European Centre of Expertise (ECE) in the field of labour law, employment and labour market policies : labour market policy thematic review 2019 : skills imbalances : Spain.
Date: 2021-10-27
Institutions: Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion
Subjects: Spain, labour law, labour market, labour shortage, manpower planning, professional qualifications, unemployment

European Centre of Expertise 
(ECE) in the field of labour 
law, employment and labour 
market policies 
Labour Market Policy Thematic Review 2019: 

Skills imbalances 

Spain 

Manuel Souto-Otero 

October 2019 

Social 
Europe 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
EUROPEAN COMMISSION 

EUROPEAN COMMISSION 

Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion 

Directorate A – Employment and Social Governance 

Unit A.1 – Employment and Social Aspects of European Semester 

Contact: Kathrin Jewert 

E-mail:  Kathrin-Marie.JEWERT@ec.europa.eu 

European Commission 

B-1049 Brussels 

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Manuscript completed in October 2019 

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The country articles and synthesis were drafted at the end of 2019, before the Covid-19 pandemic and do 
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European Commission 
Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion 
Employment and Social Governance 

October 2019 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Labour Market Policy Thematic Review 2019: Skills imbalances - Spain 

Table of Contents 

1 
Introduction ................................................................................................ 1 
2  State of play on skills imbalances ................................................................... 2 

Skills imbalances ................................................................................... 2 
2.1 
Skills shortages ..................................................................................... 3 
2.2 
Skills surpluses ..................................................................................... 9 
2.3 
Level of education ................................................................................. 9 
2.4 
2.5 
Subject ...............................................................................................11 
2.6  Occupations .........................................................................................11 
Drivers of skills imbalances ....................................................................11 
2.7 
Labour market intelligence and its use in VET, adult learning and ALMPs .....16 
2.8 

3  The consequences of, and policy responses to, skills imbalances .......................20 

3.1 
3.2 

Consequences of skills imbalances ..........................................................20 
Policy responses ...................................................................................21 

4  Conclusion .................................................................................................25 
5  Glossary ....................................................................................................26 
6  Bibliography ...............................................................................................27 

 
 
 
 
 
Labour Market Policy Thematic Review 2019: Skills imbalances - Spain 

1 

Introduction 

The Spanish labour market was more affected by the 2008 recession than most 
other  European  labour  markets.  While  it  has  recovered  in  recent  years,  following 
economic growth from 2014, it still faces important challenges that have a bearing on 
skills  imbalances.  These  include  population  ageing,  imbalances  in  the  educational 
achievement profile of its population, high unemployment levels, the creation of higher 
quality employment, and stimulating labour mobility. Contextual information on these 
challenges is provided in this section, before looking at the state of play with regards to 
skills imbalances in section 2. 

In  the  decade  2007-2017  there  was  a  marked  increase  in  the  proportion  of 
social  security  affiliations  by  those  individuals  over  the  age  of  60.  These 
amounted to less than 5% of all affiliations in 2007 but by 2017 they represented 7%, 
an  increase  of  almost  50%  (Observatorio  de  las  Ocupaciones,  2018a  and  Consejo 
Económico y Social, 2015). Ageing of the labour force has been particularly pronounced 
in agricultural and industrial sectors. 

The share of low qualified individuals is much larger in Spain than in the EU-
28 as a whole, whereas the share of high qualified (tertiary educated) is also 
higher. As a result, the share of individuals in the intermediate levels of qualification is 
much lower than in the EU-28 as a whole –  see section 2.3 for further details. While 
there is comparatively high demand for low skilled workers (25% of the jobs requiring 
only  primary  education  according  to  OECD  estimates),  the  supply  of  low-educated 
workers exceeds this demand (OECD, 2017a). 

There  is  high  competition  for  jobs  in  Spain.  Unemployment,  part-time  and 
temporary  employment  levels  are  high.  In  July  2019  the  unemployment  rate  in 
Spain stood at 14%, over twice the EU-28 average of 6%1. Gender differences are also 
somewhat  more  pronounced  in  Spain  than  in  the  EU:  12.4%  unemployment  rate  for 
males, compared to 15.6% for females in July 2019, whereas in the EU-28 the figures 
stood  at  6.1%  and  6.5%  respectively.  Youth  unemployment  (for  those  under  25)  is 
higher in both the EU-28 and Spain, but again the figures are much less favourable for 
Spain: 32% unemployment rate compared to the EU-28 average of 14%. Part-time and 
temporary employment in Spain were at 28% in 2018, almost twice the level of the EU-
28. These figures suggest high levels of skills underutilisation. There are also marked 
differences  in  employment  rates  by  education  level2.  The  Encuesta  Anual  Laboral 
(Annual  Labour  Survey)  (2017)  suggested  that  60%  of  companies  expected  the 
proportion of non-qualified workers to diminish in the following year,  while only 30% 
expected it to increase, further deteriorating the labour market prospects of this group. 

The geographical mobility of workers – linked to employment continues to be 
moderate,  although  in  2017  increased  both  between  Autonomous  Communities 
(CCAAs) and between provinces, reaching the highest rates since the turn of the century 
(Observatorio de las Ocupaciones, 2018a).  

1 Employment rates for those in the 25-64 age group in 2018 were 57% for those with 
up  to  lower  secondary  education,  71%  for  those  with  upper  secondary  and  post-
secondary  non-tertiary  education  and  81%  for  those  with  tertiary  education 
https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php/Unemployment_statistics 
[checked on 10-04-2020] (Seasonally adjusted figures) 
2  https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/skills/statistics-illustrated  [checked  on  10-04-
2020] 

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Labour Market Policy Thematic Review 2019: Skills imbalances - Spain 

The  remainder  of  this  report  looks  at  the  state  of  play  regarding  skills  imbalances  in 
Spain  (section  2)  and  the  consequences  and  policy  responses  to  skills  imbalances 
(section 3) before presenting the report’s conclusions in section 4. The report found that 
there is now a wealth of information on skills imbalances in Spain, although the extent 
to which it is fit for purpose is debatable as direct longitudinal measures of skills supply 
and of skills demand are still scarce. There is also greater scope to add clarity on how 
to measure skills mismatches, and to coordinate the work of different organisations in 
this  area.  Structures  have  begun  to  be  put  in  place  to  ensure  that  such  data  shapes 
educational provision. There is, however, a lack of strong evaluation of those measures 
and  their  effectiveness  across  the  education  system,  but  in  particular  in  continuing 
vocational training.  

2 

State of play on skills imbalances 

2.1  Skills imbalances 

Currently, no single national official definition or indicator of skills imbalances 
(shortages or surpluses) exists in Spain. While broad definitions are shared, with 
imbalances  being  associated  with  a  gap  between  the  skills,  competences  and 
qualifications in the population and those needed by employers, different measurements 
co-exist  and  are  employed  by  the  different  levels  of  administration  that  have 
competences in education and training matters.  

This leads to lack of visibility and confidence regarding this matter and makes 
the  situation  complex,  as  stakeholders  may  be  guided  by  different  evidence 
sources. The topic, however, is receiving increasing attention, as it is linked both to 
employment  policy  and  educational  planning,  and  there  are  some  attempts  to  move 
towards greater integration. At the same time, labour market information systems at 
the national level are trying to evolve, to provide more granular information that can 
reduce the need for the proliferation of additional regional and local analyses. There are 
also meetings organised by the Labour Ministry with social partners and other levels of 
the  Spanish  administration  that  aim  to  move  matters  in  the  direction  of  greater 
integration. International data on skills mismatches is also used at the national level. 
For example, the Bank of Spain has used OECD PIAAC data to analyse skills mismatches 
in Spain from a comparative perspective (Puente and Casado, 2016) – further details 
on this study are provided below. 

In the analyses of international organisations, Spain is characterised as high 
in terms of skills imbalances. The OECD’s labour market imbalances indicator3 placed 
Spain second highest in terms of imbalances, amongst the 34 countries analysed, using 
data from 2014, although reporting a slight decrease in imbalances since 2010. Cedefop 
uses a different methodology to calculate its Skills Matching Index based on data on two 
sub-pillars: skills utilisation and skills mismatches. Overall, Spain ranks 27th out of the 
EU-28 countries in this area. Cedefop’s skills mismatch sub-pillar is based on data on:  

  higher  education  mismatch  (those  with  higher  education  that  have  a  job  that 

does not require it);  

 

low wage earners (tertiary graduates that are low wage earners); and 

3 This is the average of the standard deviations calculated across occupations in each 
sub-indicator  used  to  compute  the  Occupational  Shortage  index  (e.g.  wages, 
employment,  hours  worked,  unemployment  and  underqualification).  Higher  values 
denote larger labour market imbalances. 

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Labour Market Policy Thematic Review 2019: Skills imbalances - Spain 

  qualification  mismatch  (the  extent  to  which  each  employee’s  education 
attainment  level  matches  the  modal  education  attainment  level  for  each 
occupation in each industry)4.  

Spain ranks towards the bottom with very negative scores, except for the indicator on 
low wage earners (ISCED 5-8), where it ranks towards the middle of EU-28 countries. 
The following sections analyse skills shortages and surpluses in Spain in more detail. 

2.2  Skills shortages 

2.2.1  Prevalence of hard to fill vacancies 

Spanish  employers  report  comparatively  low  levels  of  hard  to  fill  vacancies. 
Employer surveys have been used to analyse the extent of employers facing ‘hard to 
fill’ vacancies. Eurofound’s European Company Survey provides an approximation of this 
phenomenon. In this survey, 19% of participating firms reported difficulties in finding 
people with the right skills, but the figure for Spain was substantially lower –around half 
the European average, (Eurofound, 2015). Eurobarometer 3045 suggests that Spanish 
employers face comparatively low problems recruiting graduates with the skills that they 
require: 39% of employers reported a shortage of applicants with the right skills and 
capabilities  as  one  of  their  two  main  problems  in  hiring  graduates,  below  most  other 
European  countries.  These  messages  are  consistent  with  those  from  Vandeplas  and 
Thum-Thysen (2019) who, making use of data from the European Business Survey and 
AMECO,  report  that  Spain  ranks  as  one  of  the  countries  with  lower  levels  of  skills 
shortages according to employers. Spain also has below average unfilled vacancies and 
very low unmet demand for labour measured by job vacancy rates6, compared to the 
EU as a whole (European Commission, 2018). 

This contrasts with the results of a survey by IESE business school, employing 
a small sample of leading companies (Blázquez et al., 2019)7, which found that 
72%  of  companies  encountered  quite  a  lot  or  high  difficulties  filling  their 
vacancies.  Similarly,  Adecco  (2018)  surveyed  over  600  HR  professionals  on  the 
existence of hard to fill vacancies during the previous year, and reports that almost 60% 
of  companies  experienced  difficulties.  Infojobs  and  ESADE  (2019)  provide  interesting 
information  on  the  number  of  candidates  per  vacancy  by  sector,  reporting  that  it  is 
lowest in computer science and telecommunication, education and training and design 
and graphic art; and highest in business administration, law and some types of sales 
jobs. This data, however, does not provide information on the quality or skills match of 
those candidates. More generally, data on hard to fill vacancies is relatively out-dated 
(early 2010s for the Eurofound survey, PIAAC or Eurobarometer) or comes from small 

a 

For 

see 

detailed 

explanation 

4 
https://skillspanorama.cedefop.europa.eu/en/useful_resources/esi-2018-support-
material-technical-report-%E2%80%93-jrc-statistical-audit-%E2%80%93-country-
fich-0  [checked  on  10-04-2020]  and  Cedefop  (2018).  Cedefop  also  provides  data  on 
skills utilisation/ underutilisation (based on data for long-term unemployment and the 
underemployment of part-time workers who would like to work full-time) 
5 http://data.europa.eu/euodp/en/data/dataset/S858_304 [checked on 10-04-2020] 
6 See https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-
explained/index.php/Job_vacancy_statistics#Job_vacancies_between_2017_and_2019 
[checked on 10-04-2020] 
7 Blázquez et al. 2019. The study is based on a survey and in-depth interviews with HR 
managers  from  53  ‘leading’  companies  (12  sectors)  that  employ  around  500  000 
workers in Spain. 

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Labour Market Policy Thematic Review 2019: Skills imbalances - Spain 

or non-random samples. Data on the length the vacancy remained open could further 
approximate recruitment difficulties. 

Manpower (2018) reported that the frequency of difficulties filling vacancies 
increase  with  company  size,  reaching  44%  of  those  companies  with  +250 
employees, compared to 21% of companies with fewer than 10 employees. 

2.2.2  Once in employment: perceived training needs 

The Annual Labour Survey 20178, found that only about one third of companies 
in Spain detected training needs amongst their staff, whereas two thirds did not. 
Of  those  companies  that  detected  training  needs,  94%  provided  training  to  address 
them, whereas only 6% did not respond to them through the provision of training – this 
share was highest for small companies (5 to 10 workers 9.5%), but below 1% for those 
companies  with  over  49  employees.  By  sector,  unmet  needs  were  highest  in  the 
hospitality sector (14%), and motor vehicles trade and repair (7%). By region, figures 
varied between 14% in the Illes Balears and lower in Navarra (below 1%). 

2.2.3  Shortage occupations 

Shortage occupations can be found in traditional as well as new occupations. 
Cedefop (2016) identified six ’shortage occupations‘ in Spain. These are:  

  ICT specialists (both for the service sector and manufacturing); 

  Engineering  and  production  related,  high  level  professionals  (mainly  in 

manufacturing); 

  Managerial related professionals; 

  Sales related professionals; 

  Shipping professionals; 

  Medical doctors and other health related professionals. 

EURES9  notes  shortages  in  the  construction  sector  and  international  commerce. 
Manpower  (2018)  notes  that  qualified  manual  work  related  vacancies  (such  as 
electricians, welders and mechanics) are the most difficult to fill in Spain, whereas some 
interviewees  for  this  report  noted  shortages  in  new  ICT-related  occupations  such  as 
digital marketing, block-chain10 programmer, cyber-security specialist, cloud computing 
specialist,  Agile/Scrum  specialist  or  big  data  analyst,  and  in  qualified  intermediate 
occupations in the agricultural sector. 

The  Occupations  Observatory11  provides  detailed  information  of  occupations 
that  have  better  labour  market  prospects  at  national  and  regional  level  and 
information  on  future  demand  (forecasts,  including  sectoral  forecasts).  The 
Observatory’s  2018  report  on  the  Spanish  labour  market  identified  high-growth 
activities that are labour intensive (like hospitality) as well as more specialised activities 

8 See http://www.mitramiss.gob.es/estadisticas/EAL/welcome.htm [checked on 10-04-
2020] 
9 
https://ec.europa.eu/eures/main.jsp?catId=2627&acro=lmi&lang=es&countryId=ES&
mode=shortages 
10 
operations/articles/blockchain-explained.html [checked on 10-04-2020] 
11 For a description of the main characteristics of the Observatory, in English, the reader 
can consult https://www.cedefop.europa.eu/en/node/29928 [checked on 10-04-2020] 

https://www2.deloitte.com/ch/en/pages/strategy-

See 

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Labour Market Policy Thematic Review 2019: Skills imbalances - Spain 

such  as  IT  services,  business  consultancy,  marketing,  architecture  and  engineering, 
financial  activities  and  cinema  production  (Observatorio  de  las  ocupaciones,  2018a). 
The report also noted growth in the health and education sectors. In the industrial sector 
the  report  highlighted  growth,  particularly,  in  activities  related  with  the  chemical 
industry,  pharmaceutical,  food  and  drinks,  and  the  production  of  goods  such  as 
automobile, textile and furniture. The report provided more detailed information on a 
large number of occupations with better labour market prospects by activity. Work on 
the forecasting of occupations with better labour market prospects by the Observatory 
discusses  around  200  primary  occupational  groups  (examples  are:  hotel  directors; 
financial  analysts;  network  administrator;  supervisors  in  the  construction  industry  or 
chefs).  This  work  includes  not  only  national  level  forecasts  of  occupations  with  good 
labour  market  prospects,  but  also  forecasts  by  CCAA  and  provinces,  using  the  same 
methodology12. The report also discussed competence and training requirements. The 
Centros de Referencia Nacional (National Reference Centres for vocational training13), 
which cover both initial and continuing VET, are in charge of bringing about innovation 
in  VET,  taking  into  account  occupations  with  better  prospects  according  to  their 
specialisation  by  productive  sector;  and  then  are  expected  to  disseminate  good 
practices. 

Regarding  the  higher  education  level  specifically,  four  years  after  finishing  their 
degree, graduates in computer science (85% of which were registered as being in 
employment in the social security system four years after having finished their degree) 
and engineering (with over 80%) are those with better employment prospects 
(Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades,  2019)14.  Graduates in Law (56%) 
and  Humanities  (57%)  were  those  with  lower  levels  of  registration  as  being  in 
employment in the social security system. 

2.2.4  Mismatches by education level and subject 

2.2.4.1  Education level 

The Bank of Spain research services (Puente and Casado, 2016) noted a lack 
of direct measures of skills mismatch in Spain15. From the perspective of job 
candidates, skills surpluses are much more common than shortages – see also 
section  2.3.  Based  on  over  9  000  interviews  with  job  candidates  (employed  and 
unemployed), Adecco (2018) notes that 50% reported that their job was below, 47% 
that it was in line and 3% that it was above their training/ qualifications. It is interesting 

See 

http://www.todofp.es/sobre-fp/informacion-general/centros-referencia-

12 This is described in Observatorio de las Ocupaciones (2018b). It combines a variety 
of quantitative and qualitative sources. 
13 
nacional.html 
14 Managed by the Ministry of Work, Migration and Social Security. 
15 “For the unemployed with recent work experience, information is offered on the tasks 
performed  in  the  last  job,  but  only  if  that  job  ended  at  most  a  year  ago.  (…)  If  an 
individual performs at any time a task on the job, whatever its frequency, it is assumed 
that the individual possesses this skill. These skills are compared with those of each of 
the jobs in their country of residence occupied by workers with the same level of studies. 
There is considered to be no skills mismatch between unemployed individual and job if 
there is a perfect match between the skills of each. If any of the job tasks should not 
have  been  used  by  the  unemployed  individual  in  his/her  previous  job,  there  is 
considered to be a mismatch between the skills possessed by the unemployed person 
and those demanded by this job. The final degree of employability of the unemployed 
individual is defined as the fraction of jobs for which there is no mismatch with his/her 
skills.” Puente and Casado (2016:37). 

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Labour Market Policy Thematic Review 2019: Skills imbalances - Spain 

to note, on the other hand, that over 20% of respondents reported that they never, or 
almost never, find vacancies that are in line with their profile. This is also suggestive of 
the extent of imbalances.  

2.2.4.2  Subject 

The level of horizontal mismatches in Spain is close to the European average 
and has  remained fairly constant over the last five years. By subject area, the 
most  important  mismatches  in  Spain  are,  according  to  Eurostat  data,  in  humanities, 
language and arts (55%) and the lowest in social science, business and law (18%). The 
greatest increases in the period 2008-2018 were experienced in service-related subjects 
and teacher training/ educational science (+2.6 percent points), but they decreased in 
many  subjects,  most  strongly  in  agriculture  and  veterinary  related  subjects  (-7.8 
percent points). Compared to the EU average, in 2018, mismatches are markedly more 
common  in  Spain  in  health  and  welfare  (+4.5),  teacher  training/  educational  science 
(+3.3) and humanities, language and arts (+3.0), and markedly less common in service 
related (-10), and agriculture and veterinary (-8.4). 

Figure 1.  Horizontal skills mismatches in the EU and Spain (2018) 

30%

29%

28%

29%

30%

26%

31%

27%

35%
30%
25%
20%
15%
10%
5%
0%

EU 2014

EU 2018

Spain 2014

Spain 2018

Age group 15-34 (ISCED 3-8)

Age group 25-34 (ISCED 5-8)

Source: Eurostat, LFS https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/experimental-statistics/skills [checked 
on 10-04-2020] 

Note: The rate of skills mismatch by field of education is defined as the discrepancy between a 
person's current occupation and their field of education related to the highest level of education 
attainment. After matching fields of education according to the ISCED classification of fields of 
education and training to occupations at ISCO 2008 3-digit level, persons working outside their 
field of education are considered as individuals with horizontal skills mismatch.  

At the higher education level, education, arts and humanities, social sciences, 
health  and  social  services  subject  areas  have  been  identified  as  generating 
more graduates than required by the labour market (Consejo Económico y Social, 
2015). CYD (2017) based on data from the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports, 
reports  on  graduation  rates  for  BA  and  MA  degrees  in  Spain.  The  figures  in  its  2017 
edition  showed  that  Business  Studies  produced  9%  of  the  graduates,  followed  by 
Education  of  Primary  School  Teachers  (8%),  Law  (7%),  Education  of  pre-school 
education (5%) and nursing (5%). The importance of social sciences in the Spanish HE 
system  is  noted  (although  they  have  lost  some  significance  in  the  last  five  years), 
followed by engineering, architecture (which also lost significance over that period) and 
health sciences. Compared to other European countries, in Spain ‘Education’ has a much 
stronger significance, whereas the report notes that Spain produces comparatively few 
STEM graduates. 

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Labour Market Policy Thematic Review 2019: Skills imbalances - Spain 

As  such,  InfoJobs  and  ESADE  (2019)  and  the  Consejo  Económico  y  Social 
(2015)  note  shortages  in  terms  of  STEM  graduates.  INE’s  Survey  of  graduates’ 
labour market integration (2016), with a sample of over 30,000 participants, shows that 
the  unemployment  rate  for  graduates  in  Health  Sciences  and  in  Engineering  and 
Architecture was around half that of Arts and humanities graduates in 2014-5, five years 
after  their  graduation  (around  14-15%  compared  to  28%).  The  Catalan  HE  Quality 
Assurance Agency (AQU) survey provides information on the employment rates of BA 
graduates in five fields16. The results of the survey show higher employment rates for 
those in engineering and architecture (93% compared to 82% in arts and humanities, 
the  worst  performing  field),  and  these  graduates  are  also  those  with  better  salaries 
(65%  of graduates  earning more than 24,000 Euro per year gross, compared to less 
than 40% in other fields and less than 20% in arts and humanities).  

2.2.5  Skills use 

The  skills  mismatch  of  unemployed  people  in  Spain  is  higher  for  those  with 
medium  and  high  levels  of  educational  attainment,  reflecting  “high  differences 
between the tasks they performed in their last job and those performed by the current 
job-holders with the same level of skills” (Puente and Casado, 2016:4017) – where skill 
refers  to  educational  attainment.  In  the  low-educated  end  of  the  labour  market,  the 
skills used in the Spanish labour market are more uniform, and the mismatch is lower. 
As such, they note a need for specialised training in those tasks demanded in the labour 
market  at  the  higher  levels  of  education.  This  is  an  aspect  that  continuing  education 
courses  could  try  to  address.  The  focus  on  use  of  skills,  rather  than  measuring  skills 
proficiency, could be considered a limitation of this study.  

A great concern in Spain is the existence of a sizeable share of graduates with 
low  competence  levels,  below  what  their  qualification  levels  would  suggest 
and  which  can  be  apparently  ‘underemployed’  or  unemployed.  Pérez  (2015) 
estimates that around half of the graduates working in occupations that do not require 
higher education in Spain have a competence level that is lower than could be expected 
by their level of education.  

2.2.6  Types of skills 

Cedefop (2019) provides a list of the most demanded skills in Spain, according 
to  the  analysis  of  vacancy  data,  which  include  –  at  the  top  -  adaptability  to 
change, assist customers, use a computer and English. The OECD Skills for Jobs 
Database,  based  on  data  mainly  from  the  European  Labour  Force  Survey,  provides 
information on imbalances with regards to 30+ skills, knowledge and abilities in various 
economies. It then reports whether they are hard to find or ’in excess‘ and details the 
occupations that contribute most to the imbalance. With regards to the Spanish labour 
market18, the OECD classifies most skills as hard to find. 

16 Arts and humanities, social sciences and law, science, health science and engineering 
and architecture. 
17 The study used PIAAC data to estimate a ‘skills mismatch index’ based on the use of 
a broad range of skills in the Spanish labour market and those that unemployed people 
had performed in their last job. 
18https://www.oecdskillsforjobsdatabase.org/imbalances.php#ES/_/_/_/[%22skills%2
2%2C%22knowledge%22%2C%22abilities%22]/cohttps://www.oecdskillsforjobsdata
base.org/imbalances.php#ES/_/_/_/[%22skills%22%2C%22knowledge%22%2C%22
abilities%22]/co [checked on 10-04-2020] 

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Labour Market Policy Thematic Review 2019: Skills imbalances - Spain 

Figure 2.  Skills, knowledge and abilities hard to find and in excess in Spain 

Hard to find (top 10)

In excess

•Verbal abilities
•Education and training
•Basic skills
•Systems skills
•Reasoning abilities
•Quantitative abilities
•Complex problem-solving
•Social Skills
•Memory
•Communication skills

•Reaction time and speed abilities
•Control movement abilities
•Fine manipulative abilities
•Flexibility, balance and 
coordination, 
•Physical strength
•Manufacturing and production
•Endurance

Source: Own elaboration from OECD Skills for Jobs Database. 

The areas in which companies train the most could be considered an indication 
of  those  in  which  they  see  greater  problems  of  skills  supply  amongst  their 
employees. The EAL (2017) noted that 40% of those companies in Spain that provided 
training did so with regard to techniques that were specific to the employees’ position, 
27%  did  on  customer  service,  23%  on  teamwork,  17%  on  office  administration  and 
12% on each of the following areas: management and leadership, foreign languages, 
ICT and, problem solving. The three most important reasons provided by companies to 
train employees were: 

  To  adapt  new  staff  to  the  techniques  and  systems  used  in  the  company  (59% 

quite or very important); 

  To improve the skills of the employee to compensate for his/her lack of skills or 

training (68%); 

  Retrain  personnel  to  adapt  them  to  technological  changes  introduced  by  the 

company (61%). 

Around  75%  of  those  companies  that  did  not  provide  training  to  their 
employees declared that they had not done so because the skills and training 
level of its employees was appropriate to the needs of the company. This was 
the most frequent reason reported by companies not to train employees. This reason 
was somewhat more prominent in the construction sector than in industry and service 
companies. 

According to AQU surveys those skills where graduates feel less prepared from 
higher education are language  skills, ICT  skills, decision-making, leadership, 
management and problem-solving (CYD, 2017). They also show that compared to 
the  situation  pre-Bologna,  graduates  report  more  positive  results  regarding  the 
development  of  their  skills  in  higher  education.  These  surveys  enquire  about  a  large 
range of competences (>10) and ask respondents which ones are more useful at work 
and  the  extent  to  which  they  had  developed  those  skills  in  their  higher  education 
studies19. Decision-making and problem solving are amongst those skills that graduates 

19 See http://www.aqu.cat/estudis/ilaboral_2014_es.html [checked on 10-04-2020] 

October 2019 

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Labour Market Policy Thematic Review 2019: Skills imbalances - Spain 

reported to be most important at work, thus highlighting that greater efforts in these 
areas would contribute to reducing their skills shortages.  

2.3  Skills surpluses 

2.4  Level of education 

Data on skills surpluses is less often monitored by public employment services 
than  data  on  skills  shortages  (McGrath,  2019).  However,  surpluses  are  an 
important issue for the Spanish labour market. Whereas horizontal mismatches in 
Spain are close to those in Europe as a whole, Eurostat reports a much higher rate of 
overqualification in Spain than in the rest of the EU, standing at 37%, almost twice the 
European  average.  Eurostat  also  reports  that  overqualification  has  increased  almost 
twice as much in Spain (4 points) compared to the EU (2 points) in the last decade.  

Figure 3.  Percentage of overqualification in the EU and Spain (2018) 

EU average

23%

Spain

37%

Source:  Own  elaboration  from  Eurostat,  LFS,  https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/experimental-
statistics/skills [checked on 10-04-2020] 

Note:  Showing  the  %  of  people  aged  20-64  with  tertiary  education  and  working  in  ISCO  4-9. 
Overqualified  workers  are  defined  as  employed  persons  who  have  attained  tertiary  education 
(ISCED 2011 level 5-8) and who work in occupations for which a tertiary education level is not 
required; equivalent to the major groups 4 to 9 of the ISCO 2008 classification.  

A  good  part  of  this  overqualification  is  associated  with  higher  education 
graduates.  Ramos  (2017)  noted  that  while  in  the  1990s  there  were  2.9  million 
graduates  for  2.7  million  graduate  jobs  in  Spain,  in  2014  there  were  9.6  million 
graduates for 5.7 million graduate jobs. Given that the share of graduates in Spain is 
not markedly higher than the EU average this suggests a relative lack of capacity in the 
Spanish economy to generate graduate jobs. CYD (2017) provided an analysis, based 
on data from the public employment service, which noted that over 35% of the contracts 
signed by graduates were for jobs that only required low qualification levels. This figure 
has been steadily increasing since 2010, when it was 30%. Overqualification affected 
males  and  females  very  similarly.  However,  as  noted  below,  most  occupations  with 
surpluses are low skills occupations, because the number of low  educated workers in 
Spain is high. 

Graduates in engineering and architecture, and those in health sciences, were 
those  least  often  overqualified  (undertaking  tasks  that  do  not  require  a 
degree).  The  main  messages,  regarding  the  better  position  of  engineering  and 
architecture  and  health  related  science  graduates  on  a  range  of  indicators  including 
matching  by  level  of  qualification  with  current  employment,  are  echoed  in  a  similar 
survey periodically undertaken by the higher education quality assurance agency of the 
CCAA of Galicia. 

October 2019 

9 

 
 
 
 
Labour Market Policy Thematic Review 2019: Skills imbalances - Spain 

Figure 4.  Overqualification of higher education graduates from Catalonian universities, 

by subject area 

Source: Own elaboration from AQU (cited in CYD (Fundación Conocimiento y Desarrollo) 2017). 

By sector, and according to the Eurostat data on overqualification already mentioned, 
the  strongest  overqualification  rates  are  in  transport  and  the  lowest  in 
education. However, the strongest increases in overqualification in the period 2008-
2018  have  been  experienced  in  the  wholesale  and  retail  trade  and  repair  of  motor 
vehicles  and  motorcycles  sectors,  whereas  health  is  the  only  sector  where 
overqualification decreased during this period. There are important absolute differences 
in overqualification by sector with the European average. These are more pronounced 
in the construction sector, whereas education is the only sector where overqualification 
is less prevalent in Spain than in the European average. 

Figure 5.  Over-qualification by sector 

October 2019 

10 

 
 
 
 
Labour Market Policy Thematic Review 2019: Skills imbalances - Spain 

Source:  Own  elaboration  from  Eurostat,  LFS,  https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/experimental-
statistics/skills  [checked on 10-04-2020].  Percentage of  overqualified  people aged  20-64 (with 
tertiary education), by sector. 

2.5  Subject 

A discussion on surpluses by subject is provided in section 2.2.6. 

2.6  Occupations 

EURES20 notes an excess of candidates compared to jobs, in particular, in the 
lower end of the labour market, and specifically in industrial occupations and 
some  services  (manual  workers  in  industry,  domestic  and  office  cleaners, 
administrative support, receptionists, drivers and waiters, for example). Eures provides 
similar  information  at  the  regional  level,  easily  accessible  to  the  public,  from 
Observatorio de las Ocupaciones data. Cedefop (2016) analysis identified four ’surplus 
occupations‘ in Spain. These are primary sector related occupations; plant and machine 
operators; building related occupations and manufacturing related occupations. 

2.7  Drivers of skills imbalances 

Major  drivers  of  skills  imbalances  in  Spain,  identified  in  the  literature  and  through 
interviews  include  the  economic  cycle,  labour  underutilisation,  information  frictions, 
poor  working  conditions,  limited  geographical  mobility,  an  unbalanced  education  and 
training system and digitalisation. 

2.7.1  Economic cycle 

The  extent  of  skills  imbalances  tends  to  vary  with  the  economic  cycle.  With 
expansion  and  greater  levels  of  employment,  come  tighter  labour  markets  in  which 
employers  can  be  less  selective  in  their  recruitment,  potentially  leading  to  higher 
shortages.  On  the  other  hand,  with  high  unemployment  rates,  mismatches  can  also 
increase because, as Cedefop (2015b) notes, when there is weak employment demand 
more people take jobs below their qualification or skills level.  It should be noted that 
the labour pool in Spain tends to be high, as discussed in the next point. 

2.7.2  Labour underutilisation 

Labour underutilisation is high in Spain. While labour underutilisation can be a 
consequence of skills imbalances (for example, unemployment may be due to 
a  shortage  of  relevant  skills)  achieving  higher  labour  utilisation  can  help  to 
reduce skills imbalances –for example high labour utilisation can reduce the number 
of those people who want to work but have stopped looking for work and the shortage 
of applicants with the required skills for certain jobs.  

While the overall activity rates for the population 20 to 64 in Spain was equal 
to the European average in 2018 (78%)21 the country suffers from high labour 
underutilisation rates. The OECD (2018a) estimated labour underutilisation in Spain22 
in 2016 above 40% (adding inactive and unemployed people as well as involuntary part-
timers),  compared  to  an  OECD  average  of  28%,  and  well  above  the  2006  figure  for 
Spain,  which  was  30%.  Asempleo  (2019),  an  association  that  represents  temporary 

20 
https://ec.europa.eu/eures/main.jsp?catId=2627&acro=lmi&lang=es&countryId=ES&
mode=shortages 
21  See  https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/TEPSR_WC160/default/table 
[checked on 10-04-2020] 
22 15-64 population, excluding youth (15-29) in education and not in employment. 

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Labour Market Policy Thematic Review 2019: Skills imbalances - Spain 

employment/ recruitment agencies in Spain, using data from the Spanish ’Encuesta de 
Población Activa (EPA)’ undertaken by the National Institute of Statistics, has estimated 
that 5.2 million people are ’underutilised‘ in the Spanish labour market. This includes:  

1.  people in unemployment;  

2.  people who want to work but are not considered ‘unemployed’ because they have 

stopped looking for work;  

3.  those workers who have a part-time contract but would like to have a full-time 

contract.  

The bulk of the Asempleo figures comes from people in the first (3.2 million) and third 
(1.6 million) categories, whereas around 400 000 individuals are in the second category 
–  a  marked  decreased  of  around  40%  since  201323.  While  these  figures  of  labour 
underutilisation  are  high,  they  amount  to  a  marked  decrease  since  2013  (the  report 
refers to an ’underutilisation‘ rate of around 22% compared to 36% in 2013).  

Underutilisation was higher amongst females (28%), young people aged 16 to 
24  (45%)  and  those  with  low  qualification  levels  (43%).  Inactivity  rates  for 
females in the older age groups are particularly affected by care responsibilities24. There 
are also important regional differences, as underutilisation rates stood at over 30% in 
the  Extremadura  and  Andalucía  Autonomous  Communities  (CCAA),  whereas  it  was 
below 20% in Aragon and Baleares. 

2.7.3  Information frictions 

A lack of accurate and detailed information on education and the labour market 
can create skills imbalances as they can lead to educational and occupational 
choices that are not in line with labour market demands (Cedefop, 2015a). While 
this may be an individual choice for some, others may take decisions because of a lack 
of information, advice and guidance. In this respect, actions have been taken in Spain 
to try and reduce deficits in this area, some of which are discussed later in this report. 

2.7.4  Working conditions 

Skills  imbalances  in  a  range  of  occupations  are  due  to  unattractive  working 
conditions such as salary levels, low work quality or precarious work contracts 
(apparent skills imbalances). These are more likely to be present at the lower skills 
levels25, but exact figures of the extent of this phenomenon are not available. Manpower 
(2018) provides information on the reasons why companies have difficulties recruiting. 
The most frequently mentioned reasons referred to a lack of experience or skills –which 
are commented upon below. But an important share of respondents also referred to a 
lack  of  candidates  or  the  salary/benefits  expectations  of  candidates.  This  would  give 

23 See Ministerio de Empleo y Seguridad Social (2018). The report is produced four times 
a year and contains a wealth of information including time series and breakdowns (by 
age,  gender,  sector,  CCAA  and  level  of  education)  on  activity,  inactivity  and 
unemployment  rates,  salary  levels,  involuntary  part-time  work  and  foreign  workers, 
amongst  other  labour  market  dimensions  –  much  of  this  information  coming  from 
administrative data and the EPA survey. 
24https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-
explained/index.php?title=File:Inactivity_rates_of_older_persons_(55-
64)_by_sex_and_main_reason_for_not_looking_for_a_job,_2017.png [checked on 10-
04-2020] 
25 As an indication, the OECD (2019) reports that the average salary of a person with a 
bachelor’s degree or equivalent in Spain is 152% of a person with secondary education 
(ISCED 2011 levels 3-4).   

October 2019 

12 

 
 
                                           
Labour Market Policy Thematic Review 2019: Skills imbalances - Spain 

some indication that, while genuine (Cedefop, 2015a)26 skills imbalances exist, apparent 
skills imbalances due to working conditions are also at play. It is important to note that 
even those responses seemingly related to genuine skills imbalances (such as lack of 
skills amongst candidates) can be caused by poor salary or working conditions (and be, 
in fact, apparent skills imbalances). 

Figure 6.  Reasons for difficulties in recruiting in Spain (2018) 

Source: Own elaboration from Manpower (2018) 

These  reasons for  recruiting difficulties  are rather  consistent with those of an Adecco 
study  (Adecco,  2018),  which  nevertheless  gave  greater  prominence  to  salary 
expectations, which could be linked to the existence of apparent skills imbalances27:  

  Insufficient experience of candidates (41%); 

  Too high salary expectations (36%); 

  Candidates lacked required technical competencies (33%); 

  Candidates lacked competencies required at the workplace (27%); 

  Candidates were overqualified for the position offered (17%); 

  There are not yet suitable candidates for the position offered (16%); 

  Other (5%). 

It is important to note that wages in Spain may not provide a straightforward 
indication  of  skills  shortages  or  surpluses,  if  we  consider  the  responses  to  the 
Encuesta Anual Laboral (Spanish Annual Labour Survey). When asked about the main 
factors when establishing the salary of a newly hired employee, over 85% reported that 
the  collective  bargaining  agreement  was  quite,  or  very,  important,  and  around  75% 
reported the salary of similar workers in the company. Just under 45% mentioned the 
availability of similar workers in the labour market and under 40% the salary of similar 
workers in other companies. 

2.7.5  Labour mobility 

Labour geographical mobility in Spain is increasing, but remains at relatively 
low  levels,  which  makes  it  more  difficult  to  address  skills  imbalances.  The 
highest  mobility  rates  between  CCAAs  were  experienced  by  male  workers,  foreign 
workers and those between 25 and 45 years of age who have not achieved secondary 

26  See  also  Cedefop  (2015a)  p.61  and  following  for  an  analysis  of  the  prevalence  of 
apparent and genuine skills shortages making use of the Flash Eurobarometer 304. 
27  In  order  to  address  these  difficulties  to  fill  in  vacancies  companies  adopted  the 
following  strategies  such  as  training  (38%),  improvements  in  their  recruitment 
processes (33%), recruitment at educational institutions (23%), improvement of their 
working environment (17%) and outsourcing (17%). 

October 2019 

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Labour Market Policy Thematic Review 2019: Skills imbalances - Spain 

education,  and  work  in  the  agricultural  or  service  sectors  (Observatorio  de  las 
Ocupaciones, 2018ª)28. 

A  concentration  of  jobs  in  a  small  set  of  geographical  areas  can  accentuate 
skills shortages in that area (Holt et al., 2010), and surpluses in others. In this 
context,  greater  geographical  diversification  of  the  Spanish  economy  would  be 
advantageous. 

2.7.6  Educational achievement  

Spain does not perform well in international adult skills assessment exercises. 
The  Instituto  Nacional  de  Investigación  Educativa  (National  Institute  of  Educational 
Research) has produced a range of studies making use of PISA, PIAAC, TIMMS and other 
international large-scale assessments, which tend to underline deficits regarding reading 
competences, as well as a large generational gap with regards to ICT skills29.  

The OECD (2018b) has found a negative correlation between the average skills 
proficiency  in  a  country’s  adult  population  and  the  magnitude  of  its  skills 
imbalances:  high  average  proficiency  is  related  to  lower  imbalances.  It 
concludes that quality education systems go together with more efficient labour markets 
in matching skills supply to the demands of firms.  

As  already  noted,  there  are  also  strong  imbalances  in  the  educational 
achievement  profile  of  the  population  in  Spain.  The  share  of  low  qualified 
individuals is much larger in Spain than in the EU-28 as a whole, whereas the share of 
highly qualified (tertiary educated) is also higher. As a result, the share of individuals in 
intermediate levels of qualification is much lower in Spain than in the EU-28 as a whole. 
Early  school  leaving  (ESL)30  has  been  decreasing  substantially  in  recent  years,  but 
continues to be high, standing at 17.9% in 2018, compared to the  EU-28 average  of 
10.6%.  There  are  large  internal  variations,  with  the  Basque  Country  registering  ESL 
rates below 7% in 2018, compared to around 25% in Murcia and Balearic Islands and 
almost 30% in Melilla (Ministerio de Educación y Formación Profesional, 2019).  

28 Observatorio de las Ocupaciones (2018a:15 and pp.56 and following). 
29 See http://www.educacionyfp.gob.es/inee/portada.html [checked on 10-04-2020] 
30  This  is  measured  as  the  share  of  the  population  aged  18-24  with  at  most  lower 
secondary  education  who  were  not  involved  in  education  or  training  during  the  four 
weeks prior to the survey. 

October 2019 

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Labour Market Policy Thematic Review 2019: Skills imbalances - Spain 

Figure 7.  Educational attainment in Spain and EU-28 (2018), by age group 

EU-28 (15-64)

25,5

Spain (15-64)

40,8

45,8

25,2

EU-28 (25-34)

15,7

44,3

Spain (25-34)

32,3

23,4

28,7

34

40

44,3

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Less than primary, primary and lower secondary education (ISCED 0-2)

Upper secondary and post-secondary non-tertiary education (ISCED 3-4)

Tertiary education (ISCED 5-8)

Source: Own elaboration from Eurostat31 

Educational attainment in Spain is higher for females in the population 15-64, 
but differences are much more pronounced for younger generations. Whereas 
the  share  of  males  25-34  with  tertiary  education  in  Spain  is  38%,  for  females  the 
corresponding figure is 50%. 

Educational  institutional  structures  and  policies  also  play  a  role  in  the 
existence of imbalances in specific cases. Cedefop (2016) makes reference to how 
shortages of doctors emerged in good part due to the existence of a ’numerous clausus‘ 
policy  fostered  by  medical  profession  associations,  which  limited  the  number  of 
graduates  in  medicine  in  Spanish  universities.  The  number  of  Faculties  of  Medicine, 
however, has greatly increased in recent years, which will lead to strong growth in the 
number of graduates, raising concerns of an over-supply in the medium-term. 

In relation to continuing vocational training, some adult learning systems perform better 
than others reskilling workers and jobseekers to fill new openings (OECD 2018b). The 
participation rate in education and training in the previous four weeks in Spain 
in 2018 stood at 10.5% compared to a European average of 11.1% (EU LFS). 
It should also be noted that the figure drops to less than 5% for individuals over the 
age  of  55  and  for  those  with  less  than  upper  secondary  education  (Ministerio  de 
Educación y Formación Profesional, 2019). This is another factor that can contribute to 

See 

2011. 

ISCED 

31 
https://appsso.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/nui/show.do?query=BOOKMARK_DS-
591613_QID_F95EC61_UID_-
3F171EB0&layout=AGE,L,X,0;GEO,L,Y,0;TIME,C,Z,0;SEX,L,Z,1;UNIT,L,Z,2;ISCED11,L
,Z,3;INDICATORS,C,Z,4;&zSelection=DS-591613TIME,2017;DS-591613SEX,T;DS-
591613UNIT,PC;DS-591613ISCED11,ED3_4;DS-
591613INDICATORS,OBS_FLAG;&rankName1=ISCED11_1_2_-
1_2&rankName2=UNIT_1_2_-1_2&rankName3=INDICATORS_1_2_-
1_2&rankName4=TIME_1_0_0_0&rankName5=SEX_1_2_0_0&rankName6=AGE_1_2_
0_0&rankName7=GEO_1_2_0_1&rStp=&cStp=&rDCh=&cDCh=&rDM=true&cDM=true
&footnes=false&empty=false&wai=false&time_mode=FIXED&time_most_recent=false
&lang=EN&cfo=%23%23%23%2C%23%23%23.%23%23%23&lang=en  [checked  on 
10-04-2020] 

October 2019 

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Labour Market Policy Thematic Review 2019: Skills imbalances - Spain 

horizontal skills mismatches, but only if companies have unmet training needs,32 which 
seems to be a minority of companies in Spain, see section 3.2.  

2.7.7  Digitalisation and automation 

The gap between the skills and competences provided in the education system 
and those required in the labour market is  widening due to digitalisation,  as 
the  labour  market  transforms  more  quickly  than  the  education  system, 
according to some interviewees. Based on 40 interviews with HR experts, Adecco (2016) 
also  expected  technological  advances  to  be  the  most  important  force  driving  labour 
market  changes  (with  eight  out  of  ten  respondents  expecting  a  very  high  impact). 
Blázquez et al. (2019) place substantial emphasis on the importance of digitalisation, 
automation and robotisation as trends that require specific skills that are hard to find 
for companies. Approximately half of the 53 companies included in their study reported 
a very high impact of the digital revolution on the changing profile of workers that they 
demand,  placing  this  above  client  needs,  internationalisation,  Automation/  AI,  or 
increased competition. 

2.8  Labour market intelligence and its use in VET, adult learning and 

ALMPs 

2.8.1  Main organisations collecting data 

Skills  anticipation  and  matching  systems  are  complex,  both  in  terms  of  the 
organisations  involved  (public  employment  services,  other  national  bodies, 
regional  and  local  actors,  social  partners,  etc.)  and  the  methodologies 
employed  (ILO  et  al.,  2017).  Information  on  skills  imbalances  in  Spain  is  provided, 
first,  by  public  sectors  organisations,  such  as  national  Ministries;  second,  by 
international organisations; and third, by other organisations (including social partners, 
universities, foundations and private companies). 

The  Observatorio  de  las  Ocupaciones (Occupations  Observatory),  part  of  the 
Ministry  of  Work,  Migration  and  Social  Security,  focuses  on  continuing 
vocational  training  for  people  both  in  employment  or  unemployment 
situations, the “formación profesional para el empleo” (FPE)33. It is charged with 
the following main tasks: 

 

the  identification  and  forecasting  of  skills  needs  in  the  productive  sector,  and 
sectoral forecasts34; 

  compile,  since  2012,  information  on  the  professional  profiles  (and  associated 
competences)  needed  according  to  the  employment  offer.  This  includes  a 
comparison of unemployed people who are available to work in each occupation, 
the cumulative number of contracts in that occupation by year, at the national 
and CCAA levels, and geographical mobility in that occupation (Observatorio de 
las Ocupaciones, 2018c); 

32  https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/skills/statistics-illustrated  [checked  on  10-04-
2020] 
33 
See 
https://www.fundae.es/Con%C3%B3cenos/Pages/PFormaci%C3%B3nempleo.aspx 
[checked on 10-04-2020] 
34 
https://www.sepe.es/HomeSepe/que-es-el-sepe/observatorio/necesidades-
formativas.html [checked on 10-04-2020] 

consulted 

Available 

editions 

report 

this 

can 

be 

of 

also 

via 

October 2019 

16 

 
 
                                           
Labour Market Policy Thematic Review 2019: Skills imbalances - Spain 

  produce reports on the labour market and on labour market trends; 

  produce  studies  on  the  mobility  of  workers  (Observatorio  de  las  Ocupaciones, 

2019).  

In  relation  to  the  first  point  (identification  and  forecast  of  skills  needs)  in  2015,  and 
following the introduction of Law 30/201535 that aimed to improve the labour market 
outcomes of VET provision for both people in employment and not in employment, skills 
anticipation received greater importance (Skills Panorama, 2017). The Observatory is 
charged with the production of an annual report that identifies the occupations 
with better labour market prospects (at the state level and also providing more 
disaggregated  territorial  breakdowns  by  region  and  province),  as  well  as  a 
diagnosis of employers’ current training needs and expected trends. The 2018 
report identified around 200 primary occupations with good employment perspectives 
(Observatorio  de  las  Ocupaciones,  2018b).  This  information  informs  the  priority 
objectives for the training offer of the FPE – see also section 2.8.3 below. According to 
Law  30/2015  the  annual  reports  should  feed  into  the  production  of  a  multi-annual 
strategic plan by the Ministry of Employment, to ensure that training provision is guided 
by  skills  anticipation.  The  Observatory  is  a  network36  and  works  in  collaboration  with 
the CCAA and social partners, amongst other stakeholders37.  

Law  30/2015  reallocated  responsibilities  between  stakeholders,  as 
it 
regulated that social partners would contribute to the identification of current 
and future training needs, but would not be providers of training, as happened 
previously.  More  generally,  it  aimed  to  enhance  coordination  between  stakeholders 
regarding vocational training through the use of Sectoral Joint Committees, which are 
in  charge  of  producing  sectoral  training  reference  plans  to  inform  training  provision 
associated with public employment services. 

The Ministry of Work, Migration and Social Security is also responsible for the 
public employment service and the Fundación Estatal para la Formación en el 
Empleo  (State  Foundation  for  Training  and  Employment),  formerly  the 
Tripartite Foundation. 

The  Ministry  of  Education  and  Vocational  Training  is  responsible  for  the 
Instituto  Nacional  de  las  Cualificaciones,  INCUAL  (National  Qualifications 
Institute), which also aims to promote a higher degree of match between qualifications 
and  labour  market  needs,  including  through  occupational  profile  analyses  and  the 
readjustment  of  the  qualifications  on  offer.  The  Ministry  of  Science,  Innovation  and 
Universities,  on  the  other  hand,  leads  on  analyses  for  higher  education  levels,  for 
example publishing information on the labour market outcomes by subject (Ministerio 
de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades, 2019).  

The National Institute of Statistics (INE) leads on much of the labour market 
data collection and analysis, including the Encuesta de Población Activa (EPA) 
(Labour  Market  Survey).  The  EPA  is  a  large  survey  that  targets  around  65  000 

35  For  the  full  text  of  the  Law  and  the  2017  Decree  that  develops  it  visit 
https://www.fundae.es/Con%C3%B3cenos/Pages/PFormaci%C3%B3nempleo.aspx 
[checked on 10-04-2020]  
36  More 
found  here: 
http://incual.mecd.es/en/red-de-observatorios-del-mercado-de-trabajo  [checked  on 
10-04-2020] 
37 See https://www.cedefop.europa.eu/en/node/29928 [checked on 10-04-2020] 

the  network  composition  can  be 

information  on 

October 2019 

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Labour Market Policy Thematic Review 2019: Skills imbalances - Spain 

families (around 200 000 people) every three months and contains rich information on 
the supply side of the labour market, including aspects such as infra-utilisation. 

At  the  CCAA  level,  regional  governments  are  responsible  for  ensuring  that 
education and training provision meets local needs. Various Quality Assurance 
Agencies for higher education generate relevant data through regular surveys 
of  graduates  and  sometimes  employers.  In  Catalonia  the  AQU  (Agency  for  the 
Quality of the University System in Catalonia) has since 2001 (2001, 2005, 2008, 2011, 
2014, 2017) surveyed the labour market outcomes of graduates. In the CCAA of Galicia 
since 2001, the Agency for the Quality of the University System in Galicia (ACSUG) has 
also  undertaken  graduate  labour  market  outcomes  surveys  annually  or  biannually. 
These agencies undertake different surveys for Bachelor and Master graduates. 

Comités  Paritarios  Sectoriales38  (Sectoral  Joint  Committees),  are  a  major 
platform  for  social  partners  to  feed  expert  opinions,  based  on  their  close 
contact with the world of work, into skills needs debates. They undertake sectoral 
forecasts and produce sectoral reference plans for consideration by public employment 
services when commissioning training from training providers. Social partners are also 
represented in key institutions in the area of skills and employment, such as the Consejo 
General  del  Sistema  Nacional  de  Empleo  (National  Council  for  Employment),  where 
national and regional authorities are also represented. It is the main consultation forum 
related to the vocational training system for employment and, in addition to other tasks, 
it  acts  as  guarantor  of  the  implementation  of  Law  30/2015  mentioned  earlier  in  this 
report. 

institutions 

(Eurostat,  Cedefop)  and  other 

European 
international 
organisations, in particular the OECD, provide information on skills imbalances, 
some of which has already been discussed in this report. Cedefop has undertaken 
forecasts on employment changes (employment growth) 2018-2030 in Spain, by sector 
and occupation. As mentioned, it produces information specifically on skills imbalances 
too. 

Other organisations, including universities, foundations and private companies 
also  produce  relevant  information  on  skills  imbalances.  The  Observatorio  de 
Empleabilidad  y  Empleo  Universitarios  (OEEU)  (Observatory  for  Employability  and 
Employment  amongst  graduates)  is  an  initiative  of  Spanish  universities  and  La  Caixa 
Foundation.  It  surveys  graduates  through  a  Graduate  Employability  and  Employment 
Barometer,  which  has  been  undertaken  in  2015  and  2017  (Michavila  et  al.,  2016). 
Companies like Randstad39 or Manpower (2018) regularly publish reports on hard to fill 
vacancies  and  occupations  most  in  demand.  So  do  foundations  like  Fundación 
Conocimiento  y  Desarrollo  (CYD)  that  for  the  last  15  years  has  been  publishing  an 
annual report on the contribution of Universities to the Spanish economy and society. 

There  is  a  need  to  pull  together  different  sources  to  achieve  a  better 
understanding of mismatches in the labour market. While the Public Employment 
Service provides information on vacancies, it cannot provide a representative overview 
of the labour market as a whole and the extent to which certain vacancies are hard to 

https://www.randstad.es/tendencias360/los-perfiles-tecnologicos-profesionales-
10-04-2020]; 

38  For  a  description  see  https://www.fundae.es/Observatorio/Pages/Queson.aspx 
[checked on 10-04-2020] 
39 
mas-demandados-de-hoy-a-2020/ 
https://www.randstad.es/tendencias360/los-5-perfiles-mas-demandados-en-2018/ 
[checked  on  10-04-2020];  https://www.randstad.es/tendencias360/perfiles-de-
responsabilidad-mas-demandados-en-2017/ [checked on 10-04-2020]  

[checked 

on 

October 2019 

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Labour Market Policy Thematic Review 2019: Skills imbalances - Spain 

fill40 – see also Adecco (2018)41. Employment agencies play an important role here, but 
there is scope to further develop public-private partnerships in this area.  

2.8.2  Types of data used 

In Spain, a combination of data sources is used in order to assess skills supply 
and demand. For example, the Occupations Observatory produces rich data based on 
administrative  data,  expert  inputs  and  the  analysis  of  online  vacancies42.  The  State 
Foundation  for  Training  and  Employment  produces  forecasts  through  the  analysis  of 
administrative data on recruitment, social security and tax contributions. This body has 
also reported to be working with Big Data techniques to analyse the content of training 
courses  undertaken  by  companies,  to  obtain  information  about  their  training  needs 
(Fundación  Estatal  para  la  Formación  en  el  Empleo,  2019).  It  is  expected  that  this 
information can then be fed into the planning and design of training under active labour 
market  policies.  Different  administrations  produce  employer  surveys  at  regional  and 
local levels  on  skills  and  training  needs  and  methodological notes  on  how  to  forecast 
skills needs (Skills Panorama, 2017). They also gather qualitative information through 
exchange  with  social  partners.  Social  partners  and  Chambers  of  Commerce  also 
undertake interview/ survey work with their target groups (employers and employees), 
often from a sectoral perspective (Skills Panorama, 2017). Higher education institutions 
and quality assurance agencies in some regions survey graduates and/ or employers to 
assess their degree of match between education background and work, or skills needs. 
Manpower (2018) and other private employment agencies tend to base their studies on 
surveys of HR executives or their own candidate and vacancy data. 

2.8.3  Use in VET, adult learning and ALMPs 

While  Spain  has  been  developing  its  mechanisms  for  monitoring  skills 
mismatches in the labour market, evidence on the use of that information to 
shape VET, adult learning and ALMPs remains more limited43. Efforts have been 
focused on increasing the popularity of VET and better adjusting the educational offer 
to labour market demands. 

In order to increase  the  attractiveness of  VET, emphasis  has been  placed on 
the  provision  of  ’Dual  Vocational  Training’44,  which  combines  learning  in 
educational  centres  and  (at  least  one  third  of  the  total  duration  of  the 
programme)  at  companies.  The  implementation  of  this  type  of  vocational  training 

of 

40  For  a  fuller  discussion  on  this  topic  see  McGrath  and  Behan  (2019)  and  McGrath 
(2019). 
41  Around  half  of  respondents  to  the  study  reported  to  never  use  PES  in  their  job 
searches. 
42 Online vacancies being a key source for the preparation of the professional profiles 
work 
See 
https://www.sepe.es/indicePerfiles/indicePerfiles.do?idioma=es  
43  In  addition  to  the  information  provided  in  this  section  readers  can  also  consult 
Cedefop’s ’Matching skills‘ repository of policy instruments, which details skills matching 
policies  (five  for  Spain  including  the  adaptation  of  VET  provision  to  labour  market 
demands and the Observatory of Occupations as well as three more sectoral or regional 
initiatives)  and  skills  needs  anticipation  policies  (one  in  the  Barcelona  area).  
https://www.cedefop.europa.eu/en/tools/matching-skills/policy-instruments/current 
[checked on 10-04-2020]  
44  See 
dual/fp-dual-en-sistema-educativo.html [checked on 10-04-2020]  

http://www.todofp.es/sobre-fp/informacion-general/formacion-profesional-

Observatory. 

the 

October 2019 

19 

 
 
                                           
Labour Market Policy Thematic Review 2019: Skills imbalances - Spain 

depends, like all other formal education offers, on the CCAAs45. VET popularity has also 
increased in recent years indirectly, as a result of the difficulties that higher education 
graduates have been facing in obtaining quality employment.  

Amongst the actions to improve the match between the educational offer and 
labour market demands, interviewees noted that some regions have begun to 
use  labour  market  intelligence  to  shape  their  formal  education  provision.  An 
example  of  this  is  Catalonia,  where  the  AQU  (the  HE  quality  assurance  agency  for 
Catalonia) regularly produces labour market intelligence through surveys of employers 
and graduates. AQU gathers information, for example, on employers’ assessment of the 
competences of graduates. It then uses this information to shape the educational offer 
and teaching methodologies in higher education programmes in Catalonia, where AQU 
acts as an inspectorate for HE. In the last five to six years labour market information is 
also being used to diversify the offer in initial VET, according to local needs. There are 
also plans to enhance the use of labour market information in the design of education 
through an agency for evaluation and forecasting in education.  

In the case of continuing vocational training, the Labour Ministry has recently 
begun to undertake ‘prospective studies’ of training needs, to inform the offer 
of FPE, according to the mandate of Law 30/2015, which also requires sectoral 
forecasts.  The  Labour  Ministry  finances  that  training  offer  and  informs  CCAAs  about 
training priorities (including priority sectors and occupations for training). The offer of 
courses themselves is subsequently implemented at the regional and local level. Various 
interviewees noted that there is scope for more systematic evaluation of the impact of 
such  FPE  training,  for  example,  through  better  use  of  social  security  data.  Some 
interviewees noted that at present there is a lot of diversity between  the practices of 
CCAAs (who follow prospective studies to different extents), and no strong mechanisms 
for  coordination  beyond  central  steering  of  the  training  offer  through  financing  and  a 
degree of required reporting from CCAAs. 

There are also sectoral initiatives, such as the Profesionales TIC (Professional ICT) 
led  by  the  AMETIC  Sectoral  Association,  which  aim  to  increase  the  supply  of 
professionals  in  specific  high  demand  sectors  by  providing  training  to  job 
seekers. The programme is fully subsidised by the Spanish public employment services, 
and has trained over 14 000 people since 2014, obtaining an employment rate above 
60%46. 

3 

The  consequences  of,  and  policy  responses  to,  skills 
imbalances  

3.1  Consequences of skills imbalances 

Some  interviewees  referred  to  the  lack  of  capacity  for  the  labour  market  in 
Spain  to  absorb  the  number  of  graduates  generated  through  the  education 
system  and  noted  that  this  is  particularly  problematic  during  recessions, 
leading to higher levels of underemployment. It can also affect, some interviewees 
argued, the educational decisions of future generations as they perceive HE to have a 
relatively low value. 

45  See 
http://www.todofp.es/sobre-fp/informacion-general/formacion-profesional-
dual/proyectos-fp-dual-espana.html  [checked  on  10-04-2020]  for  further  information 
on the extent to which this type of vocational training offer has been taken up in different 
CCAAs. 
46 See http://ametic.es/es/FTI/profesionales-tic [checked on 10-04-2020] 

October 2019 

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Labour Market Policy Thematic Review 2019: Skills imbalances - Spain 

There  is  some  indication  that  imbalances  can  lead  also  to  the  reduction  of 
productivity  (Blázquez  et  al.,  2019),  although  the  relation 
is  not 
straightforward (Vandeplas and Thum-Thysen, 2019). Interviewees noted that 
the  consequences  of  skills  mismatching  go  beyond  the  purely  economic. 
Surpluses can lead to poor employment satisfaction, poor returns to education, and for 
young people, difficulties in leaving parents’ home and forming their own families. Low 
fertility rates, in turn,  exacerbate ageing problems. The problems generated by skills 
imbalances, thus, spread beyond economic to also affect social issues. 

3.2  Policy responses 

A  range  of  policies  and  initiatives  are  in  place  aimed  at  reducing  skills 
mismatches,  directly  or  indirectly.  The  OECD  (2017a)  makes  a  number  of 
suggestions  for  policy  improvement  to  address  skills  imbalances  in  Spain  around 
improving  public  employment  services,  coordination  between  different  levels  of 
administration,  further  increasing  opportunities  for  lifelong  learning  and  making 
education and training provision more responsive to labour market demands. 

3.2.1  Improving labour market information 

Actions in this area include, first, improving the production of labour market 
information on skills supply and demand, along the lines of what has already been 
discussed  in  this  report,  and  using  this  information  to  guide  training  supply, 
including for unemployed people.  

Second,  there  are  attempts  to  improve  the  labour market  information  of  the 
end-users of education and training, so that they take informed decisions, as 
information frictions on education and occupational choices/ job vacancies can 
lead to  imbalances. This encompasses including information on skills imbalances in 
counselling  sessions,  but  also  outreach  activities.  For  example,  and  with  regards  to 
engineering-related studies,  several universities in Spain undertake out-reach actions 
to increase awareness of the opportunities that they provide (Cedefop, 2016). There is 
scope  to  further  increase  the  use  of  technology  in  informing  jobseekers  and  the 
population  in  general  regarding  skill  imbalances.  However,  some  initiatives  are 
available, such as the SEPE (the Spanish Central Public Employment Service) Empleate 
website. This website enables users to provide information on where they would like to 
work  (geographically,  down  to  the  Council  level),  their  level  of  education  and  their 
preferred sector of activity, to obtain information on occupations which experienced  a 
higher level of new contracts in the previous month, what the longer-term trends look 
like,  related  offers,  the  occupational  profile  for  that  occupation  and  education  and 
training requirements for that occupation: 

October 2019 

21 

 
 
 
Labour Market Policy Thematic Review 2019: Skills imbalances - Spain 

Figure 8.  SEPE’s “Empleate” website 

Partial screen capture. Source: https://www.empleate.gob.es/empleo/#/asistente/1   

Universia, a network of universities,47 has made available a Search engine for 
professions  in  Spain.  The  engine  asks  users  to  type  a  profession  and  returns 
information on an Employability Index and gross salary after 1-2 years of experience.  

3.2.2  Improving education and training 

One central aspect of this is rebalancing the educational achievement profile 
in  Spain,  by  increasing  the  number  of  people  with  an  intermediate  level  of 
qualifications,  in  particular  VET  qualifications,  to  reduce  imbalances.  Several 
actions  have  been  introduced  to  reduce  Early  School  Leaving48.  There  are  actions  to 

47 
https://profesiones-ocupaciones.universia.net/busqueda?knowledgeAreas=666 
[checked on 10-04-2020]; https://profesiones-ocupaciones.universia.net/ [checked on 
10-04-2020] No information is provided on these websites (as of 15/09/2019) on the 
methodology for the production of the employability index. 
48 See Ministerio de Educación y Formación Profesional (2018) in particular p.374 and 
pp.503 and following, for an outline of recent actions in this area in Spain, such as the 
Proeducar programme. 

October 2019 

22 

 
 
 
                                           
Labour Market Policy Thematic Review 2019: Skills imbalances - Spain 

enhance the VET offer,49 for example, through the introduction of new VET qualifications, 
more  agile  and  better  informed  curricular  and  qualification  reforms,  including  in 
emerging  sectors  such  as  industry  4.0  or  5G  communication,50  and  the  already 
mentioned spread of Dual Training options. It is important to note that the number of 
students in the different levels of vocational training has almost doubled (Ministerio de 
Educación  y  Formación  Profesional,  2019)  in  the  last  decade  in  Spain (from  486  893 
students in 2008-2009 to 838 764 students in 2018-2019), with substantial increases 
at  both  secondary  and  tertiary  level  VET,  although  Spain  still  lags  behind  the  OECD 
average. 

A second central aspect is the increase of the labour market relevance of the 
education and training provided (Vandeplas and Thum-Thysen, 2019). This can be 
undertaken  through  various  routes,  such  as  curricular  changes,  introduction  or 
expansion of work-related elements such as placements and work experience in existing 
provision, or introduction of new courses. Some interviewees advocated the introduction 
of  a  dual  system  in  higher  education,  with  more  direct  connections  with  employers, 
which is in line with previous calls for  a strong placement practices’ system in higher 
education (Ramos, 2017). Such programmes are available in the Basque Country, both 
in  private  and  state  Universities51.  There  have  been  calls  (OECD,  2017a)  for  greater 
investment in active labour market policies to reduce imbalances. 

Integrated systems for the collection of information on education and training 
provision,  and  its  comparison  with  existent  demand  and  demand  forecasts 
could  also  help  to  avoid  duplication  in  the  production  of  skills  and  reduce 
imbalances. 

3.2.3  Financing of training 

The Annual Labour Survey 201752, suggests that not many companies in Spain 
see unmet training needs, as already discussed. Companies in Spain have a certain 
annual  allocation  for  the  training  of  their  workers,  which  varies  depending  on  certain 
company characteristics. The allocation comes from social security contributions and is 
lost if the company does not undertake training to the value allocated within a specified 
period of time53. The Public Employment Service provides training opportunities for the 
upskilling/  re-skilling  of  unemployed  people.  The  OECD  (2017b)  has  noted  efforts  in 
Spain  to  reduce  the  administrative  burden  of  creating  training  plans  through  the 
provision  of  technical  support  for  companies,  in  particular  for  SMEs,  interested  in 
offering apprenticeship training opportunities. 

49 INQUAL, the national qualifications authority, plays a key role in this area as the body 
responsible  for  designing  VET  qualifications  and  design  and  update  occupational 
standards that meet labour market needs. 
50  See    https://www.cedefop.europa.eu/en/news-and-press/news/spain-new-steps-
boost-vet [checked on 10-04-2020] for a review. 
51  CYD  (2018)  for  a  review  of  the  experiences  of  the  Universidad  de  Mongragón  and 
Universidad del País Vasco. 
52  See  http://www.mitramiss.gob.es/estadisticas/EAL/welcome.htm  [checked  on  10-
04-2020]  
53  See  https://www.fundae.es/Empresas%20y%20organizaciones/Pages/Bonificacion-
8pasos.aspx [checked on 10-04-2020] for further details. 

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Labour Market Policy Thematic Review 2019: Skills imbalances - Spain 

3.2.4  Recognise  non-formal  and 

informal 

learning  and  undertake 

individualised skills audits 

Interviewees  made  reference  to  the  validation  of  non-formal  and  informal 
learning, as a tool to reduce underutilisation of skills and competences54. Some 
interviewees  made  reference,  in  particular,  to  the  importance  of  individualised  skills 
audits  and  assessments  to  guide  individuals  on  the  training  they  would  require  to 
achieve a better match with labour market demands.  

While  there  is  some  activity  in  this  area  in  Spain,  it  would  be  beneficial  to 
further develop it, and to enhance collaboration between the public and private sector, 
in particular employment agencies, which are highly connected with employers. 

3.2.5  Research, Development and Innovation 

Green and Henseke (2016) suggest that graduate underemployment levels are 
primarily  explained  by  the  proportion  of  graduate  jobs  relative  to  graduate 
labour supply, to a much greater extent than other factors such as differences in skills 
matching institutions, information, advice and guidance or the skills levels of graduates.  

Given this, and in a political and social context where curtailing the growth of 
higher  education  would  be  difficult,  they  suggest  that  the  most  effective 
policies  to  address  imbalances  are  those  that  target  the  demand  side  of  the 
labour  market,  trying  to  shape  the  levels  of  demand  for  highly  educated  workers, 
including technologies and industrial policies as central policy interventions. Industria 
conectada 4.0 aims to stimulate the adoption of digital technologies in Spanish firms, 
and this could raise the demand for digital skills55. 

Some interviewees highlighted the importance of strengthening research and 
development  and  changing  the  productive  model  in  Spain,  to  try  to  avoid 
overreliance  on  construction  and  tourism,  to  reduce  skills  surpluses,  and  to  further 
diversify the economy towards greater added-value activities and the so-called Industry 
4.0  and  the  digital  economy.  However,  they  noted,  while  the  importance  of  R&D  has 
been acknowledged in the political discourse, so far investment has not increased to the 
extent that is required to bring about real changes in the productive model. A challenge 
for Spain is that its labour market is heavily dominated by small companies, of a size 
that  does  not  facilitate  their  investment  in  R&D.  Innovation  could  also  be  stimulated 
through  greater  emphasis  on  entrepreneurship  in  the  education  system.  Several 
Universities  have  already  put  in  place  entrepreneurship  programmes  that  provide 
information, advice and guidance, entrepreneur clubs, research, and training56. 

3.2.6  Migration and mobility 

The  facilitation  of  mobility  can  help  to  reduce  imbalances.  The  Spanish  public 
employment service has created a Catalogue of difficult to fill occupations (Boletin Oficial 
del Estado (BOE), 2019) that is used to facilitate the hiring of foreign workers. Most of 
the occupations in the catalogue, however, are related to the maritime industry or elite 
sports.  There  are  concerns  that  this  catalogue  could  be  used  to  worsen  working 

54  See  https://www.cedefop.europa.eu/en/events-and-projects/projects/validation-
non-formal-and-informal-learning/european-inventory#country  [checked  on  10-04-
2020] for detailed information on the validation of non-formal and informal learning in 
Spain and other European countries. 
55  See  https://www.industriaconectada40.gob.es/Paginas/Index.aspx#inicio  [checked 
on 10-04-2020] 
56  See  https://www.universia.es/papel-universidad/desarrollo-profesional/at/1150676 
[checked on 10-04-2020] for some examples. 

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24 

 
 
                                           
Labour Market Policy Thematic Review 2019: Skills imbalances - Spain 

conditions  for  Spanish  nationals  in  those  occupations,  in  particular  in  the  maritime 
industry,  given  that  international  competition  often  comes  from  countries  with  worse 
conditions and salaries. 

The companies surveyed by Blázquez et al. noted a role for the EU in sharing 
good  practices,  supporting  the  mobility  of  students  and  workers  in  order  to 
reduce skills imbalances (Blázquez et al., 2019). 

4 

Conclusion 

Currently, no single national official definition or indicator of skills imbalances 
exists  in  Spain.  While  there  are  many  indicators  in  this  area,  there  is  no  national 
system of indicators that is visible and monitored.  

There is, however, increasing interest in this topic and different data sources 
–  from  international  organisations,  national  organisations  and  private  organisations  - 
that  capture  and  measure  aspects  related  to  shortages  and  surpluses  in  the 
labour market.  

There  is  a  need  for  a  consensus  on  the  most  useful  measures  of  skills 
imbalances  (and  the  breakdowns  in  which  it  should  be  available  in  terms  of 
geography,  level  of  education,  occupation  or  sector),  and  consolidating  data 
collection efforts between different levels and stakeholders.  

Related to this, interviewees welcomed the idea of introducing a measure of 
skills  imbalances  in  the  European  semester,  in  order  to  increase  focus  and 
visibility of the work undertaken in this area. They also noted how the messages 
from the European Commission and Cedefop on skills imbalances have had an impact 
on the perception of the importance to measure this aspect in the Spanish setting. 

In  the  Spanish  context,  the  use  of  data  in  skills  imbalances  has  improved 
significantly in the last five years. However, there is scope for further use of 
such data for decision-making and for greater coordination in terms of policy 
diagnosis and responses amongst different levels of public administration and 
education and training providers (including companies) in relation to this topic 
(OECD, 2017a, 2017b). That will also require that the data collected be made available 
in formats that enable easy extraction and analysis (McGrath, 2019).  

There  is,  additionally,  an  urgent  need  to  improve  the  evaluation  or  ’returns’ 
achieved  by  policies  to  reduce  skills  imbalances,  in  particular  training 
measures to alleviate skills shortages in priority areas. 

There is substantial work being done with regards to forecasting future skills 
needs, including in collaboration with social partners57, but full use is yet to be 
made of the forecasts produced both at national and regional level, in terms of 
shaping  the  education  and  training  offer.  Moreover,  forecasts  focus  mainly  on 
vocational training. 

On  the  whole,  skills  imbalances,  in  particular  surpluses  and  field  of  study 
mismatches, are abundant in the Spanish labour market, and the ramifications of 
their  consequences  extend  to  economic  aspects  such  as  low  productivity  but  also  to 
social aspects, including various demographic challenges.  

57 For detailed information see Cedefop (2017). 

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Labour Market Policy Thematic Review 2019: Skills imbalances - Spain 

A  number  of  mechanisms  and  initiatives  have  been  put  in  place  to  address 
those  imbalances,  but  there  is  a  consensus  that  further  urgent  action  is 
required. 

5 

Glossary 

- Employment rate of recent graduates: employment rate of persons aged 20 to 34 
who: are employed according to the ILO definition, second, have attained at least upper 
secondary  education  (ISCED  3)  as  the  highest  level  of  education,  third,  not  having 
received any education or training in the four weeks preceding the survey and fourth, 
having  successfully  completed  their  highest  educational  attainment  1,  2  or  3  years 
before the survey. The indicator is calculated based on data from the EU Labour Force 
Survey. 

-  Genuine  vs.  apparent  skills  imbalances58:  genuine  skills  imbalances  refer  to 
employers’ skill demand that cannot be met by the available supply (at market clearing 
wage rates, that is, the employer makes a competitive job offer, but still cannot fill the 
vacancy because candidates do not possess the required skills), whereas apparent skills 
imbalances are due to the inability of employers to offer the salary or working conditions 
to attract the relevant skills. 

- Geographical mismatch/imbalance: the workers with types and levels of skills or 
education required are based in a country or region different from where such skills are 
needed. 

- Job Vacancy59: is defined as a paid post that is newly created, unoccupied, or about 
to become vacant, for which the employer is taking active steps and is prepared to take 
further  steps  to  find  a  suitable  candidate  from  outside  the  enterprise  concerned  and 
which the employer intends to fill either immediately or within a specific period of time. 

- Job Vacancy rate60 (JVR): is calculated as the number of job vacancies / (number 
of occupied posts + number of job vacancies) * 100. 

-  Labour  shortages:  reflect  a  market  disequilibrium  where  the  demand  for  labour 
exceeds  the  available  supply,  at  the  particular  wages  and  working  conditions,  at  a 
particular  place  and  point  of  time  (Barnow,  Trutko  and  Piatak,  2013).  According  to 
Quintini (2011), skills shortages arise “when employers are unable to recruit staff with 
the  required  skills  in  the  accessible  labour  market  and  at  the  ongoing  rate  of  pay”. 
Labour shortages can be specific to certain geographical locations, to occupations with 
special  skill  or  functional  requirements  and  can  have  a  seasonal  pattern  in  certain 
industries (such as services or agriculture). It is useful to distinguish quantitative and 
qualitative labour shortages. In case of a quantitative (or aggregate) labour shortage, 
the total supply of labour in an economy (i.e. for all sectors and occupations) is below 
the  total  demand  for  labour.  Qualitative  shortages  occur  if  labour  demand  exceeds 
labour supply in a specific sector, occupation, or at a specific skill level. 

- Mobility rate: this refers to the proportion of contracts in a geographical area that 
have implied geographical mobility over the total number of contracts, expressed as a 
percentage. 

58 See also https://www.cedefop.europa.eu/files/3075_en.pdf [checked on 10-04-
2020] 
59 https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-
explained/index.php/Glossary:Job_vacancy_rate_(JVR) [checked on 10-04-2020] 
60 https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-
explained/index.php/Glossary:Job_vacancy_rate_(JVR) [checked on 10-04-2020]  

October 2019 

26 

 
 
                                           
Labour Market Policy Thematic Review 2019: Skills imbalances - Spain 

- Skills gap: is the situation when an employer believes that workers do not have the 
skills to successfully discharge their current role. 

- Skills Imbalances: discrepancy between the demand and supply of skills in the labour 
market, in other words a situation in which the skills sought by employers are different 
from  the  skills  offered  by  workers  in  general  or  job-seekers  in  particular.  Also  see 
synonym of skills mismatch below. 

-  Skills  mismatch:  situation  in  the  labour  market  where  the  level  of  skills  of  an 
individual  does  not  match  the  level  of  skills  required  in  the  job  (overskilling, 
underskilling, overqualification, underqualification)61.  

  Vertical mismatch: skills mismatch is vertical when the level of skills or education 
is more or less than the level of skills or education required to perform a job. 

  -Horizontal mismatch: skills mismatch is horizontal when the type of education 
or skills is not appropriate for the current job, but the level of education or skills 
matches the requirements of the job. 

- Skills shortages:  is  the situation where employers are unable to fill a post due to 
lack of suitably skilled candidates. 

- Skills surpluses: is the situation where the supply of a skill, or a skill level, exceeds 
employers’ demand for that skill or skill level. 

- Structural Unemployment: chronic level of unemployment in an economy, due to a 
mismatch  between  employers’  requirement  and  the  properties  (such  as  skills  or 
location)  of  unemployed  people.  The  level  of  structural  unemployment  tends  to  be 
affected  by  strong  changes  in  the  overall  economy,  due  to,  for  example,  changes  in 
demography, technology or industrial organisation. 

6 

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Labour Market Policy Thematic Review 2019: Skills imbalances - Spain 

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October 2019 

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