Quarterly Review of Employment and Social Developments in Europe (ESDE) - January 2025

ESDE quarterly reviews periodically provide an overview of recent social and labour market developments in the EU, accompanied by specific thematic analyses.

The thematic part of this review focuses on the overqualification of workers born outside the EU and factors that affect their overqualification. This is relevant in the context of allocation of labour, skills deterioration and worker’s motivation.  

The analysis shows that migrants are more likely to be overqualified than natives, with a higher probability for women and those with poor language skills. Host country education significantly reduces the risk of overqualification of workers born outside the EU, with recognition of qualifications remaining a key barrier to migrants’ full integration into the EU labour market. Proficiency in host country language also plays a crucial role in finding a job matching migrants’ skills. 

Finally, it also highlights that efforts to address overqualification need to consider multiple, intersecting barriers for different population groups such as migrant women or those with weaker socio-economic backgrounds.

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Statistical annex

Recurrent analysis - latest update (Excel)