Skills at Work: How Skills and their Use Matter in the Labour Market

Human capital is key for economic growth. Not only is it linked to aggregate economicperformance but also to each individual’s labour market outcomes. However, a skilled population is notenough to achieve high and inclusive growth, as skills need to be put into productive use at work. Thanksto the availability of measures of both the proficiency and the use of numerous types of skills, the Surveyof Adult Skills offers a unique opportunity to advance knowledge in this area and this paper presents anddiscusses evidence on both these dimensions with a particular focus on their implications for labour marketpolicy. This paper explores the role played in the labour market by skill proficiency in the areas of literacy,numeracy and problem solving in technology-rich environments. It also shows how skills use, not onlyproficiency, affects a number of key labour market phenomena, such as the gender wage gap. Finally, thepaper combines information on skill proficiency, educational attainment, skill use and qualificationrequirements to construct indicators of qualification and skills mismatch and to explore their causes andconsequences.