In the fast-changing world of today and in economies that rely on knowledge and complex skills, workers with low skills are in danger of finding themselves outside the mainstream. Increasingly, a polarisation is seen between high-skilled jobs and low-skilled jobs and the divide between knowledge workers and service workers is growing, with consequences in the working conditions of both. Low-skilled workers are at high risk of becoming ‘poor’ as this reports shows, with low skills being related to low pay and also to some extent to precarious employment.

This paper will address the situation of low-skilled workers in the EU27 Member States by analysing cross-sectional data showing the distribution of such workers in these countries and analysing their working conditions compared to those of other groups of workers.