Leiden, 9 April 2026 – Project SkiLMeeT is accepting papers for its final conference, “Workers, Firms, and Skills in the Digital and Green Transition”, to be held on 22–23 October 2026 in Brussels.

The keynote lectures will be given by Ines Helm (JKU Linz) and Oskar Nordström Skans (Uppsala University).

The deadline for submitting papers or extended abstracts is 10 May 2026 (by midnight CET). We welcome contributions from researchers across all social science disciplines, particularly papers addressing:

• Effects of the digital and/or the green transition on workers, firms and skills
• Measurement and analysis of skill demand and supply
• Skill gaps and skill shortages arising through the digital and/or the green transition
• Labour-market policies to reduce skill gaps and shortages
• Education and training measures to mitigate skill gaps and shortages

Please use the ConfTool system, https://www.skilmeet.eu/conftool/, to register and to submit abstracts or papers.

You can find the detailed Call for Papers here.

 

Leiden, Netherlands, 26 February 2026 – Digital transformation has reduced the share of routine work across advanced economies over the past decade, a new SkiLMeeT report shows. Most changes are occurring within existing jobs through shifts in the tasks workers perform, rather than through large movements of workers between occupations.

The report, “Skills and Tasks,” by SkiLMeeT researchers Piotr Lewandowski and Karol Madoń of the Institute for Structural Research (IBS), analyses worker-level data from two waves of the OECD’s Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) covering 2011–2023. Combining direct measures of adult skills with a task-based indicator of Routine Task Intensity (RTI), the study examines how job tasks and skill use have evolved across 16 high-income countries.

The analysis finds a broad decline in routine task intensity, reflecting a shift away from repetitive and codifiable activities toward tasks requiring greater judgement and problem-solving. However, the transition has not occurred uniformly, with countries and demographic groups experiencing the shift at different speeds.

The report also shows that women and younger workers continue to perform more routine-intensive tasks on average, although the gender gap has narrowed over time as tasks have gradually been redistributed within occupations.

The findings suggest that digital technologies are reshaping labour demand primarily by altering the task composition of existing jobs rather than eliminating occupations altogether.

“Overall, the findings imply that digital transformation will not eliminate routine work but will continue to reconfigure it. Policy responses should therefore prioritise strengthening foundational and transversal skills, supporting lifelong learning, and ensuring that workers can complement rather than be displaced by new technologies,” the report said.

Piotr Lewandowski and Karol Madoń (2025) Report skills and tasks, SkiLMeeT Deliverable D3.1

The report is available here

Leiden, Netherlands, 5 February 2026 – More than 30 researchers, policymakers, and industry representatives participated in a webinar organised by Vassil Kirov (Bulgarian Academy of Sciences) and Mina Kostova (Bulgarian Academy of Sciences) as part of the SkiLMeeT project. The event focused on the challenges posed by the green and digital transitions for skills demand.

The second stakeholder webinar that was also moderated by Vassil Kirov, “The Future of Skills in the Context of the Twin Transition – Academic and Practitioner Insights,”  took place on February 2, 2026, and opened with a presentation by SkiLMeeT researcher Ronald Bachmann (RWI), who drew on the project’s recent policy brief explaining why job-to-job transitions matter for Europe’s labour market. He showed that occupational mobility remains relatively low at a time when such transitions are needed most to help workers adapt to the green and digital shift. While job-to-job mobility can support reallocation of labour from declining to growing occupations, he warned that mobility also carries risks, especially for women, older employees, and low-skilled workers. Bachmann added that voluntary occupational changes tend to improve wage prospects, while involuntary occupational moves are far more often linked to wage declines. He argued that policy needs to expand training opportunities and make them genuinely useful for workers, while improving information on job tasks, qualification requirements, pay and working conditions, including strong implementation of the EU Pay Directive. See the presentation here. 

Monia El Faziki (SEA Europe) presented findings from the LeaderSHIP project on skills needs and gaps in the European shipbuilding and maritime technology ecosystem – one of Europe’s strategic industries, spanning hundreds of shipyards and a large supply chain. She outlined how the Shipbuilding Pact for Skills aims to attract, train, and retain talent, including ambitions to upskill and reskill 200,000 workers and attract 230,000 new talent, supported by €1bn in public-private investment. El Faziki highlighted three key forces reshaping skills demand: digitalisation, decarbonisation and an ageing workforce.  Alongside urgent shortages in core technical roles, the LeaderSHIP training plan identifies new skill needs driven by green and digital change and includes 35 pilot training courses. See the presentation here.

Both presentations sparked discussion on the demand for skills, training challenges, and employment prospects for young workers. 

 

The SkiLMeeT project will hold a webinar, “The Future of Skills in the Context of the Twin Transition – Academic and Practitioner Insights,” which brings together research and social partner perspectives on how skill supply and demand are changing in Europe during the digital and green transformations.

Date: Tuesday, 3 February 2026
Time: 14:00–15:30 CET
Platform: Zoom

Agenda highlights:
SkiLMeeT researcher Ronald Bachmann (RWI – Leibniz Institute for Economic Research) will present the new SkiLMeeT policy brief, “The Role of Job-to-Job Transitions, Wages and Quality of Work in Structural Change,” on how occupational mobility can support labour-market adjustment and what policies can make such transitions easier and fairer.

Monia El Faziki (Director EU Social and Public Affairs at SEA Europe) will then share findings from the LeaderSHIP project on skills needs and gaps in the European maritime sector.

The session will conclude with a moderated discussion on skill demand from academic and social partner viewpoints, led by Prof. Vassil Kirov (Bulgarian Academy of Sciences).

See the agenda here

Register here

Leiden, Netherlands, 21 January 2026 – A new SkiLMeeT paper, Occupational mobility, wages and worker well-being is out, exploring how workers move between jobs and occupations across European labour markets and what these transitions mean for people’s careers.

The study uses EU-SILC microdata for 18 European countries and focuses on the period 2011–2018. Rather than treating mobility as uniformly positive, the paper examines when and for whom changing jobs or occupations is associated with better outcomes – and when it may come with higher risks.

The results show that occupational mobility in Europe is substantial and varies strongly across countries. On average, around 6% of workers change jobs each year, while about 3% switch occupations. Occupational mobility also differs strongly across socioeconomic groups, with women, low-skilled workers, and older workers being much less mobile than men, medium-skilled workers, and younger workers, respectively. These differences in occupational mobility between socio-economic groups are mirrored by differences in wage mobility.

Ronald Bachmann, Laetitia Hauret, Ludivine Martin, and Thu Uyen Nguyen-Thi (2025). Occupational mobility, wages and worker well-being, SkiLMeeT Deliverable D5.1

Read the paper here.

Leiden, Netherlands, 20 December 2025 – Job-to-job moves across occupations can help Europe’s economy respond more effectively to skills shortages by directing workers to where they are most needed, a SkiLMeeT policy brief says, calling for targeted labour market policies to make such transitions easier and fairer.

The brief “The Role of Job-to-Job Transitions, Wages and Quality of Work in Structural Change” argues that encouraging workers to move into new occupations can help reduce mismatches between labour supply and demand, a growing challenge as Europe’s economy adapts to digitalisation and the green transition.

“Europe already has substantial job-to-job mobility,” said Ronald Bachmann, co-author of the policy brief and researcher at RWI. “The task for policymakers is to steer these moves towards occupations with good prospects, rather than leaving them to chance.”

Drawing on analysis of European labour markets between 2011 and 2018, the brief shows that occupational mobility is significant but uneven across the continent. On average, around 6% of workers change jobs each year, while about 3% switch occupations.

There are, however, significant differences between countries. In Sweden, job changes are relatively common, while in Italy workers move less often, reflecting more limited opportunities and higher barriers to changing roles. Women, older workers and low-skilled workers are also less likely to change occupations and are more exposed to involuntary moves, particularly during periods of economic turbulence.

Occupational mobility is strongly linked to pay outcomes. Workers who change occupations experience larger wage movements than those who remain in the same role. Voluntary moves are usually associated with pay gains, while involuntary changes more often result in losses, particularly for women and low-skilled workers.

“Policy should minimise forced moves into poor-quality jobs and maximise chosen moves into better ones,” said Ludivine Martin, co-author of the study and researcher at LISER. “That means acting on both wages and working conditions in shortage occupations.”

The authors emphasise that job mobility alone will not ease skills shortages if destination jobs remain unattractive. Evidence shows that workers are less likely to move into roles with poor conditions, while occupations offering better job security, work–life balance and overall satisfaction are more successful at attracting and retaining staff.

To make job-to-job mobility an effective adjustment tool, the authors say governments need to lower barriers to moving and reduce the risks involved. That includes improving access to clear information on job tasks, skills requirements, pay and working conditions, helping workers identify realistic pathways into occupations with stronger prospects. Proper implementation of the EU Pay Directive would also support mobility by increasing pay transparency and steering workers towards employers with fairer wage structures. Training provided by firms and public bodies is another key factor, particularly for older and low-skilled workers, enabling them to move into higher-quality jobs rather than being forced into weaker ones.

“If mobility is to support the green and digital transitions, workers must see that moving pays off – in skills, security and prospects, not just in rhetoric,” argues Uyen Nguyen-Thi, co-author of the study and researcher at LISER.

The brief also points to the role of cross-border labour mobility. While EU citizens have the right to work freely in other member states, skills shortages persist partly because qualifications are not consistently recognised across borders. Strengthening the recognition of qualifications and putting greater emphasis on skills-based matching – rather than relying on formal certificates alone – could help reduce regional imbalances and ease shortages in the regions and occupations most affected.

See the brief here

Bachmann, Ronald, Laetitia Hauret, Ludivine Martin, and Uyen Nguyen-Thi (2025). The Role of Job-to-Job Transitions, Wages and Quality of Work in Structural Change. SkiLMeeT Policy Brief No.1. Grant Agreement No. 101132581.

Leiden, Netherlands, 9 December 2025 – As digitalisation accelerates across Europe’s workplaces, vocational education systems are racing to adapt. A new SkiLMeeT research paper finds that training curricula for non-university professions have been steadily updated over the past decades to include more digital and social skills and fewer routine tasks. The changes boost job prospects for younger workers but raise the risk of skill obsolescence and wage decline for older employees.

In Expertise at Work: New Technologies, New Skills, and Worker Impacts, researchers analyse how Germany’s vocational training curricula evolved between 1971 and 2021 in response to major technological shifts, combining this with detailed employer – employee data. The study focuses on workers in middle- and lower-paid occupations, who make up around 70% of the German workforce and are in the forefront of digitalisation and automation.

The paper finds that training curricula in these occupations have increasingly emphasised software use, digital tools and interpersonal and teamwork skills, while the repetitive, routine activities have been scaled back.

These changes translate into tangible labour market gains for new cohorts. Young workers who complete training after curricula are modernised earn on average about 3.3% higher wages in the first years of their careers, with gains rising to around 5.5% in occupations where updates are closely linked to new technologies. They are also more likely to remain in the occupation they trained for and gradually move into somewhat better-paying firms.

 “At the point where new technologies enter the workplace, they also change what people need to learn,” said Ulrich Zierahn-Weilage of Utrecht University and ZEW. “Our findings show that updating the content of vocational training helps new labour market entrants benefit from technological change rather than be displaced by it.”

However, the study also highlights a growing divide within occupations. Older workers who trained under previous curricula and stay in the same jobs increasingly compete with “new-skilled” colleagues whose qualifications are better aligned with current employers’ needs. The report finds that the oldest workers, aged 55 to 65, can see their wages fall by up to around 10% in the years after a curriculum update, while younger incumbents often respond by changing job or sector.

“We see a tale of two generations sharing the same occupation,” Zierahn-Weilage adds. “For younger workers, updated training opens doors; for older workers, the same technological shifts can close them unless they get real opportunities to refresh their skills.”

The authors conclude that curriculum reform is a powerful tool for making labour markets more resilient, but that it must be complemented by inclusive lifelong learning policies.

Anna Salomons, Cäcilia vom Baur, and Ulrich Zierahn-Weilage (2025). Expertise at Work: New Technologies, New Skills, and Worker Impacts, SkiLMeeT Deliverable 2.6.

Read the paper here.

Leiden, Netherlands, 8 December 2025 – SkiLMeeT researchers from TNO, Roy Peijen, Joost van Genabeek and Diane Confurius presented findings from the SkiLMeeT study Skill Mismatches and Worker Reallocation During the Green Energy Transition: Scenarios from Fossil Fuel-Intensive Regions in the Netherlands to the ESCO Support Team on 5 December 2025.

The researchers outlined how ESCO taxonomy and other similarity-based methodologies were used to measure skill distances between occupations. The study focuses on the IJmond steel region and explores potential worker transitions in the event of large-scale industrial closures during the green transition.

ESCO invited the briefing to better understand how ESCO is used in applied research. During the discussion, ESCO clarified that essential skills are defined and updated based on vacancy data and expert input, and that ESCO was originally designed for labour-market matching, while increasingly supporting research use cases. ESCO also highlighted upcoming sector clustering on the ESCO portal, and the planned publication of an ESCO–NACE mapping.

Leiden, Netherlands, 4 December 2025 – SkiLMeeT researchers showcased a new interactive European Labour Market Dashboard, developed within the project to analyse labour-market dynamics across countries, occupations and sectors, during an online research webinar.

During the 3 December session, which brought together 33 researchers, Xavier Pinho and Sadegh Shahmohammadi from the Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research (TNO) demonstrated the dashboard’s functionalities. The tool integrates LinkedIn data supplied by Revelio Labs with the European Skills, Competences, Qualifications and Occupations (ESCO) framework.

Pinho guided participants through the dashboard’s five modules. The ESCO Ontology Exploration section allows users to navigate the ESCO framework, visualise skills linked to occupations and compare overlaps between job profiles. The Job Transitions Analysis module highlights common career pathways using Revelio Labs data and provides insight into occupational mobility. An occupation comparison module enables users to compare the skill sets of the same occupation across two countries or between a country and the ESCO definition, using metrics such as skill set distance. The Geographical Distribution of Jobs section shows where specific occupations are concentrated, their share of the regional workforce and associated skills trends over time. The final module, Skills Analysis, examines local labour-market demand by focusing on the prevalence and use of specific skills. It helps users identify occupations that require specific competencies and explore potential job matches based on their individual skill profiles.

The database draws on large-scale labour market data. The underlying Revelio Labs database covering more than one billion job profiles, 20 million companies and over 3,000 distinct skills – the current version of the dashboard focuses on more than 26 million unique job profiles in six countries: the Netherlands, Italy, Poland, Bulgaria, Germany and Luxembourg. For now, it reflects the supply side of the labour market; in the next phase, the TNO team plans to add vacancy data to also capture skills demand.

If you want to access the Dashboard, contact Sadegh Shahmohammadi at: sadegh.shahmohammadi@tno.nl

 

 

Leiden, Netherlands, 18 November 2025 – Join us for a SkiLMeeT research webinar where Xavier Pinho and Sadegh Shahmohammadi from the Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research (TNO) will present the European Labour Market Dashboard, a data-driven tool being developed within the SkiLMeeT project to enable cross-country comparisons of skills and career transitions.

The webinar will take place on 3 December 2025 from 15:00 to 16:00 CET. You can register here.

In this webinar, Xavier and Sadegh will demonstrate a data-driven dashboard that uses LinkedIn data from Revelio Labs to explore labour-market dynamics across Europe. The tool enables cross-country comparisons of skills and career transitions, and provides information on individual career trajectories, including skills, and job moves across occupations and sectors. The dashboard currently covers six countries – the Netherlands, Italy, Poland, Bulgaria, Germany, and Luxembourg – and contains data from over 26 million unique job profiles. Users can analyse how skills evolve across countries and industries, identify where shortages are emerging, and explore which career transitions occur more often.

Xavier Pinho is a data scientist at TNO, with a background in Biomedical Engineering, his current work involves projects related to Artificial Intelligence.

Sadegh Shahmohammadi is a senior data scientist at TNO, where he leads projects focused on artificial intelligence. Sadegh is an expert in using Large Language Models. He is also interested in monitoring employee health and analysing trends in skills and the job market.