Cracking the Code on Green Employability: How 9 European Institutions measured (and increased) VET success
The Measurement paradox of the Green economy
As Europe accelerates toward the ambitious decarbonization targets established by the European Green Deal, a profound challenge has emerged at the intersection of vocational education and the labour market. The transition to a sustainable, net-zero economy requires an immediate influx of highly specialised, “green-skilled” professionals. Yet, when educationalinstitutions attempt to measure their success in supplying this much-needed workforce, they frequently collide with aformidable methodological wall.
Within our transnational initiative, this mandate was crystallised into a singular, overarching Key Performance Indicator (KPI): “Measure the increase in employability of VAT students in green occupations”.
At first glance, measuring an “increase” appears to be a straightforward exercise in data comparison; one simply evaluates ahistorical baseline of green employment against current graduate tracking data. However, labour market researchers andeducational policymakers recognise that “green employability” is a highly complex and fluid metric. Furthermore, officialEuropean macroeconomic statistics suffer from what can only be described as a “metrological void”. Traditional statisticaltaxonomies, such as the International Standard Classification of Occupations (ISCO) or the Statistical Classification of Economic Activities (NACE) codes, were fundamentally designed for a 20th-century industrial economy. As highlighted byanalyses from the European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training (Cedefop, 2021), these static codes mightindicate whether an electrical engineer is employed, but they largely fail to distinguish between an engineer working in a heavy-polluting coal plant and one designing smart grids for a solar farm.
Moreover, as an international consortium, we faced a fascinating measurement paradox: how does an institution practically measure a historical “increase” in employability when the very Graduate Tracking Systems (GTS) required to capture that granular data were being constructed during the project lifecycle? Without a pre-existing “Month 1” internal baseline, what objectively defines success? And crucially, how can a universal metric be applied when the concept of “employability” is dictated by widely divergent regionalrealities, from combating a 21.2% youth unemployment rate in Greece (Hellenic Statistical Authority [ELSTAT], 2024) to managing near-zero unemployment and severe IT talent shortages in Portugal(Direção-Geral de Estatísticas da Educação e Ciência [DGEEC], 2023)?
The solution lay in an agile, ecosystem-driven methodology. Instead of imposing a rigid, one-size-fits-all survey that would inevitably fail to capture local nuances, our nine partner institutions were empowered to ask highly localised questions. Theyidentified the specific regional frictions hindering green employability within their territories. To prove their success andestablish a starting point, they utilised Proxy Baselines. By extracting official national and regional statistics (spanning from2019 to 2024) from authoritative bodies like Eurostat, the National Organisation for the Certification of Qualifications andVocational Guidance (EOPPEP), AlmaLaurea, and Lanbide, they established an objective historical reality.
By contrasting the fresh data from our newly established tracking pilots against these official state baselines, the consortium did more than just gather numbers. We proved tangible increases in green employability, diagnosed severe skills gaps, and managed to close the feedback loop for future Vocational Education and Training (VET) design. Here is the data-drivennarrative of how this core KPI was executed across Europe.
GREECE: Escaping the Skills Labyrinth and Data Gap
The Greek labour market has experienced a robust, albeit uneven, post-pandemic recovery, yet severe structural vulnerabilitiespersist. Youth unemployment remains high, and VET graduates historically face acute “horizontal mismatch”, meaning they are frequently forced to abandon their specialised technical studies for generalised service jobs in the dominant tourism orretail sectors (Katsikas et al., 2022). Our Greek partners specifically targeted these exact vulnerabilities to secure and measuregreen employability.
1. University of West Attica (UNIWA)
Capturing the invisible Green worker
To demonstrably prove an increase in green employability, an institution must first be able to track the green worker. According to Eurostat (2024a), the general employment rate for recent graduates in Greece had recovered to a notable 72.3% by 2023.However, because ofhcial national statistics rely on the aforementioned static occupational codes, they entirely fail to capture thequalitative “preening” of the labour market (Cedefop, 2021). Furthermore, Greece sustains an important, structurally precarious overall self-employment rate of 28.8%, which is historically driven by economic necessity and a lack of wage-labour opportunities rather than true entrepreneurial innovation (European Labour Authority, 2023).
Since general employment metrics simply do not prove green employability, UNIWA prioritised bypassing this statistical void to explicitly measure the direct absorption rate of its graduates into green sectors.
UNIWA’s mixed-methods tracking system effectively captured this missing green data. The pilot recorded a strong 68.4% overallemployment rate, but most notably, it proved a substantial green concentration: 38.2% of graduates are working specifically in theRenewable Energy/Sustainability sector. Even more fundamentally for the KPI, 84.2% report active involvement in green activities (such as Eco-design or Life Cycle Analysis) in their daily roles. The system also proved an increase in high-quality entrepreneurship: self-employment among graduates was recorded at 19.7%, indicating opportunity-driven green consulting and innovation rather than the 28.8% necessity-driven national baseline.
2. SAEK Egaleo {DIEK Aigaleo)
Combating Horizontal Mismatch
“Employability” can only be considered a “win” if graduates actually stay in their trained field. Official Greek data reveals a severe horizontal mismatch crisis. Data from the 2021 EOPPEP Nationwide Graduate Tracking Survey showed that even state-certifiedInstitute of Vocational Training (IEK) graduates face a 37.03% career shift rate, while uncertified graduates face a severe 50.72% probability of abandoning their technical field (National Organisation for the Certification of Qualifications and Vocational Guidance [EOPPEP], 2021). Concurrently, Greek youth unemployment (ages 15-24) remained pressingly high at 21.2% in 2023(ELSTAT, 2024).
As the largest SAEK in Greece, universal tracking of all alumni was operationally impossible. Instead, SAEK Egaleo implemented targeted tracking specifically for Automation and Renewable Energy cohorts to measure their specific resistance to this national career-shifting trend.
The targeted tracking established that M% of Renewable Energy Technicians and 40% of Automation Technicians are actively working directly in their specialised fields. The tracking identified a 33% career-shift rate for Renewable Energy and just an 8% career-shift rate for Automation. This demonstrates a measurable improvement (a distinct decrease in mismatch) over thenational certified baseline of 37.03%, proving that highly specialised green VET yields significantly higher field retention and true employability.
3. IEK DELTA
Diagnosing the Lifelong Learning Gap
Greece suffers from a massive “Work-Based Learning (WBL) deficit“” Alarmingly, only 15.0% of recent VET graduates in Greeceparticipate in WBL during their studies, compared to the robust EU average of 65.2% (European Commission, 2024).Consequently, graduates face severe post-hire skills gaps. Nationally, the “Recent Training” index scores an exceptionally low8.1 out of 100 (Cedefop, 2024), and exactly 50% of the Greek workforce is completely deprived of continuous professional training (Labour Institute of the General Confederation of Greek Workers [INE-GSEE], 2023).
The green transition requires continuous technological adaptation; static knowledge quickly becomes obsolete. IEK DELTA prioritised gathering high-fidelity qualitative data via personalised telephone interviews (intentionally bypassing digital surveys which historically yielded <5% response rates) to identify precise post-graduate upskilling needs required to sustain green employability.
The personalised telephone methodology achieved a robust 40% response rate (N=122). The data proved excellent initial employability: 75% employed (beating the national recent VET graduate employment rate of 69.5%), with 62% strictlyemployed in their trained field. The system diagnosed the exact result of the national WBL deficit: 69% of graduates reportedneeding extra seminars and courses to remain competitive. Identifying this gap effectively closes the feedback loop, directlyinforming the creation of future micro-credentials to guarantee long-term green employability and skill relevance.
ITALY: Reversing efficacy decay and tackling regional precarity
Italy features a deeply divided labour market. While highly educated engineers in the industrialised North enjoy near-fullemployment, they face nuanced challenges regarding long-term skill utilisation. Conversely, vocational trainees in southern and insular regions like Sardinia battle deep structural unemployment, emigration, and highly precarious labour contracts.
4. SAPIENZA Università di Roma
The “Efficacy Paradox“ in Green Engineering
The national AlmaLaurea tracking system, which covers approximately 90% of Italian university graduates, reveals thatEnvironmental Engineering (LM-35) graduates suffer an intriguing “Efficacy Paradox“. While they reach near-fullemployment (97.9%) by year five post-graduation, their self-reported high utilisation of specific academic technical skills drops significantly. It falls from 61.7%-66.7% at year one to just 51.5%-53.1% by year five, as they frequently shift out of pure engineering into generic corporate management or consulting roles (Consorzio Interuniversitario AlmaLaurea, 2023).
Measuring if graduates actually use their green and environmental skills in their daily jobs is the purest definition of increasingthe quality of green employability. Sapienza prioritised measuring this exact match rate via a faculty-specific micro-trackingsystem (TRACE) to combat this national technical “efficacy decay“.
TRACE was deployed for the DICEA department, establishing tracking parameters explicitly designed to beat this national decay. It established a 900/o tracking coverage target and a highly ambitious 75% strict match-rate target between academic studies and green engineering job roles. This localised, high-resolution data provides the exact mechanism needed to drive curriculumreform, such as creating hybrid degrees tailored for the Ecological Transition, to increase long-term technical skill efficacy beyond the -53% national baseline.
5. CIOFS-FP ETS (Sardinia)
Modernizing vulnerable populations tracking
Sardinia suffers from a structurally depressed labour market. Historical Initial Vocational Education and Training (IeFP) employment rates in the region stagnate between 53.2% and 57.3% (Istituto Nazionale per l’Analisi dellePolitiche Pubbliche [INAPP], 2023). For unemployed adults participating in the Garanzia Occupabilità Lavoratori (GOL)program, the placement rate in the Mezzogiorno (Southern Italy) is heavily depressed at only 43.8% (Ministero del Lavoro e delle Politiche Sociali, 2025).
Ensuring that VET provides actual, sustainable employment outcomes for vulnerable populations is foundational to increasingemployability in any sector. CIOFS-FP prioritised the digital modernisation of tracking for both IVET youth and adult job-seekers(GOL program) to effectively measure their transition into the labour market.
By shifting from inefficient, manual tracking to mobile-first WhatsApp tracking, response rates climbed to an exceptional 86% forIVET graduates (specifically in the Operatore Socio Sanitario [OSS] course). The data proved that -800o of respondents are actively employed, significantly outperforming the 53.2-57.3% regional baseline and proving a tangible, measurable increase in employability. Furthermore, the system established the first tracking loop for Career Services users, achieving a 40% response rate viaemail and capturing vital qualitative feedback on the need for career counselling to combat regional precarity.
SLOVAKIA: Bridging the Digital-Green construction bottleneck
The European Green Deal mandates that all new buildings must achieve zero-emission status by 2030 (European Commission, 2021). Proficiency in advanced digital tools like Building Information Modelling (BIM) and Building Energy Modelling (BEM) is anabsolute prerequisite for modern “green constructions. The Slovak construction sector is undergoing a rapid transition, but institutional tracking previously failed to measure whether graduates were actually equipped for these modern green demands.
6. Technical University of Kosice (TUKE)
Identifying the BIM Bottleneck
At a macroeconomic level, only 20-25% of higher education graduates in Slovakia find employment that fully matches their field of study (Trexima, 2023). Furthermore, active BIM usage in the Slovak construction industry is structurally low at 21.5%, with a shortage of specialists—only 3.4% operate as BIM Managers (BIM Association Slovakia [BIMaS], 2023).
TUKE prioritised identifying precise qualitative digital and green skills gaps in the transition of civil engineering students to themodern construction market, purposefully moving beyond historical, unverified assumptions of curriculum alignment. Identifying gaps in green construction methodologies (like BIM) directly targets the core of green employability.
The SECOYE tracking system managed to disrupt the institutional status quo. It revealed a critical gap preventing optimal green employability: 64.7% of graduates found roles partially or not related to their studies, explicitly citing a lack of practical work experience (47.1%) and a desperate need for proficiency in green/digital tools like BIM. Identifying this gap is a notable KPI success; it instantly triggered feedback loops to integrate mandatory BIM traininginto the curriculum, directly driving future green placements and actively pushing the 21.5% industry adoption rate upward.
7. SPSSG Kosice (STAVKE)
Fixing the secondary pipeline leakage
Slovak secondary VET (EQF 4) suffers a significant 60% horizontal mismatch rate, meaning a majority of graduates are workingexclusively outside their field of study (Cedefop, 2022). Furthermore, due to societal “credential inflation“, the most (77.4%) ofVET students use the “Maturita“ track merely as a passport to transition to higher education, leaving severe shortages of mid-levelgreen technicians in the regional labour market (Slovak Centre of Scientific and Technical Information [CVTI SR], 2023).
Ensuring that secondary VET actually supplies mid-level technicians to the green construction market, rather than just acting asan academic stepping stone to university, directly increases functional green employability. STAVKE established automatedinternal data collection to evaluate this transition.
Built entirely from scratch, the digital tracking system empirically mapped this pipeline leakage: proving that 50% pursuefurther study, while only 22% enter work immediately. Mirroring the findings at TUKE, the system managed to capture directmarket demand for Revit/BIM software. This exact empirical data is now being utilised to push for updated curricula and Dual Education reforms to combat the 60% national mismatch baseline and increase direct industry absorption.
SPAIN & PORTUGAL: Defeating survey fatigue and Automating the twin transition
In the Iberian Peninsula, the challenges shift toward system automation and combating notable survey fatigue to track the ”Twin Transition“, the paradigm where digital skills (IT) directly enable and construct green sustainability (e.g., building digitalinfrastructures for circular economies).
8. Politeknika Txorierri (PIT)
Spain: Beating the Silence
While the Basque VET system boasts a high 83.2% general employment rate (Eustat, 2023), passive email surveys in Spanishacademic institutions historically yield highly ineffective 20.6% to 29.1% response rates (Universidad de Sevilla, 2020; Universidad Católica de Valencia [UCV], 2023). To eliminate nou-response bias, the Basque Employment Service rigorouslymandates a 72% minimum response rate for its graduate labour insertion surveys (Servicio Vasco de Empleo [Lanbide], 2023).
A functioning feedback loop ensures that the curriculum for environmental sectors accurately meets industry needs, thussecuring long-term employability in green occupations. PIT prioritised drastically improving the alumni feedback loop togather statistically valid data on transversal and green skills without succumbing to digital survey fatigue.
By transitioning to an active mobile methodology utilising WhatsApp, the tracking system achieved a 33.72% response rate, asignificant operational increase over their historical 12-15% internal email baseline. The system tracked a strong green cohort (20% of respondents originating from the Environmental Education and Control cycle). This valid, qualitative data is now actively beingused by the institution to adapt 15% of the law-modifiable curriculum to match emerging green industry needs.
9. Polytechnic of Porto (IPP)
Portugal: Automating the twin transition
The “Green Transition” is completely dependent on the “Digital Transition” (for example, creating blockchain-backed DigitalProduct Passports for sustainable manufacturing). Informatics Engineering graduates from Portuguese Polytechnicsexperience a “near-zero” registered unemployment rate (-0.5%), highlighting a substantial quantitative talent shortage for thisTwin Transition (Dire§ao-Geral de Estatisticas da Educa§ao e Ciéncia [DGEEC], 2023). Starting salaries in tech hubs range from fi1,800 to fi3,500+, compared to the -L1,180 national average for entry-level graduates (Funda§ao Jose Neves, 2024). However, the historical institutional baseline was a “zero-data” environment utilising only ad-hoc, manual tracking methods.
Because finding a job is practically guaranteed in the IT sector, the priority was building a fully automated, API-driven infrastructureintegrated directly with the Student Information System (SIS) to track long-term deployment into green/industrial sectors and salary trends without administrative burden.
The API-driven tracking system was successfully developed and deployed. Pilot data confirmed the baseline reality of extreme marketdemand: 75% in-field employment and 100% workplace satisfaction, accurately mapping salary brackets. By eliminating administrative burden, this highly scalable system is now primed to expand from the initial 15,000 ISEP students to the entire 32,000 IPP studentbody, establishing permanent, real-time tracking of how digital skills are deployed to supply the green transition.
Conclusion: Measuring What Matters for the Green Transition
To effectively evaluate the “increase in employability of VET students in green occupations”, the consortium recognised afundamental truth: a single, flat percentage point cannot capture the nuances of nine vastly different regional ecosystems. Trueemployability is not solely about securing a contract; it is about avoiding horizontal mismatch, possessing the correct digital-green skills (such as BIM and ESG compliance), and staying resilient in rapidly shifting labour markets.
By comparing our newly gathered pilot data against official proxy baselines (Eurostat, AlmaLaurea, Lanbide, Trexima, INAPP), wedid not merely prove that our graduates are finding jobs. We proved that targeted VET tracking can bypass national data gaps, overcome digital survey fatigue, and diagnose critical skills gaps before they become systemic failures.
Whether it was UNIWA proving a 38.20o absorption rate into renewables, CIOFS-FP skyrocketing engagement to 86% via WhatsApp, or TUKE identifying the BIM skills gap to trigger immediate curriculum reform, the results speak for themselves.We didn’t just measure employability; we built the precise, data-driven feedback loops required to guarantee its continuousincrease in the green economy for years to come.
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