Untangling labour shortages in Europe: Unmet skill demand or bad jobs?

Based on unique data from the second wave of the Cedefop European skills and jobs survey (ESJS2), this study examines the drivers of labour shortages in European labour markets. Detailed information on foundation, digital, manual, and interpersonal job-skill requirements in European labour markets, collected through the ESJS2 at job rather than occupation level, is first exploited to construct robust and comprehensive indices of the required skills profile of European jobs. These measures are subsequently used to investigate to what extent occupational labour shortages are underpinned by high(er) skill demands as opposed to other drivers (including labour market immobility, worker skills gaps, unattractive working conditions).