Teaching, healthcare and IT jobs are among the hardest roles to fill across Europe, whereas employers generally find it easier to recruit labourers and food preparation assistants. However, this pattern varies significantly by country, with Spain facing a large shortage of food preparation assistants according to the OECD.
These ongoing skill shortages persist even as young people navigate a tougher job market. The OECD found that the unemployment gap between young graduates and the wider working-age population has widened across analysed countries, while the European Central Bank noted that eurozone job prospects for young people have weakened since 2023.
Among EU countries covered in the OECD's Mapping Skill Shortages in OECD Countries report, teaching ranks as the hardest occupation to fill on average. This is followed by health professionals, information and communications technology professionals, health associate professionals, and business and administration professionals.
At the other end of the index, labourers are the easiest workers to recruit, followed by elementary workers, food preparation assistants, sales workers and assemblers. The OECD index compares relative shortages and surpluses within each country rather than counting total vacancies.
Health professionals are hard to find in 23 of the 27 evaluated European countries, while health associate professionals face shortages in 21. Paul De Raeve and Manuel Ballotta of the European Federation of Nurses Associations told Euronews Business that EU healthcare systems cannot retain frontline nurses due to high patient ratios, unsafe conditions, low pay, and exposure to violence.
Dr Ole Johan Bakke of the Standing Committee of European Doctors added that excessive workloads and violence contribute to burnout and make medicine less attractive. Teachers are similarly hard to find in 21 countries, with Daniel Wisniewski of the European Federation of Education Employers highlighting growing classroom demands, administrative burdens and complex professional expectations.
Isabel Skak Olufsen, an economist at the OECD, stated that digitalisation has increased demand for ICT professionals, though artificial intelligence could reduce entry-level demand. Olufsen explained that shortages differ due to economic structures and varying national pay rates for educators and medical staff.
Pia-Johanna Fallstraöm of the European Labour Authority noted that Europe's labour shortages are increasingly structural rather than temporary. She called for better training, improved working conditions, and fair labour mobility to help workers from surplus regions find employment where shortages exist.
Source: Euronews. Read the original report ↗