In 2024, of people who were aged 15-34:
More than six in ten (63.0%) said their skill level matched their job requirements while 6.2% said their skills were lower than required.
Almost six in ten (59.1%) said their highest educational attainment matched their main job requirements while 21.1% said it was higher and 9.5% said it was lower.
Almost one in five (19.0%) said their chosen field of education matched their current or last job to a very large extent while a further 23.8% indicated it matched to a large extent.
One in twelve (8.4%) abandoned formal education with a slightly higher proportion of males (8.9%) doing so compared with females (7.8%).
More than six in ten (63.0%) of young people, those between the ages of 15 and 34 years, indicated that their skill level matched the job requirements of their current or last main job. A further 21.1% indicated that their skills were higher than the requirements of their job while 6.2% said their skills were lower than required. More females (63.5%) said their skills matched their job compared to males (62.5%). See Figure 1.
Ten different sectors reported a higher proportion of skills matched than the overall 63.0% with Human Health & Social Work (77.6%), Public Administration & Defence (77.5%), Professional, Scientific & Technical activities (76.5%) and Finance & Real Estate activities (76.0%) reporting the highest match. The sectors with the lowest reported skills match between young people and their job requirements were, Wholesale & Retail trade (46.6%), Accommodation & Food services (46.7%), Administrative & Support Services (55.2%) and Other Services (56.0%) which includes Arts, Recreation & Entertainment as well as other services such as hairdressers and funeral services. See Figure 2 & Table 1.
A smaller proportion of young people (59%) indicated that their educational level matched the job requirements of their current or last main job. Public Administration & Defence (74.8%), Human Health & Social Work (73.6%), Professional, Scientific & Technical Activities (72.0%) and Information & Communication (71.2%) were the sectors with the highest reported match between educational level and job requirements. Accommodation & Food Services (41.4%), Wholesale & Retail Trade (45.0%) and Other Services (47.2%) had the lowest reported match.
Agriculture, Forestry & Fishing and the largest gap between their reported skills match (66.7%) and educational level (54.6%). This was followed by Finance & Real Estate and Construction. See Figure 2 & Table 1.
Almost six in ten (59.1%) indicated that their highest education attainment level matches their current or last main job in 2024. A further 21.1% said they had a higher level of education compared to their job requirements while almost one in ten (9.5%) said their educational level was lower than required by their job. A higher proportion of 15-19 years olds (30.8%) indicated that their educational level was higher than required by the job compared to 23.7% of 20-24 year olds and 18.2% of 25-34 year olds. The youngest age cohort were also the most likely to say their educational level was lower than required (14.5%) compared to 20-24 year olds (9.9%) and 25-34 year olds (8.4%). See Figure 3.
More females (20.5%) than males (17.6%) indicated that the field of their highest level of education matches their current or last main job to a very large extent. More males (8.0%) indicted that their job did not match with the field of education compared to 6.2% of females. There were also more males than females who indicted that their job had no requirements, at 16.1% and 15.5% respectively. See Figure 4 & Table 2.
One in twelve (8.4%) young people, aged between 15 and 34, said they have abandoned formal education or training with 5.2% indicating that they abandoned third level education. More males abandoned formal education compared to females with 8.9% saying they stopped formal education while 7.8% of females did. For third level education, 3.1% of males abandoned their course compared to 2.1% of females. See Figure 5.
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Statistician's Comment
The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has today (22 October 2025) published the results of the Young People in the Labour Market survey module which was collected as part of the Labour Force Survey in 2024. The module asked participants aged 15-34 about the education and skills, and how they are applicable to their work.
The module, collected across all 27 EU member states as well as Norway and Switzerland in all four quarters in 2024, asked participants aged 15-34 about their education and skills, and if they were applicable to their work.
Commenting on the results, Colin Hanley, Statistician in the Labour Market and Earnings Division, said:
“The survey results indicate that 63.0% of young people in the labour force in Ireland are in jobs that match their skill level with a further 21.0% indicating they had skills higher than required.
Slightly more women reported having skills higher or equal to the job requirements at 84.9% compared with 83.3% for men. Those working in the Human Health & Social Work activities and Public Administration both had the highest reported skill match among young people at 77.6% while the Accommodation & Food Services and Wholesale & Retail Trade reported the lowest skill match at 46.7% and 46.6% respectively.
Almost six in ten (59.1%) said their educational level matched their job requirements while 21.1% said it was higher and 9.5% indicated it was lower. The younger age cohort were more likely to indicate they were overqualified for their current job with 30.8% of 15-19 years saying their educational level was higher than their job requirements while 18.2% of 25-34 year olds indicated the same.
More than four in ten (42.8%) said that their field of education matched their current or last main job to a large extent (23.8%) or a very large extent (19.0%). A further 23.5% said their field matched their job to some (16.7%) or a little (6.8%) while 7.1% indicated their field of education matched to no extent and 15.8% said their job had no requirements.