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4 Findings
This section presents the main findings from the literature review,
analysis of Eurobarometer data 101 , dedicated surveys to youth
organisations and young people, a workshop with stakeholders and
in-depth interviews with employers. The presentation of results is
organised according to the research questions.
4.1 Research question 1: What soft skills and competences, and at what
level, are demanded in the labour market?
4.1.1 Skills that employers demand
There is a range of sources available to answer this question. Some
of those sources are high-quality large-scale surveys. Details on the
sources, and associated indicators employed are provided in Annex
1.
Most of the available sources refer to skills demanded in relation to
graduates. However, those sources that include wider sets of
employees (like the UK National Employers Skills survey) suggest
that the skills employers would like to see developed do not, on the
whole, differ substantially by level of occupation (except for
‘management skills’, which are more important at the top of the
occupational scale) –see Annex 1. This suggests that the skills
demanded by employers presented in the next section do not
concern only higher education graduates. Similarly, Jackson
(2009 102 ) compares the importance of experience, effort, technical
skills, social skills, and personal characteristics across different
categories of the occupational scale. She finds that soft skills are
important across the board –although importance increases as one
moves up in the occupational scale.
On the whole, these high-quality large-scale surveys provide a good
indication of the skills and competences that employers demand.
Additional information is provided in Table 4.1, from which a set of
‘core’/ frequently mentioned skills and competences were identified
for selection in the study surveys.
Table 4.1 Top skills and capabilities looked for by employers
Survey Skills and capabilities employers that
consider important
2010
Eurobarometer
survey
Good with numbers, good reading/ writing skills,
foreign language skills, computer skills, sector
specific skills, communication skills, analytical
101 For further information on how the analysis was undertaken please refer to Annex 4.
102 Jackson, M. (2007) ‘How far merit selection? Social stratification and the labour market’ The British Journal of
Sociology, vol.58(3), pp. 367-390. Analysed over 5,000 newspaper job advertisements to find the qualifications,
personal characteristics and attitudes that employers look for at different levels.
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