With RESET, CEDEFOP maps where Europe’s skills shortages truly lie, helping regions design better policies for training and competitiveness.
Skills shortages, skills recognition, and skills portability within the European Union have been among the key factors in Europe’s pursuit of competitiveness. This focus is currently reshaping labour market and the broader economic policy. To strengthen policy responses and anticipate future skill needs, the EU has placed increasing emphasis on skills intelligence, the systemic use of evidence-based insights into labour market trends and emerging skill demands. Under the Union of Skills initiative (see SwissCore article), this approach has taken shape with the establishment of the European Skills Intelligence Observatory (ESIO) at the Joint Research Centre. The Observatory aggregates and analyses data from CEDEFOP, Eurostat, the European Labour Authority, and OECD sources to provide a centralised and dynamic view of skills demand, supply, and mismatch across Europe.
Building on the work of the Observatory, the European Skills High-Level Board called for stronger regional and sectoral skills intelligence in its first conclusions in July 2026 (see SwissCore article). Responding to this call, the European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training (CEDEFOP) launched its newest tool REgional Skills EcosysTems index (RESET) (see the methodological report) to help address regional skills shortages. CEDEFOP argues that skill challenges occur unevenly across Europe: One region may have a surplus of skilled workers in a field, while another struggles with a shortage of the same skills. To strengthen competitiveness and adapt to the labour market, these regional imbalances must first be understood.
RESET seeks to fill this gap in skills intelligence. CEDEFOP emphasises that national statistics often mask regional skills imbalances. To correct that, RESET covers over 244 regions across all EU member states and uses 37 indicators across four dimensions. Skills Supply tracks skills formation as well as labour attraction. Skills Demand measures employment and productivity, and employment tasks. Skills Environment indicates the quality of education environment, business environment, and education-business cooperation. Skills Match displays labour market imbalances, activity and transition. The tool allows regions to compare their performance with national and EU27 averages, explore their own data across said dimensions, and benchmark themselves against other regions.
RESET’s overarching goal is to provide a more comprehensive view of Europe’s skills ecosystem. It is the first index focused explicitly on skills and vocational education and training (VET) at regional level. With its data, RESET aims to foster collaborations between education and training providers, employers, and public authorities, while supporting strategic investment decisions through EU regional funds. Additionally, RESET seeks to guide targeted up- and reskilling strategies aligned with twin transitions and the Union of Skills, and to inform Regional Skills Partnerships under the Pact for Skills.
RESET has the potential to become a key instrument for regional skills intelligence. While it currently includes only regions in EU Member States, its regional approach could inspire similar developments in third countries, including Switzerland. For Swiss policymakers and VET actors, RESET offers an interesting reference point on how data-driven, regionalised skills intelligence can support smart investments and policy design. By focusing on regional data, RESET could enable faster responses to evolving labour market needs, a challenge shared across Europe and Switzerland alike.
At the launch event, where SwissCore was also present, many stakeholders welcomed RESET’s potential. During the panel discussion, several persistent challenges were highlighted within Europe’s current skills ecosystem: limited collaboration between education and employers, overlapping initiatives lacking coordination, and the absence of a clear lead on VET excellence. RESET aims to help address these issues. Its ultimate success, however, will be dependent on how actively regions engage and integrate its insights into practise.