IER News & blogs
New SkillPULSE research co-authored by Dr Sangwoo Lee standardises European Skill Shortages Indicator using big data and survey benchmarking
As part of the Horizon Europe-funded Skills PULSE project, a newly published introduces a novel empirical framework to identify and measure potential skill shortages across European labour markets.
Co-authored by IER’s Dr Sangwoo Lee alongside Seamus McGuinness, Elisa Staffa, Lorcan Kelly, and Paul Redmond, the paper addresses a longstanding gap in the skills mismatch literature, where definitions of skill shortages vary widely and rely heavily on subjective employer surveys.
Chris Warhurst speaks at Cedefop event promoting skills, productivity and job quality
The European Commission is keen to deliver a Quality Jobs Roadmap. Director of IER, Chris Warhurst was invited to speak at a Cedefop in Thessaloniki in June.
Attended by European employers, trade unions and policymakers, the event focused on the skills nexus between productivity and job quality, with Chris presenting data on the link between job quality and innovation and productivity as part of building the business case for good jobs.
New technology in agriculture: IER research features on Edge's latest skills bulletin
Research undertaken by IER's Peter Dickinson with colleagues in the University of º£½ÇÉçÇø's School of Life Sciences, and funded by The Institute for Agriculture and Horticulture (TIAH), features in a special land-based skills bulletin published by the Edge Foundation.
The summarises the report's findings into the impact of new technology on jobs and skills in agriculture and horticulture, and what responses are required.
Launch of the UK Standard Skills Classification
The UK Standard Skills Classification (SSC) offers the most detailed, data-driven picture yet of the UK labour market. It is an innovative new tool that will make it much easier to match people to job opportunities and target skills investment where it matters most.
Created by the IER and the University of Sheffield, in partnership with Omnifolio on behalf of Skills England, the SSC is a standardised set of categories that identify the skills, knowledge and tasks required across UK occupations. The SSC is available through the .
SkillsPULSE International Workshop on Employers’ Skills Needs
We are pleased to invite you to the upcoming International Workshop, a dedicated online event bringing together employers, policymakers, and labour market experts from across Europe to explore one of today’s most pressing challenges: the growing skills gap, taking place on 29 April 2026.
Organised by a Horizon Europe project aimed at identifying, predicting, and mapping current and emerging skills shortages and gaps across Europe, this workshop will present the final results of the Employer Survey conducted in Poland, Italy, Greece, Finland, United Kingdom, Ireland and Estonia.
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