The green transition, rapid technological change and a shifting geopolitical landscape are reshaping economies and labour markets across Europe. These developments create an urgent need for better evidence on how skills are formed, supplied and demanded over time. For various stakeholders, reliable skills forecasts are becoming essential tools for designing effective education, training and reskilling policies. In Flanders, as in many other European regions, macro-level skills forecasting is increasingly seen as a cornerstone of forward-looking labour market policy. Steunpunt Werk has been commissioned by the Flemish Government to develop such forecasts for Flanders. This work aims to improve our understanding of future labour market imbalances by bringing together information on labour supply, labour demand, occupations, sectors and skills.
This four year PhD project will contribute to that agenda by focusing on the future supply of skills among school leavers. You will develop and apply forecasting methods to estimate how new graduates enter the labour market, how their skills can be measured and classified, and how these skills align with current and future labour market demand. The PhD project will pay particular attention to differences by sector, occupation and skill profile, and will use rich Flemish labour market and education data.
As a PhD researcher, you will conduct innovative academic research on school-leaver forecasts, skills mapping and skills mismatch. You will also contribute to the broader development of labour supply forecasting models, including models of the future workforce. The project offers scope to engage with key debates in education economics, labour economics and policy evaluation, including the role of education systems in responding to technological change, demographic shifts and structural transformation.
A central aim of the PhD is to translate rigorous empirical research into clear, evidence-based policy insights. Your findings will help inform policymakers, education and training providers, public employment services and other labour market stakeholders. By combining advanced quantitative research with direct policy relevance, this project offers the opportunity to contribute both to the international academic literature and to the development of more effective skills and labour market policies in Flanders and beyond.
The PhD research is part of the project of Steunpunt Werk that is subsidized by the Flemish government and supervised by Prof. Sarah Vansteenkiste and Prof. Kristof De Witte.
