Around 50% of EU employment is in jobs with low-skill requirements - a share that extends far beyond the pool of workers who are formally low-qualified. A new Cedefop research paper offers a detailed picture of who these workers are, how they fare in the labour market, and and what are the challenges they face in accessing training, developing their skills and improving their employment prospects.
A workforce at the sharp end of the triple transition
The publication distinguishes between two overlapping groups: adults with low formal qualifications (ISCED levels 0-2) and workers in jobs whose skill requirements are low, regardless of the qualifications they hold. The findings show that educational mismatch is widespread, with skill mismatches and cases of over- or underqualification frequently observed among VET graduates, although graduates in STEM, ICT, engineering and health face a markedly lower risk of ending up in low-skilled employment. jobs with low-skill requirements.
For low-qualified workers specifically, the outlook is under mounting pressure. Cedefop's Skills forecast projects that job opportunities for this group will decline sharply, with up to one-third of these jobs expected to disappear by 2035 as digitalisation, automation and structural change reshape demand. Among the broader population in jobs with low-skill requirements, nearly 40% of workers performing only basic digital tasks are concentrated here, with little exposure to higher-value activities such as digital problem-solving.
Compounding the risk, participation in education and training among this group remains low: only around one-third of all training participants come from jobs with low-skill requirements, despite this group facing greater barriers to accessing training and skills development.
Beyond competitiveness, a social protection dimension
Cedefop frames this as a question of vulnerability, not only of competitiveness. The publication situates adults with low qualifications and skill levels within the wider context of the green and digital transitions, demographic ageing and rising competitiveness pressures - forces that, taken together, increase demand for higher-level skills and leave this group exposed on several fronts at once: declining job opportunities, poorer working conditions, and higher risk of unemployment and social exclusion.
This matters because the risk is cumulative. Workers with low digital skills may struggle to keep pace with a changing labour market, while facing greater exposure to precarious contracts, lower income and, over time, labour market exclusion. Cedefop's evidence therefore speaks as much to the EU's social protection and inclusion agenda as to its skills and competitiveness agenda - reinforcing the case for reading upskilling policy alongside active labour market and social inclusion measures, rather than in isolation.
Why this matters for the policy agenda
These findings speak directly to the European Skills Agenda, the Digital Decade targets and inclusive-growth objectives. Cedefop's evidence makes clear that tackling low skills cannot be reduced to raising formal qualification levels alone: the persistence of low-skilled jobs across sectors, even among qualified workers, calls for a broader response spanning continuing skills development, job quality and social protection alike.
The paper sets out policy pointers across levels of governance, encouraging:
EU and national authorities to prioritise upskilling and reskilling in digital, technical and numerical skills
VET providers and employers to expand flexible, work-based and modular learning options and
social partners to address wages, conditions and career progression in jobs with low-skill requirements.
Targeted outreach to vulnerable groups, including older workers and women, and stronger coordination across policymakers, employers and learning providers, are identified as essential to inclusive transitions.
