Are you considering a job in a new European country but unsure about the demand for your skills there? Europass has introduced a user-friendly tool called "Job & Skill Trends" that is designed to help you make informed decisions about your career in the European Union, and it relies on the data provided by the European Skills, Competences, Qualifications, and Occupations (ESCO).

This tool is part of Europass' broader "Skills Intelligence and Europass" initiative, focusing on providing up-to-date and easily accessible information on skills and labour market trends. As part of these efforts, Europass is committed to maintaining the relevance and usefulness of its tools in response to the ever-changing labour market and educational environment.

Key Features of Job & Skill Trends tool

1. Find the ten occupation groups with the highest "online" demand in the EU countries you are interested in. This information is based on the number of available online job advertisements.
2. Find an occupation that interests you and discover:

• The ten skill groups that, according to the ESCO Classification, are most relevant to that occupation.   
• Which countries in the EU have the largest "online" demand for the relevant occupation group based on the number of online job advertisements.

Data Sources: What Powers this tool?

The Job & Skill Trends tool uses two main sources of data:

1.  ESCO Data: Based on the work of labour market experts, ESCO provides a list of what skills are considered essential and optional across different occupations. The essential and optional skills can be combined into skill groups, which can be classified according to relevance for an occupation. Europass uses this information to present rankings of skills groups that are most relevant for a certain chosen occupation. 
2. Skills OVATE Project: This project, done in collaboration with the EU Agency Cedefop and the Web Intelligence Hub initiative of Eurostat, collects data from various websites and job boards to identify and classify online job vacancies. Europass uses the data collected through the Skills OVATE Project, to present rankings of occupations in high demand across EU Countries. 

ESCO and Europass collaboration

The Job & Skill Trends tool demonstrates the synergies between ESCO and Europass as part of the implementation of the European Skills Agenda. ESCO skills and occupations data enriches Europass tools and services, helping job seekers in understanding the demand of the labour market and in documenting their skills based on ongoing trends. This partnership highlights the EU's dedication to enhancing labour market transparency, empowering individuals to make informed career decisions.