A university degree, professional certificate, or vocational qualification can tell an employer something important about a person’s education.
But it cannot describe everything that person knows, everything they can do, or how effectively they can perform a particular job.
Two people with the same qualification may have developed different abilities through work experience, training, and everyday practice. Someone without a particular credential may have substantial experience performing the tasks associated with it.
At the same time, a highly educated worker may still need to develop specific skills required in their current role.
These differences help explain why qualifications and job skills do not always match.
The International Labour Organization (ILO) distinguishes several forms of mismatch between workers and employment, including differences in qualification levels, practical skills, and fields of study.
Understanding these distinctions matters because a mismatch does not always mean that a worker lacks ability. It may also mean that the available jobs do not make full use of the abilities people already possess.
A Qualification Is Not a Complete Measure of Ability
Formal qualifications provide a recognized record of education or training.
They may indicate that a person has completed a programme, studied a particular subject, or met an established assessment standard.
For employers, these credentials can help identify applicants who have received relevant preparation.
However, qualifications and skills are not identical.
Skills include the ability to apply knowledge, perform tasks, solve problems, communicate, operate equipment, and respond to practical situations.
Some are developed through formal education. Others emerge through employment, apprenticeships, professional training, or experience.
A qualification may remain unchanged while a person’s skills develop considerably over time.
The reverse can also occur.
Someone may hold a qualification earned many years earlier but need additional training to work with new technologies, procedures, or industry standards.
This does not make the qualification meaningless.
It means that a credential records one dimension of preparation rather than a complete and permanently current inventory of ability.
Different Types of Mismatch
The ILO identifies several forms of skills mismatch, each describing a different relationship between workers and jobs.
Qualification mismatch occurs when a worker’s formal education or qualification level differs from the level required for their job.
A person may be overqualified if their highest qualification exceeds the usual requirement for the position. Another may be underqualified if their formal qualification is below that requirement.
Skills mismatch concerns whether a worker’s actual skills are higher or lower than those needed to perform the job.
Field-of-study mismatch occurs when the subject a person studied does not correspond closely to the field associated with their occupation.
These categories can overlap, but they are not interchangeable.
A person may have a degree above the level normally required for a position while still lacking a specific technical skill used in that workplace.
Similarly, someone whose qualification is below the usual requirement may have developed relevant skills through years of practical experience.
The ILO explicitly recognizes that a worker can be overqualified and underskilled at the same time.
This apparent contradiction becomes understandable once educational level and practical capability are treated as separate measures.
How Someone Can Be Overqualified and Still Need Training
Consider a hypothetical employee with an advanced qualification in a broad business discipline.
The employee takes a position for which a lower formal qualification is normally required.
Based on educational level, that person may be classified as overqualified.
However, the job might involve specialized software, industry-specific procedures, or technical reporting tools that were not covered in the employee’s education.
The employee may need training to perform those particular tasks effectively.
Both descriptions can be accurate.
The person has more formal education than the position ordinarily requires but lacks some skills needed for its daily activities.
The reverse situation is also possible.
An experienced worker may not hold the formal qualification commonly requested for a role but may already possess the practical abilities needed to perform its tasks.
These examples illustrate why judging workforce capability through qualifications alone can be misleading.
A formal qualification describes educational attainment. It does not establish the full relationship between a person’s capabilities and the requirements of a specific job.
What Workers Actually Do Matters
The relationship between skills and employment also depends on how skills are used.
A worker may possess advanced analytical, technical, or communication skills but spend most of the working day performing routine tasks that require only a limited portion of those abilities.
In that situation, the worker’s skills may be underused.
This is different from lacking skills.
It is also different from holding a qualification above the level required for the position.
A worker can have an appropriate qualification while still possessing abilities that the job rarely requires.
The distinction is important because employment alone does not demonstrate that a person’s capabilities are being fully used.
The European statistical framework maintained by Eurostat separates skills supply, skills demand, skills utilisation, and skills development.
These dimensions help explain why a labour market can contain qualified workers without necessarily placing them in roles that use their abilities effectively.
The practical content of work therefore matters alongside job titles and educational requirements.
Why Education and Employment Can Move in Different Directions
Education systems and labour markets do not always change at the same pace.
Universities, vocational institutions, and training providers prepare people for a range of occupations and future opportunities.
Employers, meanwhile, make hiring decisions according to current business needs, available technology, budgets, and market conditions.
These processes are connected, but they are not identical.
A growing number of graduates in a particular field does not guarantee that the economy will create a corresponding number of suitable positions.
Likewise, businesses may introduce new technologies or procedures faster than existing training programmes can adapt.
Some employers may struggle to recruit workers with specific capabilities even when the broader labour market contains many educated jobseekers.
At the same time, qualified workers may accept positions that do not require their full level of education because more suitable opportunities are limited.
The ILO identifies both sides of this relationship: education and training may not supply the skills employers need, while an economy may fail to generate jobs that correspond to the skills people possess.
This means that skills mismatch cannot automatically be attributed to weaknesses in education.
The structure of employment also matters.
When the Problem Is the Jobs Available
A workforce can become more educated without every sector of the economy becoming more skill-intensive.
If the number of positions requiring advanced capabilities grows more slowly than the number of qualified workers, some people may take jobs below their formal qualification level.
That outcome does not necessarily mean their education was unnecessary or that they lack useful abilities.
It may reflect the opportunities available in the labour market.
The types of businesses operating in an economy, their investment decisions, the technologies they use, and the occupations they create all influence demand for skills.
Location can also matter.
A suitable job may exist in one region but not another, while relocation may be difficult or undesirable for personal and financial reasons.
Other factors, including professional licensing, recognition of qualifications, and hiring practices, may affect whether workers can enter particular occupations.
These conditions help explain why the same educational background can lead to different employment outcomes.
Improving the match between workers and jobs therefore involves more than increasing educational attainment.
It also requires attention to the kinds of employment opportunities an economy provides.
Training Can Help, but It Has Limits
Training can reduce certain forms of skills mismatch.
An employee may need to learn new software, operate unfamiliar equipment, meet updated safety requirements, or develop specialized professional knowledge.
In these situations, workplace learning or targeted training can help close a specific gap.
Training can also support workers whose occupations are changing as technologies and business practices evolve.
However, training is not a universal solution to every mismatch.
If a qualified worker is employed in a position that does not use their existing skills, additional training may not address the underlying problem.
The worker may already possess capabilities that the available job does not require.
Similarly, expanding training programmes does not automatically create more positions in which those capabilities can be used.
This distinction matters when considering the relationship between workforce development and economic opportunity.
Training can improve what people are able to do.
The labour market determines, in part, whether suitable opportunities exist for them to apply those abilities.
Both dimensions influence how effectively skills are used.
Skills Can Change After Education Ends
The relationship between qualifications and skills also changes over time.
A qualification usually records educational achievement at a particular point.
Working life may continue for decades afterward.
During that period, people can gain experience, develop new capabilities, change occupations, or move into roles that require different combinations of skills.
Some previously useful skills may become less relevant as technology and working practices change.
The ILO identifies skills obsolescence as another form of mismatch.
Obsolescence can occur when the requirements of work change or when particular abilities are no longer practiced regularly.
This does not mean that every technological development makes existing workers less capable.
Many skills remain valuable across changing workplaces, while others can be adapted or supplemented through learning.
The important point is that workforce capability is not fixed at graduation.
It develops through continued experience, practice, and opportunities to learn.
Assessing workers only through their highest qualification can overlook much of that development.
What International Research Shows
The OECD’s Survey of Adult Skills 2023 provides evidence that qualification and skills mismatches are distinct labour market conditions.
Its findings indicate that approximately one-third of workers across the participating OECD countries experience a mismatch involving qualifications, skills, or fields of study.
The OECD also reports that around 10% of workers in its surveyed population consider themselves to have skills below those required for their jobs.
These findings should not be interpreted as universal estimates for all workers worldwide.
They relate to the countries and populations covered by the survey.
The OECD uses different approaches to identify different forms of mismatch.
Qualification mismatch compares educational attainment with the qualification normally needed to obtain the job.
Skills mismatch draws on workers’ assessments of how their capabilities compare with their job requirements.
Field-of-study mismatch considers the relationship between educational specialization and occupation.
Each approach answers a different question.
Self-assessed skills are also not the same as independently testing every technical ability required in a workplace.
The ILO’s research on low- and middle-income countries similarly emphasizes that different forms of mismatch have different causes and consequences.
International evidence therefore supports examining qualifications, skills, and employment requirements separately rather than treating them as a single problem.
Why the Distinction Matters for Workers and Employers
For workers, qualifications can open opportunities, but they may not fully communicate practical experience or transferable abilities.
Someone changing careers may have skills relevant to a new occupation even when their original field of study is different.
Another worker may need targeted training despite holding a qualification above the formal requirement for a position.
For employers, educational credentials can provide useful information during recruitment.
However, relying on them alone may overlook candidates who have developed relevant skills through experience.
It may also create an incomplete picture of the training required after someone joins an organization.
A closer examination of actual job tasks can help distinguish between qualifications that are formally required and capabilities that are practically necessary.
At the broader labour market level, the distinction matters because a shortage of particular skills is not the same as a shortage of qualified people.
Nor is the underuse of existing skills necessarily evidence that workers need more education.
Different conditions require different explanations.
A Better Understanding of Workforce Capability
Qualifications remain valuable.
They document educational achievement, provide recognized standards, and can help people enter occupations requiring specialized preparation.
But qualifications are only one part of workforce capability.
Actual skills, professional experience, opportunities for continued learning, and the requirements of available jobs all shape how effectively people can contribute at work.
A person can be overqualified for a position and still need training in a particular area.
Another can have fewer formal credentials than the position usually requires while possessing substantial practical expertise.
And an economy can have many educated workers without offering enough jobs that make full use of their capabilities.
These situations are not necessarily contradictions.
They reflect the difference between what people have studied, what they can do, and what their jobs require.
A qualification tells us something about a person’s education. Understanding their capabilities requires looking at the skills they possess and the work they are actually asked to perform.
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Sources and References
- International Labour Organization. What Is Skills Mismatch and Why Should We Care? 1 April 2020. https://www.ilo.org/resource/article/what-skills-mismatch-and-why-should-we-care
- International Labour Organization. How Useful Is the Concept of Skills Mismatch? 24 April 2017. https://www.ilo.org/publications/how-useful-concept-skills-mismatch
- International Labour Organization. Skills and Jobs Mismatches in Low- and Middle-Income Countries. 4 November 2019. https://www.ilo.org/publications/major-publications/skills-and-jobs-mismatches-low-and-middle-income-countries
- OECD. Do Adults Have the Skills They Need to Thrive in a Changing World? 2024. https://www.oecd.org/en/publications/do-adults-have-the-skills-they-need-to-thrive-in-a-changing-world_b263dc5d-en.html
- Eurostat. Skills: Methodology. https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/skills/methodology