ESCO: The European Skills, Competences and Occupations Classification

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What ESCO is

ESCO stands for European Skills, Competences and Occupations. It is a classification that brings together a structured vocabulary of occupations and the skills and competences connected to them, so that the same idea can be expressed consistently and in more than one language. The aim is to give labour-market information a shared reference that machines and people can both work with.

It is developed at European level by the European Commission. Because it is designed to be multilingual and openly available, it can act as a bridge between national systems, job descriptions and skill terms that would otherwise be hard to line up with one another.

How ESCO is organised

• It is built around three connected pillars: occupations, skills and competences, and related concepts.
• Occupations are described and linked to the skills typically associated with them.
• Skills and competences are defined so they can be reused across many roles.
• Each concept is expressed in multiple languages to support cross-border use.
• It is designed to be read by people and processed by software, and is published openly.

How employers and candidates use it

• To describe a role and its requirements using shared, recognised terms.
• To translate occupation and skill terms across languages and national systems.
• To map the skills connected with a given occupation in a structured way.
• To make job and profile information easier to match and compare.
• As a common vocabulary that connects different labour-market tools.

Why it matters for employers

• It helps an employer frame a vacancy in clear, standardised skill terms.
• It supports describing requirements consistently across locations and languages.
• It makes it easier to align internal role definitions with a shared vocabulary.
• It can improve how a role is understood by candidates from different backgrounds.

Why it matters for candidates

• It helps a candidate describe their own skills using recognised terms.
• It supports understanding what skills a particular occupation usually involves.
• It makes it easier to relate experience gained in one country to roles elsewhere.
• It gives a clearer picture of how skills connect to occupations.

Read it at the official source

This overview is written in our own words for general guidance. The authoritative definitions, structure and multilingual terms of ESCO are published and maintained by the European Commission, and they are refined over time. Always consult the official ESCO source directly for the current detail rather than relying on a summary.