The 2022 European skills index, which assesses the performance of skills systems in Europe, has been published.
The European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training (CEDEFOP), a European Union agency, has released its third European Skills Index (ESI) in February 2022. It shows that skills development systems seem to be converging in Europe, even though the process will still take some time. However, at the same time the skills systems are challenged by the green and digital transition as well as by the Covid-19 pandemic, which will most likely further impact the skill systems in the future and might widen the gap between the countries.
The ESI measures the performance of the skills systems of the 27 EU Member States as well as Iceland, Norway, the UK and Switzerland by examining three different pillars (divided into six sub-categories and fifteen indicators in total). The skills development pillar evaluates the immediate outputs of the skills developed and obtained in compulsory education and in other training/education activities. For instance, the share of population aged 15-64 with at least an upper secondary education diploma or the participation in vocational education training (VET) are assessed. The skills activation pillar looks at the transition from education to work and at the labour market participation by analysing the number of recent graduates in employment or the activity rate of the core working population. Lastly, the skills matching pillar represents the degree of successful utilisation of skills and the extent to which skills are effectively matched in the labour market (over-qualification rate, low wage workers and qualification mismatch).
The 2022 ranking separates countries into four distinct categories: leaders, upper-middle achievers, lower-middle achievers and low-achievers. The Czech Republic has been the leading country since the first index in 2020 by achieving excellent scores in all three pillars. However, there is always room for improvement regardless of the results obtained. Indeed, for example, the Czech Republic is doing poorly in “high digital skills” where it ranked only 23rd. The other countries belonging to the leader group are Finland – which has maintained its second place with a top rank in skills development –, Estonia and Denmark, which both improved their overall scores this year. As for Switzerland, it ranked 15th, remaining at the same position as in 2020. The fact that the country is in the “low-middle achiever” category is mainly due to an insufficient performance in skills activation where it scores last in “underemployed part-timers”. Indeed, the Swiss skills system is one of the best when it comes to skills development (3rd place) and skills activation (1st place). However, combining the scores results in a mid-table rank for Switzerland.