Employment in the EU Is Shifting Toward Higher Education

Key Takeaways

• Employment of 20 to 64-year-olds in the EU grew by 9.2% between 2009 and 2024. There was an addition of 16.5 million persons.
• Employment among adults with low education fell by 26.8%, and their share dropped from 22.0% to 14.7%.
• Upper secondary education remained the largest qualification group, accounting for more than 40% of total employment in both years.
• Employment among tertiary-educated adults rose by over 50%, with their share increasing from 28.1% to 39.5%. Demographic replacement, rising educational attainment, and growth in service sectors contributed to this structural shift.

EU Employment by Educational Attainment

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Between 2009 and 2024, the structure of employment in the European Union shifted in a clear direction. Lower levels of education became less common, while tertiary education expanded strongly.

Overall employment increased by 9.2%, or about 16.5 million people. However, the more important change was its composition, gravitating more towards higher education.

We break down these numbers in the tables below.

EU Employment with Low Educational Attainment

In 2009, 39.6 million employed adults in the EU had lower secondary education at most. By 2024, that number had fallen to about 29.0 million, which shows a decline of 26.8%.

Most Member States recorded reductions. In Greece and Croatia, the number of low-educated employed persons even fell by more than 60%.

The shift does not mean people without formal qualifications no longer work. Instead, it shows that employment growth has not taken place in this group. Over time, the EU labour market appears less reliant on workers with only basic schooling.

EU Employment with Upper Secondary Educational Attainment

Upper secondary education remains the largest qualification group among the employed. However, the numbers barely changed at the EU level. There were 89.9 million employed persons with upper secondary education at most in 2009, compared with 90.1 million in 2024. That is an increase of just 0.3%.

The main structural shift is happening above and below this group.

EU Employment with Tertiary Educational Attainment

The most visible change occurred at the top end of the qualification scale. 

Employment among tertiary-educated adults rose from 50.7 million in 2009 to 77.6 million in 2024. That is an increase of almost 27 million people, or more than 50%.

This pattern appears across both large and smaller Member States. The EU labour market is not simply creating more jobs. It is increasingly employing people with higher formal qualifications.

Why Has Employment Shifted Upward?

Three longer-term forces help explain the change.

First, demographic replacement matters. Older cohorts in the workforce generally had lower formal educational attainment than younger ones. As many of these workers retire, they are replaced by younger cohorts who are more likely to hold upper secondary or tertiary qualifications. This alone shifts the educational profile of employment upward.

Second, educational attainment has increased across the EU. The share of young adults completing tertiary education has risen steadily over the past decade. As more graduates enter the labour market, the number of tertiary-educated workers in employment grows.

Third, labour demand has also evolved. Employment growth has been concentrated in service sectors, including healthcare, education, and other knowledge-intensive activities. In contrast, routine factory jobs have grown more slowly in many countries. This does not mean that medium-skilled jobs have not disappeared. Instead, it shows that higher-qualified roles now account for a larger share of employment.

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These factors reinforce one another. More people complete higher levels of education, and those with higher education are more likely to be employed. Across the EU, employment rates rise with educational attainment. In Germany, for example, adults with tertiary education are significantly more likely to be employed than those with only lower secondary schooling.

Taken together, the EU labour market is expanding upward, with growth concentrated among higher-qualified workers.