Brussels – Missing professional figures and people available for work who could meet these needs but remain outside the labour market: the European Commission is trying to break a vicious circle. The aim is to integrate the categories defined as “under-represented groups” into the labour market, i.e. women, the elderly, migrants and people with disabilities. All of them “are key to addressing the skills and labour shortages in the EU“, Roxana Minzatu, Commissioner for Social Rights and Skills, stresses.
The 2025 report of the Commission on Employment and Social Development in Europe (ESDE) highlights that one-fifth of the working-age population, approximately 51 million people, are currently outside the EU labour market.
Of this population, which is larger than that of the whole of Spain, women, people aged 55-64, migrants, and people with disabilities make up the vast majority. That is why facilitating access to the labour market would also contribute to achieving the EU’s 2030 employment rate target of 78 per cent. At the same time, it would improve social cohesion and support the poverty reduction target set by the EU for 2030.
Decisive, however, will be political action, which is a national competence. Everything related to labour and the labour market falls within the prerogatives of governments, to whom very precise suggestions are addressed. In the case of the approximately 24.8 million people with disabilities of working age but without a job, “quota systems, anti-discriminatory measures, and targeted employment insertion are effective tools for their integration,” notes the EU executive.
Employment: for non-EU citizens in the EU jobs are part-time
Still, there are more than seven million migrants in the EU currently excluded from the labour market for multiple reasons, including language difficulties, non-recognition of qualifications, discrimination and administrative obstacles. For the EU executive, the migrants “provide essential skills that can help fill labour shortages in sectors with urgent needs. “So it is necessary to intercept this untapped potential. In this sense, “well-designed tax incentives”, together with job search support, language training, and easier work permits, especially when combined, can increase the participation of migrants in the labour force.
There is also the long-standing gender issue that is still far from being resolved. There are still 32 million women outside the labour market due to their nature as mothers. The ESDE report shows that the female labour market participation in the EU remains 10 percentage points lower than that of men, mainly due to unpaid care responsibilities, limited availability of childcare services and disincentives in tax and benefit systems. The expansion of childcare could help in this regard, increase the employment rate of women in some Member States by up to 30 per cent, and boost EU GDP by up to 1.7 per cent.
“We must do more to ensure that everyone can contribute their skills and talents,” insists Minzatu, who urges national governments to do so. By eliminating obstacles, challenging stereotypes and promoting gender equality, we can address labour shortages, increase our competitiveness and build a more equitable and inclusive society.”
