To mark the launch of the new major version of ESCO, the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion, in collaboration with the European Training Foundation, organised a promotion event: "ESCO 1.2: A Global Language for Skills" on the 21st and 22nd of May 2024 with more than 500 participants from across Europe and beyond.

The event was held via Zoom and showcased several testimonials of how ESCO is used within and outside the EU, with particular emphasis on the use of ESCO for enhancing job matching, developing classification systems, analysing labour market data, providing guidance services, and updating the learning offer.  

The second day of the event focused on how the EU candidate, accession and ETF partner countries can use ESCO in their contexts with practical implications for translating, adopting or mapping their classifications to ESCO. 

For further insights, the presentations can be consulted. 

Day 1

ESCO version 1.2

• Presentation of ESCO version 1.2 DG EMPL & ESCO Secretariat

Use of ESCO by public employment services for matching vacancies and job seekers and for developing classification systems:

• ESCO in EURES: Kristof Danckaert, DG EMPL
• National use case: Use of ESCO in Greek Public Employment Service: Ioanna Alexiou, Greek PES
• National use case: Use of ESCO by ELY-Keskus, Finland: Matias Vainio, ELY-Keskus
• National use case: Use of ESCO by Danish Agency for Labour Market and Recruitment: Esben Hansen, Danish Agency for Labour Market and Recruitment

ESCO for Profiling & Career Guidance

• ESCO and Europass: Dimitrios Pikios, DG EMPL
• ESCO use in Chile: Juan Eduardo Carmach, Futuro del Trabajo

ESCO for labour market data analysis in the EU and beyond

• Big Data for labour market intelligence in ETF Partner Countries: Francesca Rosso , ETF
• Use of ESCO for skills analysis and forecasting: Vladimir Kvetan, CEDEFOP
• Labour Market Diagnosis in Greece: Stavros Gavroglou, Ministry of Labour and Social Security and Dr. Vaios Kotsios, Scientific Collaborator

Linking Skills and Qualifications

• ESCO pilot on linking qualifications to ESCO skills, Francesco Losappio, DG EMPL
• Network of national qualifications databases: Anatolii Garmash, ETF
• European Digital Credentials for Learning: Celine Jambon, DG EMPL
• ESCO: ecosystem integration: Simone Ravaioli, Parchment

Day 2

EU Skills First Approach

• ESCO to empower employment and career services: Ulrich Scharf, SkillLab
• ESCO use in Certif-ID: Joav Isay, Certif-ID

Linking national classification systems with ESCO beyond the EU

• ESCO in Iceland: Þóra Ágústsdóttir, Directorate of Labour Iceland
• ESCO in Albania: Klevis Hysa, National Employment and Skills Agency

Introduction to the necessary steps, ESCO Secretariat 
Reflections from Partner Countries

• Mapping to ESCO launch event, Clarissa Vieira - ETF workshop
• Mapping national classifications to ESCO - testimonial from EURES countries: Petter Nygård, Swedish Public Employment Agency
• Translating ESCO into non-EU languages, Valentina Grganovic - ETF workshop

The Commission would like to thank once again all ESCO stakeholders for their continuous collaboration and feedback on ESCO, which is crucial for keeping it aligned with the needs of the EU labour market and education and training.