Mcsey

&company

Breakingthestandstill:HowsocialmobilitycanboostEurope’seconomy

Europeisaleaderinsocialmobility,butprogresshasstalled.Businessesthatactcangainsignificantperformancebenefitswhilehelpingclosetheskillsgapandboostproductivity.

March2025

AjustandinclusivesocietyhaslongbeenastrengthofEuropeancountries.Thecontinentisa

worldleaderinadvancingsocialimperativessuchasgenderequalityand,historically,socioeconomicmobility.Yetprogressonthelatterhasstalledinrecentyears,limitingtheeconomicgrowththatis

vitalforEurope’scompetitiveness.Researchshowsthatsocialmobilitycanaccelerateproductivity—includingthroughgreaterworkforceparticipation,betterskillsmatching,higherconsumerspending,fewertalentconstraintsoncorporategrowth,andlowerhealthcarecosts.

Morethanone-thirdofEuropeansfacesignificantbarrierstoday,withloweremployment,less-

productivejobs,andslowercareerprogressthanpeoplefromhighersocioeconomicbackgrounds(SEBs).Ultimately,theseindividuals’futuresareconstrainedbytheirparents’economicpast.Boththeyandsocietysufferasaresult.

Thisisachallenge,andnotjustforgovernments.Businesseshaveacriticalroletoplayinfostering

amoreinclusive,meritocratic,andproductiveworkplace—andagreatdealtogainfromthemore

dynamiceconomythatresults.

AsEurope’spopulationages

and

businessesneednewskills

,the

poolsofavailableskilledemployeesarerapidlybecominginsufficient.Companiesthatactnowcan

capturesignificantadvantages,ourresearchsuggests,includingnotonlybetteraccesstotalentbuthighervaluecreationperworker,strongeremployeeretention,andimproveddecision-making.By

settingstrategicobjectives,leveragingdata-driveninsights,andimplementingtargetedinitiatives

relatedtorecruitment,retention,andcareerprogression,companiesofallsizesandinallsectorscancontributetoEurope’ssocialmobility.

Thesocietalimpactcouldbeprofound:aboosttothecontinent’sGDPofasmuchas9percent.

Inaddition,ifEuropebecamemoresociallymobile,ithasthetheoreticalpotentialtoclosethe

2030skillsgapwithoutanynewtrainingorreskilling.ThiscouldbethenextfrontierofEuropeanproductivitygrowth.

Whilesocialmobilityhasnationalandsectornuancesthatbusinessesshouldheed,particularlywhenchoosinginterventions,ourresearchshowsthattheunderuseoftalentfromlowerSEBsandthose

employees’poorerworkplaceexperiencesareconsistentacrossEuropeancountriesandacrossbusinessesofdifferentsizesandskilllevels.

Ourreportanalyzessocialmobilitythroughthelensesofthreestakeholdergroups:society,

employers,andemployees(seesidebar“Methodology”).Weoutlinethechallengesthatexisttoday,demonstratethepotentialeconomicbenefitsofimprovingsocialmobility,andsuggestactionsthatdifferenttypesofEuropeanbusinessescouldtaketoboostproductivitythroughsocialmobility.

Europe’sprogressonsocialmobilityhasstalledinrecentyears,limitingtheeconomicgrowththatisvital

forthecontinent’scompetitiveness.

Breakingthestandstill:HowsocialmobilitycanboostEurope’seconomy1

Breakingthestandstill:HowsocialmobilitycanboostEurope’seconomy2

Methodology

Definitions

Wedefinesocialmobilityasanindividual’s

abilitytomoveupthesocioeconomicladderovertheirlifetime.Ourresearchanalyzes

thedegreetowhichaperson’sstartingpointinlifeshapestheirsocioeconomicfuture.

Whileweacknowledgethatsocialmobility

isamultigenerationalissue,wefocusonthechangewithinasinglegenerationbecauseofdataavailability.

Wedefinesocioeconomicdiversity

inabusinessasthedegreetowhichthecompany’sworkforcereflectsthesocioeconomicdemographicsofthecountriesinwhichitoperates.

Wedefinelowsocioeconomicbackground

(lowSEB)ashavinggrownupwithparentsorguardiansfromdisadvantagedbackgrounds.Forexample,theparentsofindividuals

categorizedaslowSEBoften(butnotalways)lackuniversitydegrees,holdlow-skillor

low-incomejobs,receivestatebenefits,orliveineconomicallydepressedareas(see

“Treatmentofdata”belowformorecompletedefinitionsofthesecohorts).

Scope

Ourresearchconsiderssocialmobility

fromtheperspectivesofthreestakeholdergroups—society,employers,and

employees—intheEU-27plustheUnited

Kingdom.Toillustratedifferencesincountrycharacteristicsandcontexts,weinclude

comparisonsbetweentheUnitedKingdom,Germany,andItaly.

Sources

Wegatheredinputfrommorethan

50CEOsandseniorexecutives,aswell

asleadersofnot-for-profitandacademic

institutions,abouttheireffortstoaddresssocialmobility.Wealsoanalyzeddata(both

publiclyavailableandunpublished)from

Eurostat’sEULabourForceSurveytobetterunderstandEuropeans’socioeconomic

backgrounds.Inparallel,wesurveyed

morethan3,000British,German,and

ItalianworkersfromdifferentSEBs.Our

conclusionswerefurtherinformedbya

reviewofmorethan50publicationsontheeffectofsocioeconomicbackgroundon

individuals’workplaceoutcomes.

Treatmentofdata

Ourapproachtodatavariedamongthedifferentstakeholdergroups.

Societyandemployers.Foroursocietalandbusinessperspectiveanalyses,wecreatedthreeSEBgroupsusinglevelofparental

educationasaproxyforsocioeconomic

background,inlinewithbroaderresearchonthistopic.Weassessedparents’educationbasedondatasourcedfromEurostat’s

EULabourForceSurvey.Ifanindividual’sparentachievedInternationalStandard

ClassificationofEducation(ISCED)level

0to2(thatis,completedearlychildhood,

primary,orlowersecondaryeducation),

weincludedthatindividualinthelow-SEB

category.IftheparenthadISCEDlevel3

to4education(thatis,completedupper-

secondaryorpostsecondarybutnottertiaryeducation1),wedefinetheindividualasbeingfromamediumSEB.Individualswhose

parentsachievedISCEDlevel5to8(thatis,completedatleastsometertiaryeducation)fallintothehigh-SEBgroup.Theresult

splitstheEuropeanpopulationintothree

cohorts:35percentinthelow-SEBcategory,42percentinmediumSEB,and23percentinhighSEB.2

Whenexaminingtheworktheseindividualsdonow,weusedtheInternationalStandard

ClassificationofOccupations(ISCO-08)as

thebasisfordefiningoccupationalskilllevel.Low-skilljobsrequireprimaryandsecondaryeducationaccompaniedbyon-the-job

trainingandincludeISCO“elementary”

occupationalrolessuchascleaners,laborers,andfoodpreparationassistants.Workersinmedium-skilloccupationsneedvocational

trainingandincludenurses,labtechnicians,paralegals,andsocialworkers.High-skill

jobsrequiretertiaryeducationandincludemanagerialpositionsandprofessional

andtechnicalrolessuchasteachers,datascientists,andcivilengineers.

Employees.Forourworkerexperience

survey,wesplitrespondentsintotwo

groups:lowerandhigherSEB,basedon

respondents’owndefinitionsoftheirSEBs.Wealsousedindicatorstotriangulatelow-SEBclassificationsagainstothermarkers,suchashavingaparentwhoperformed

low-skillwork,havingaparentwithalowlevelofeducation,orhavingreceivedfreeschoolmeals(UnitedKingdomonly).We

thenassessedtherespondentswhoself-identifiedascomingfromalowerSEB

againstthethreeindicators.Wefound

thatthemoreindicatorsanindividualmet,themorelikelytheyweretoself-identify

ascomingfromalowerSEB.Illustratively,95percentofrespondentswhofitthree

indicatorsself-identifiedascomingfromalowSEB.Weultimatelyoptedtorely

onself-identificationinrecognitionthat

socioeconomicbackgroundshavemany

facetsthatourquantitativeindicatorsmaynotfullycapture.

WereliedonISCO-08categoriestoclassifyoursurveyrespondents’skilllevelsandjobqualificationsaslow,medium,orhigh,as

describedabove.

1ISCED2011guidelinesclassifynationaleducationprogramsandrelatedqualificationsbasedonthecomplexityoftheprogramcontentandtimerequiredforcompletion.Levels

0to2typicallyrepresentprogramscompletedbyages16orearlier,levels3to4usuallycorrespondtoeducationcompletedbyages18to19,andlevels5to8typicallycovereducationpursuedatage20orolder.

2Socioeconomicbackgrounddatawasunavailablefor13percentofEurope’spopulation,whoeitherdidnotstateordidnotknowtheirparents’highestlevelofeducation.Wedidnotincludetheminouranalysis.

Breakingthestandstill:HowsocialmobilitycanboostEurope’seconomy3

Impactoflowersocialmobility:Society

Europe’sGDPgrowthhaslonglaggedbehindthatoftheUnitedStates,andthegapiswidening.

Between2012and2028,thedifferentialbetweentheGDPofEuroarea17countries(membersoftheEuropeanUnionandtheOECD)1andtheUnitedStatesisprojectedtoincreasefrom26to43percent(Exhibit1).Inotherwords,thedifferenceinGDPbetweenthissubsetofEuropeancountriesandtheUnitedStateswillincreaseby17percentagepointsoverthisperiod.Findingnewleversthatcan

boostEurope’sgrowthhasthusbecomeanimperative.

Theprimaryreasonforthegrowthgap,accountingforabout70percentofthedifferencebetweenthetwoeconomies,isEurope’slowerproductivity.2Thisdivergenceislargelyduetofactorssuch

asthecontinent’slowerR&Dspendingandasmallershareofhigh-productivityindustriessuchastechnology.3EnhancingsocialmobilitycouldbeapowerfulleverforboostingEurope’sproductivity.

Alargebodyofresearchsupportsthelinkbetweensocial-mobilityandproductivity-drivengrowth.Thepositiveeffectsofsocialmobilityincludethefollowing:

—Increasedworkforceparticipation.Moresociallymobilecountriesprovidebetteraccesstoemploymentforpeopleofallbackgroundswithskillsfordifferentroles.Withmoreindividualsparticipatingintheeconomy,averagepercapitaproductivitygrows.4

Exhibit1

Europe’slaggingeconomicgrowthsuggestsanurgentneedfornewlevers.Euroarea171andUSrealGDP,2012–28,$trillion

25

US

20

+43%

ThegapintheGDP

+26%

15

growthofeuroarea17

countriesandtheUSisprojectedtoexpandby17percentagepoints

EU–17

10

between2012and2028

5

FORECAST

0

201220142016201820202022202420262028

1Euroarea17,whosemembersarepartofboththeEuropeanUnionandtheOECD,includesAustria,Belgium,Estonia,Finland,France,Germany,Greece,Ireland,Italy,Latvia,Lithuania,Luxembourg,Netherlands,Portugal,SlovakRepublic,Slovenia,andSpain.

Source:OECD,2024

McKinsey&Company

1Euroarea17includesAustria,Belgium,Estonia,Finland,France,Germany,Greece,Ireland,Italy,Latvia,Lithuania,Luxembourg,Netherlands,Portugal,SlovakRepublic,Slovenia,andSpain.

2MarioDraghi,ThefutureofEuropeancompetitiveness:AcompetitivenessstrategyforEurope,EuropeanCommission,September2024.

3FredrikErixon,OscarGuinea,andOscarduRoy,“KeepingupwiththeUS:WhyEurope’sproductivityisfallingbehind,”EuropeanCentreforInternationalPoliticalEconomy(ECIPE),May2024.

4AlineBlankertzetal.,“Socialmobilityandeconomicsuccess:Howsocialmobilitybooststheeconomy,”SuttonTrust,July2017.

Breakingthestandstill:HowsocialmobilitycanboostEurope’seconomy4

—Improvedskillsmatching.Inmoresociallymobilecountries,peoplefromlowSEBsaremorelikelytofindpositionsthatfittheircapabilities,whichenablesthemtocreatemorevaluethanthey

couldworkinginlessvalue-creatingrolesforwhichtheywereoverqualified.5

—Increasedconsumerspending.Higherworkforceparticipationandbetterskillsmatchingcombinetoproduceahigher-earningworkforce,whichhasspilloverbenefitsforthewidereconomy.6

—Reducedtalentshortages.Moresociallymobilecountrieshavelargerandmorefluidtalentpoolsforcompaniestotap,whichcanmitigatethepotentialoftalentscarcitylimitingcorporategrowth.7

—Reduceddisparitiesinhealth.Highersocialmobilitycorrelateswithlowersystemichealthdisparities,resultinginlowersocietalcostsandhigherworkerproductivity.8

IfEuropeansocietiesmadesocialmobilityapriority,theywouldbebuildingonastrongfoundation.

Thecontinenthasanimpressiverecordofimprovingdiversity,meritocracy,andinclusion.Itisaleaderingenderequality—12ofthetop20countriesintheGlobalGenderGapIndex,aWorldEconomic

Forum(WEF)benchmarkofgenderparity,arebasedinEurope(theUnitedStatesranksadistant43).9Further,Europe’s2020Giniindexscore10of30testifiestoitsmoreequitabledistributionofincomethanintheUnitedStates,whoseGiniscoreis49.

Europealsohashistoricallydemonstratedstrongprogressonsocialmobility.Itishometo16of

thetop20countriesintheWEF’sGlobalSocialMobilityIndex(includingallofthetopten)11andhas

higherlevelsofintergenerationalmobilitythantheUnitedStates.12However,thatmomentumhas

stalledoverthepastdecade(Exhibit2).Socialmobilityisdifficulttomeasure,andthereisnoperfectmetric.Butmetricssuchaswealthdistribution,13educationalprogress,14andindirectproxiesshow

thatEuropeismakingminimalprogress.Forexample,theSocialProgressIndex15revealsadeclineof0.9percentagepointsintheUnitedKingdomduringthattime,whileGermanyhasekedouta

marginalincreaseof0.2percentagepoints.Italy’sscorehasrisen4.5percentagepoints,butthisislikelybecausethecountryhadalowerstartingpoint.Thesepatternsimplysignificantroomforimprovementacrossthecontinent.

IfEuropeansocietiesmadesocialmobilityapriority,theywouldbebuildingonastrongfoundation:Thecontinenthasanimpressiverecordofimprovingdiversity,meritocracy,andinclusion.

5AlineBlankertzetal.,“Socialmobilityandeconomicsuccess:Howsocialmobilitybooststheeconomy,”SuttonTrust,July2017;Insightsintoskillshortagesandskillmismatch,CEDEFOP,January2018.

6Minimumwagepolicyguide,InternationalLabourOrganization(ILO),August9,2016.

7Bridgingtalentshortagesintech,OECD,September24,2024.

8ChrisClarkeetal.,Theeconomiccostofchildhoodsocio-economicdisadvantage,OECD,November25,2022;JennyM.Cundiffetal.,“Movingupmatters:Socioeconomicmobilityprospectivelypredictsbetterphysicalhealth,”NationalLibraryofMedicine,HealthPsychology,February2017,Volume26,Number6.

9Globalgendergapreport2023,WEF,June20,2023.

10TheGiniindexscoreisastatisticalmeasureofhowincome,wealth,orconsumptionisdistributedwithinagroupornation.TheGiniscoreiscalculatedbycomparingthecumulativedistributionofincometoahypotheticallineofperfectequality.

11TheUnitedStatesisrankednumber27.

12Theglobalsocialmobilityreport2020:Equality,opportunityandaneweconomicimperative,WEF,2020.

13GlobalWealthReport2024:Craftedwealthintelligence,UBS,2024.

14“Educationstatistics-allindicators,”DataBank,WorldBankGroup,accessedMarch25,2025.

15TheSocialProgressIndex(SPI),acomprehensivemeasureofacountry’ssocialandenvironmentalperformance,canbeconsideredanindirectproxyforsocialmobility.Itprovidesaframeworkforevaluatingthewell-beingofasocietybylookingathoweffectively

countriesconvertwealthintosocialprogress.Formore,seethewebsiteoftheSocialProgressImperative.

Breakingthestandstill:HowsocialmobilitycanboostEurope’seconomy5

Middle

40%

Bottom

50%

Exhibit2

Europeisagloballeaderinsocialmobility,butprogresshasstalledoverthepastdecade.

34

46

20

39

45

16

34

46

20

Top

10%

Shareofnationalincomeearned,byincomebracket,2022,%

36

41

18

EUGermanyUKItaly

SocialProgressIndex,22013–23

48

41

10

US

Ginicoe代cient,20201

Inequality

49.0

30.5

34.2

35.2

Equality

30.0

US

EU

UK

Italy

Germany

DenmarkGermanyUKItalyUS

92

88

84

80

76

72

More

progress

Less

progress

20132014201520162017201820192020202120222023

1Measurestheextenttowhichthedistributionofincomewithinaneconomydeviatesfromperfectlyequal,with0asperfectequalityand100asperfectinequality.2SocialProgressIndexisacomprehensivemeasureofacountry’ssocialandenvironmentalperformance.Itexamineshowefectivelycountriesconvertwealthintosocialprogress.

Source:CIAWorldFactbook;SocialProgressImperative;WorldBank;WorldInequalityDatabase

McKinsey&Company

Theresultofthissocial-mobilitystagnationisthatthesocioeconomiccircumstancesintowhich

Europeansarebornheavilyinfluencetheireconomicoutcomesinadulthood.Theimpactofthat

backgroundmanifestsacrossatleastfourdimensionsofeducationalandprofessionalachievement.

Accesstoeducation.16Eurostatdatashowsthathavingahighlyeducatedparenttriplesanindividual’soddsofreceivingasimilarlevelofeducationcomparedwiththosewhoseparentsattendedonlyprimaryorlower-secondary(ormiddle)schools(Exhibit3).Theformergroupis

16Becausethisreportfocusesonbusiness,wedonotanalyzeindetailthestructureofeducationalsystems.

Web<2025>

UhSicitial3Mobility>Exhibit<3>of<17>

Breakingthestandstill:HowsocialmobilitycanboostEurope’seconomy6

AEuropeanparent’slevelofeducationsigni?cantlyinluencestheirchild’s.Child’seducationlevelinEuropebasedonparents’educationlevel,1%

Highlyeducated2parent

Medium-educated3parent

Low-educated?parent

ParentChild

75(sharewithinparentaleducationbracket)

23

23

2

40

42

56

25

45

4

35

30

Highly

educatedchild

Medium-educatedchild

Low-

educatedchild

Note:Figuresmaynotsumto100%,becauseofrounding.

1Covering34Europeancountries,providingdatafromnationallaborforcesurveys.Child’seducationlevelsbeforeyear16.

2High:tertiary.

3Medium:uppersecondary.

?Low:primary/lowersecondary.

Source:EurostatLabourForceSurvey(LFS)2021,EU-27(2020)countries

McKinsey&Company

also15timeslesslikelytoendtheireducationatorbeforeage16thanindividualswhoseparentsleftschoolatorbeforeage16.17ThissuggeststhatpeoplefromlowSEBshavelessaccesstotheeducationnecessarytoqualifyforhigh-skill,high-incomejobs.

Academicachievement.Socioeconomicstatusalsosignificantlycorrelateswithacademic

performance.StudentsfromlowSEBsareonaveragesixtimesmorelikelytohavelowerlearning

outcomesthantheirhigh-SEBpeers(Exhibit4).Whiletheaveragevariesbycountry—insomeEU

nations,high-SEBstudentsoutperformtheirlow-SEBcounterpartsbyafactoroften—everycountryshowsadifferenceofatleastthreetimes.

17SomeEuropeancountries(includingBelgiumandpartsofGermany)haveenactednewlawstomakeeducationcompulsoryuntilage18.Thiswillmoveindividualswhoseparentshadlowlevelsofeducationtothemedium-educationcohortbutisnotnecessarilyindicativeofchangesinthesocialmobilityofthecorrespondingsociety.

Web<2025>

UhSicitia4lMobility>Exhibit<4>of<17>

Breakingthestandstill:HowsocialmobilitycanboostEurope’seconomy7

Europeans’socioeconomicstatushasamaterialimpactontheiracademicachievement.

Educationalunderachievement,bysocioeconomicstatus,1%score(PISA)2?Lowsocioeconomicbackground(SEB)oHighSEB

HungaryPortugalBelgiumSlovakiaFrance

GermanyLuxembourg

CzechRep.

PolandEUaverage Ireland Slovenia Finland LithuaniaNetherlands

Austria SpainDenmarkRomaniaSweden Greece ItalyLatvia

Bulgaria

Estonia

Malta

CroatiaCyprus

HungaryPortugalBelgiumSlovakiaFrance

GermanyLuxembourg

CzechRep.

PolandEUaverage Ireland Slovenia Finland LithuaniaNetherlands

Austria SpainDenmarkRomaniaSweden Greece ItalyLatvia

Bulgaria

Estonia

Malta

CroatiaCyprus

0102030405060

Lower

performance

Higher

performance

LowSEBto

highSEB,ratio

9.68.8

8.0

7.9

7.6

7.6

7.5

7.2

6.0

5.6

5.4

5.1

5.1

5.0

5.0

4.9

4.9

4.8

4.6

4.2

4.1

4.1

3.9

3.7

3.53.23.02.9

1SocioeconomicstatusiscapturedbytheOECD’sindexforeconomic,social,andculturalstatus,comparingitslowestandhighestquartiles.

2BasedonPISAscale.PISAistheOECD’sProgramforInternationalStudentAssessmentandmeasures15-year-olds’abilitytousetheirreading,mathematics,and

scienceknowledgeandskillstomeetreal-lifechallenges.Itlooksattheshareofstudentswhounderachievedinacountry(ie,0%meansthatnostudentsscored

belowaminimuminthatcountry)andcomparesthatwiththeproportionofstudentswhounderachievedinthelowestandhighestquartilesofsocioeconomicstatus.Source:EurostatLabourForceSurvey(LFS)2021,EU-27(2020)countries

McKinsey&Company

Employmentaccess.Employmentpatternsrevealadditionalsystemicchallengesforlow-SEB

individuals.Theirunemploymentrateexceedsthatoftheirhigh-SEBcounterpartsbyapproximatelyfourpercentagepoints(Exhibit5).Moreover,theirperiodsofjoblessnesslast,onaverage,at

leastfivemonthslongerthanforthosefromhighSEBs.Thereasonsforunemploymentalsodiffer

significantly,withlow-SEBworkersmorelikelytoexperiencedismissalandlesslikelytoleavetheirjobsforeducationortrainingopportunities(typicallyassociatedwithcareerprogression)thanpeersfromhighSEBs.18

18McKinseyanalysisofdatafromEurostatLabourForceSurvey,EU-27,2021.

Web<2025>

UhSicitial5Mobility>Exhibit<5>of<17>

Breakingthestandstill:HowsocialmobilitycanboostEurope’seconomy8

EuropeansfromlowSEBsarelesslikelytobeinhigh-skilledjobsthansimilarlyeducatedindividualsfromhighSEBs.

2021unemploymentrateof25–54-year-oldsinEU-27,1bysocioeconomicbackground(SEB),2%

Timeoutoftheworkforceamongunemployed15–54-year-oldsinEU-27,1bySEBlevel,3%

HighSEB

LowSEB

5.3

9.4

+4.1

percentagepoints

HighSEB

LowSEB

66

12

11

10

Lessthan

6months

6–12

months

1–2

years

>2

years

39

16

20

25

>5monthslongerunemploymentperiod

onaverage

1EU-27,includingthe17euroareacountries,whicharemembersoftheOECD:Austria,Belgium,Estonia,Finland,France,Germany,Greece,Ireland,Italy,Latvia,Lithuania,Luxembourg,Netherlands,Portugal,SlovakRepublic,Slovenia,andSpain.

2Calculatedbyparenteducationlevel,withlowSEBde?nedasInternationalStandardClassi?cationofEducation(ISCED)levels0–2(primaryschooltolowersecondary)andhighSEBde?nedasISCEDlevels5–8(short-cycletertiaryeducationtodoctorateorequivalent).

3Calculationhasbeenperformedwiththefollowingassumptions:1.<6months=3months;2.6–11months=8.5months;3.12–23months=17.5months;4.24monthsandmore=24months.

Source:EurostatLabourForceSurvey(LFS)2021,EU-27(2020)countries

McKinsey&Company

Accesstohigh-skilljobs.Theconnectionbetweensocioeconomicbackgroundandeconomic

opportunityisalsoevidentinjobskilllevels.IndividualsfromlowSEBsarealmostthreetimesaslikelytoworkinlow-skillpositionsassimilarlyeducatedindividualsfromhighSEBs(Exhibit6).Similarly,

low-SEBworkerswholackuniversitydegreesare3.4timeslesslikelytoholdhigh-skilljobsthantheirequivalentlyeducatedhigh-SEBcounterparts.19

Theconnectionbetweensocioeconomicbackgroundandeconomicopportunityisalsoevidentinjobskilllevels.

19Ouranalysismaynotcapturesomedifferencesineducationlevelswithintertiaryandnontertiary-educatedgroups.Forexample,high-SEBindividualsmaybemorelikelytogotohighlyrankeduniversities,whichinturngivesthemanadvantageinsecuring

higher-skilledjobsoverpeerswhoattendedotherinstitutions.

Web<2025>

UhSicitial6Mobility>Exhibit<6>of<17>

Breakingthestandstill:HowsocialmobilitycanboostEurope’seconomy9

Europeansfromdisadvantagedbackgroundsarelesslikelytobeinhigh-skilledjobsthansimilarlyeducatedindividualsfrommorea代uentbackgrounds.

ShareofEU-271people,byjobskilllevel2andsocioeconomicbackground(SEB),%

LowskillsLower-mediumskillsHigher-mediumskillsHighskills

LowSEB

LowSEB

1768105

6

54

23

17

1.4×

3.4×

HighSEB

HighSEB

NontertiaryeducatedTertiaryeducated

28

21

49

3

14

17

68

1

1EU-27,includingthe17euroareacountries,whicharemembersoftheOECD:Austria,Belgium,Estonia,Finland,France,Germany,Greece,Ireland,Italy,Latvia,Lithuania,Luxembourg,Netherlands,Portugal,SlovakRepublic,SloveniaandSpain.

2Calculatedbyparenteducationlevel,withlowSEBde?nedasInternationalStandardClassi?cationofEducation(ISCED)levels0–2(primaryschooltolowersecondary)andhighSEBde?nedasISCEDlevels5–8(short-cycletertiaryeducationtodoctorateorequivalent).

Source:EurostatLabourForceSurvey(LFS)2021,EU-27(2020)countries

McKinsey&Company

Impactoflowersocialmobility:Employers

Europeanbusinessesfaceaskillsshortagecrisisthatshowssignsofintensifying.In2023,

75percentofemployersreporteddifficultiesinfillingroles—a34percentagepointincreasefrom

2018.20Twenty-nineEuropeancountriesreportsignificanttalentconstraints,withjobvacancy

ratesrisingasmuchas50percentsince2020.21Theseproblemsareparticularlypronouncedin

construction,accommodationandfoodservices,andhighlyskilledprofessional,scientific,and

technicalfields.Onestudyfoundthat43percentofEuropeanemployersfaceworkershortagesindataanalyticsskills,while26percentreporttalentdeficitsinIT,webdesign,andmanagement.22IntheUnitedKingdomalone,alackofdigitalanddataskillsisreducingannualrevenuesforaffectedorganizationsbyanaverageof8.5percent.23

Businessleadersexpectfurtherdeclinesintheavailabilityofworkerswiththeskillstheyneed.

ForecastsindicatethattheEuropeanworkforcewillshrinkbytwomillion