation in wage premiums across the fields of study, with lower returns for those that have a marginal role to play in an economy with a rising services/shrinking public sector. Educational reforms that pay closer attention to the future prospects of university disciplines are advocated.

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This paper studies the incidence of multiple job-holding in Greece and contributes to the literature by examining its determinants, its variance across different regions, and the effect of the business cycle on its occurrence. The empirical analysis highlights the importance of both pecuniary and non-pecuniary motives behind multiple job-holding, and reveals significant variations in its incidence across regions, with areas that have a large primary sector having higher multiple job-holding rates. Finally, multiple job-holding is found to be pro-cyclical, with the probability of holding a second job estimated to increase during economic expansion.

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In this paper, we investigate the effect of an academic degree on the gender wage gap, examining the cases of Greece and the UK. Using Labour Force Survey (LFS) micro-data, we first compare the returns to higher education for each gender separately, we then decompose the gender wage gap between graduates and individuals with secondary education only, and finally we analyse the effect of higher education on the (un)explained part of the wage gap. For that purpose, an extension of the Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition technique is used. We find that the unexplained part, which is often related to discrimination is lower for graduates in both countries.

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The [Coronavirus Disease 2019] COVID-19 pandemic is expected to have adverse and non-uniform impacts on future employment prospects for different job positions in the EU. We investigate two possible determinants of the variation of future employment loss due to the pandemic: the potential of a job to be carried out 'from home' and the risk of being substituted by automation. Using unique data provided by a dedicated COVID-19 impact scenario carried out for the latest [European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training] Cedefop skills forecast, we find that less remote working potential and more automation risk are related to larger expected losses in employment due to COVID-19 for different countries and occupations but not industries. These links are stronger in the short-term future for different countries but for occupations they seem to strengthen in the years after 2022, reflecting the removal of protective measures taken by EU governments as the world recovers from the pandemic. Relating expected employment loss to the intensity of performing different tasks at work, we find that such loss is expected to be less for countries and occupations in which social, intellectual and information and communication technology (ICT) skills are important for a larger proportion of jobs.

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Megatrends such as automation, greening and population ageing, along with the coronavirus pandemic, are reshaping the European labour market. Providing a long-term perspective to changes in skills and jobs, skills forecasts can make a useful contribution to decisions by policy-makers, experts, and social partners. Individuals and the professionals that support them can benefit from skills intelligence based on forecasts, feeding education, training and career decisions. In times of rapid change, scenarios are useful in shedding light on the impact of megatrends. In this short publication, Cedefop presents the key findings emerging from scenarios around [Coronavirus Disease 2019] COVID-19, automation and the European green deal. These scenarios are meant to stimulate reflection on labour market trends to 2030 and support evidence-based policy-making in [vocational education and training] VET, skills and related areas.

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With the adoption of the European Green Deal (EGD) as its growth strategy, the EU bolstered its commitment towards a more sustainable economy and society. As underlined by global leaders at the [Climate Change Conference] COP26, the green transition means investing in bettering the lives of all citizens and workers, bringing about new jobs and better opportunities and life conditions. As with all investment policy decisions, understanding future trends and possible bottlenecks is crucial to facilitating the green transition. This is not only for making policy choices prudently, but also to be able to focus on success drivers and to build on existing green capacities in the economy and society.

Becoming 'greener' will bring about such profound changes in technology, design, production, services, consumption and investment that it is impossible to achieve without sufficiently skilled people. The skills forecast scenario presented in this report looks at the implications of the European Green Deal from a vocational education and training (VET) and skills perspective. Insights into the main green transition employment trends aim to inform policy-makers, social partners, education and training providers and individuals about where up- and re-skilling should focus to ease employment and career transitions.

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This paper examines the wage returns to qualifications and academic disciplines in the Greek labour market. Exploring wage responsiveness across various degree subjects in Greece is interesting, as it is characterised by high levels of graduate unemployment, which vary considerably by field of study, and relatively low levels of wage flexibility. Using micro-data from recently available waves (2002-2003) of the Greek Labour Force Survey (LFS), the returns to academic disciplines are estimated by gender and public/private sector. Quantile regressions and cohort interactions are also used to capture the heterogeneity in wage returns across the various disciplines. The results show considerable variation in wage premiums across the fields of study, with lower returns for those that have a marginal role to play in an economy with a rising services/shrinking public sector. Educational reforms that pay closer attention to the future prospects of university disciplines are advocated.

Published abstract reprinted by permission of the copyright owner. Show less