Why young jobseekers struggle to find roles abroad that fit their expertise

So, you’re looking for opportunities in another European country, but you’re finding it difficult to secure a job in your field, or the job you found doesn’t match your qualifications. Rest assured, you’re not alone.

On a wider scale, mismatches between jobs and people lead to inefficiencies in the job market and higher welfare costs for governments, which is why the EU is examining this issue. A new report looks at three types of mismatches experienced by about 4.3 million young EU movers aged 15 to 34 years. It finds that they often face greater difficulty than workers in their home country when trying to find jobs that match their education and skills.

Here’s the picture in numbers:

Educational level too high?

In terms of whether young EU movers’ educational level matches what their jobs require:

27 % are too qualified for their current job – almost the same as people coming from countries outside the EU (28 %).
More women are overqualified (31 %) for their current job than men (24 %). But when it comes to not having the necessary qualifications, the opposite is true – male EU movers are more likely to be underqualified (12 %) than females (9 %).
In Spain, the Netherlands and Austria, roughly 1 in 3 young EU movers works in a job that doesn’t make full use of their educational background. In Germany, however, overqualification is much lower, at 17 %.

Is it in your field?

When it comes to whether young EU movers’ jobs are related to their field of expertise:

Around 51 % have jobs closely matching their studies, while 14 % report no match.
In Italy, only 26 % have jobs that match – a notable difference from Italian citizens (43 %). The gap between EU movers and citizens is only slightly smaller in Belgium and Austria, but in Spain it shrinks to only three percentage points: 52 % compared to citizens’ 55 %.

Are you up to the job?

When asked if they felt their skills match their current job:

25 % of young EU movers said they were too skilled, compared to 18 % of people working in their home country.
28 % of women felt they were over-skilled, compared to 23 % of males.
In Belgium and Austria, 33 % of young EU movers reported being over-skilled. Germany shows a much lower share, at 20 %.

As the report shows, the path to the right job isn’t always straightforward. Services such as EURES can help address these challenges. With tools like the European Job Days and a network of trained advisers, EURES supports both jobseekers and employers in finding the right match.

In the meantime, you can use the EURES Report on labour shortages and surpluses 2025 and its interactive dashboardto discover where your skills are most in demand across Europe.

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