As an essential part of skills formation systems, skills intelligence but also the methods used to generate it must reflect the impacts of megatrends. Traditional skills intelligence on its own is no longer sufficient to map labour market and skills trends comprehensively and reliably. We need next generation skills intelligence to understand and interpret labour market trends and emerging skills needs. Cedefop has invested in piloting and rolling out real-time labour market intelligence, expanded its skills foresight capacity, and developed innovative pan-European surveys. Scenario building has been introduced in the skills forecast and the European Skills Index has been analysed to identify trends in European Skills systems over time. A skills taxonomy-based approach to identify green and digital skills via Cedefop SkillsOVATE is underway to better understand the skills impact of the twin transition.
Accelerating megatrends and the growing importance of skills ecosystems in matching skills to jobs expand, enrich and elevate opportunities for using skills intelligence at lower governance levels. Mainstreaming methodological skills intelligence expertise would help more countries, regions and sectors develop the skills intelligence they need to make and shape the green and digital transition and to anticipate and react to other megatrends. Cedefop cannot systematically engage with all countries but its methodological expertise and the lessons learned from interacting with stakeholders on the ground can be leveraged to strengthen skills intelligence and skills development and matching capacities across Europe.
Key Cedefop publications
- Cedefop; European Commission; ETF et al. (2021). Perspectives on policy and practice: tapping into the potential of big data for skills policy.
- Cedefop (2021) Digital, greener and more resilient: insights from Cedefop’s European skills forecast.
- Cedefop (2022). Strengthening skills systems in times of transition: insights from Cedefop’s 2022 European skills index. Policy brief.
- Cedefop (2021). Understanding technological change and skill needs: skills surveys and skills forecasting. Cedefop practical guide 1.
- Cedefop (2021). Understanding technological change and skill needs: big data and artificial methods: Cedefop practical guide 2.
- Cedefop (2021). Understanding technological change and skill needs: big data and artificial methods: Cedefop practical guide 3.
- Napierala, J. (2023). The feasibility of using online job advertisements in analysing unmet EU demand. Cedefop working paper, No 18.
- Napierala, J.; Kvetan, V. and Branka, J. (2022). Assessing the representativeness of online job advertisements. Cedefop working paper, No 17.