The International Standard Classification of Occupations (ISCO) in the European Union

The revision of the International Standard Classification of Occupations (ISCO) offers the European Union an opportunity to harmonize its employment statistics. Despite their efforts, however, Eurostat and EU Member States failed to define a satisfactory common position during the International Labor Office’s 2004-2007 review. A new field of study is now opening up, with the aim of adopting the new version of the classification (ISCO-08) as a benchmark for the EU. The most promising approach is a judicious linkage between ISCO-08 and the EU’s ESeC project.