The Role of Job-to-Job Transitions, Wages and Quality of Work in Structural Change

Digital, green, geopolitical and demographic shifts are creating labour and skills shortages across Europe. Job-to-job transitions can serve as an adjustment mechanism, helping workers move from declining to expanding occupations. Understanding what motivates workers to make these moves is key to ensuring successful transitions.
• Occupational mobility can be either an opportunity or a risk. For many workers, it brings higher wages and improved job satisfaction; for others, especially women, older employees, and low-skilled workers, it can mean lower pay and greater insecurity.
• The provision of training measures, both by firms and through public bodies, is crucial to enable particularly older and low-skilled workers to take jobs in occupations with good future prospects.
• Policies that provide workers with clearer information about available jobs and skills, support lifelong learning, and ensure fair wages and decent working conditions can turn mobility into a real opportunity. Stronger recognition of qualifications and skills across Europe can also help make job-to-job moves a route to better jobs and better pay.
• Delivering these polices will improve worker welfare, reduce inequalities, and ease skill shortages where Europe needs talent most.