TVETipedia Glossary

Skill shortage

(or talent shortage)

A situation where the demand for a particular type of skill exceeds the available supply of that skill at the market clearing rate of pay.

Source:
Cedefop, Skill shortages and gaps in European enterprises, 2015
Cedefop, Skill shortages and gaps in European enterprises, 2015
Access resource, available in English
By exploring a wealth of available European data sources, the report attempts to single out the extent to which employers' general difficulties in recruitment can be truly attributed to skill shortages, as opposed to other possible factors. It also traces the evolution of skill shortages in EU Member states over time. Finally it scrutinises the critical role that organisations have in adressing not only the skill gaps of their present workforce but also those that may arise in the future due to skill obsolescence.

Skill shortages are usually defined as instances when the demand for a particular skill exceeds the supply of available people with that skill at marketclearing wage rates (Veneri, 1999; Shah and Burke, 2003; Cedefop, 2010).

Where the demand for employees in specific occupations is greater than the supply of those who are qualified, available and willing to work under existing industry conditions.

Source:
NCVER (Australia), VOCEDplus: Glossary of VET, (accessed 12/2022)
NCVER (Australia), VOCEDplus: Glossary of VET, (accessed 12/2022)
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This glossary is a compilation of Australian vocational education and training (VET) terms and acronyms. It includes both current and historical terms, concepts, acronyms and other abbreviations found in Australian VET research, policy and data.

Situation where skill supply (type of abilities and number of people available on the labour market) is not sufficient to meet labour market demand.

Comment

Skill shortage can affect all levels of qualification;

it may result from factors such as:

insufficient education and training supply;
geographic imbalance in supply;
developments impacting the structure of the economy;
lack of attractiveness of specific occupations (difficult working conditions, low remuneration, insufficient social recognition);

this term is close to, but not synonymous with: skills gap.

Source:
Cedefop, Glossary. Terminology of European education and training policy, (accessed 03/2023)
Cedefop, Glossary. Terminology of European education and training policy, (accessed 03/2023)
Access resource, available in English, French, Italian, Portuguese
This multilingual glossary (provided in a multitude of European languages) defines a selection of key terms used in European education and training policy. It is a revised and expanded version of the “Terminology of European education and training policy – A selection of 130 key terms” (2014). It considers new priorities of European Union policy, mainly concerning skills intelligence and employment. New definitions have been developed in collaboration with the experts of Cedefop’s departments VET and Skills and VET and Qualifications.

Demand for a particular type of skill exceeds the supply of people with that skill.

Source:
ILO, Skills mismatch in Europe, 2014
ILO, Skills mismatch in Europe, 2014
Access resource, available in English
This brief is part of the efforts that the ILO Department of Statistics is undertaking to contribute to the statistical understanding and quantification of skills mismatch.The brief provides an overview of approaches to measure skills mismatch, and illustrates two approaches using data from the European Social Survey (ESS).