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). The evidence reveals significant variance in the underlying determinants of labour shortages across occupations, highlighting the fallacy of one-size-fits all policies. Occupations in bottleneck are generally underpinned by low cognitive skill needs but high demands for learning and adaptability on behalf of workers. In some occupations shortages may be best tackled through the improvement of job quality or reduction in labour turnover.