Skills & competences

The skills pillar provides a comprehensive list of knowledge, skills and competences relevant to the European labor market. 

It contains 13,890 concepts structured in a hierarchy which contains four sub-classifications: 

• Knowledge 

• Language skills and knowledge 

• Skills 

• Transversal skills 

The ESCO skills pillar distinguishes between i) skill/competence concepts and ii) knowledge concepts by indicating the skill type. There is however no distinction between skills and competences.. 

Each of these concepts come with one preferred term and a number of non-preferred terms in each of the 28 ESCO languages. ESCO as well provides an explanation (metadata) for each skill profile such us a description, scope note, reusability level and relationships (with other skills and with occupations). 

The ESCO skill hierarchy is in a continuous process of improvement. Please share your feedback regarding the quality of the skills and skill groups through our contact page.