The purpose of this indicator is to estimate size and share of employment of people with vocational (VET) qualifications across EU countries and in the United Kingdom. The share of people with VET qualifications is calculated from the the EU Labour Force Survey (LFS) data.

The EU LFS categorises individuals’ highest level of qualification as either general or vocational where that qualification is at ISCED Levels 3 or 4 and where they are currently aged between 15 and 34 years. Because of the measurement, the employment levels and shares of "VET occupations" presented in this indicator shall be treated as conservative estimates. Over the past 20 years, many countries have developed vocationally or professionally oriented programmes at higher levels, and there is evidence of programmes such as apprenticeships in some countries now being offered at ISCED level 5 above which the EU LFS is not able to capture. Based on this indicator, a related Future of VET occupations indicator has been also created to estimate employment trends up to 2030.