TRAILS at the Irish Economic Association Annual Conference 2025

24/06/2025

TRAILS was represented at the 38th Annual Irish Economic Association (IEA) Conference, held on 8–9 May 2025 at the Hilton Belfast. The event, hosted by the Department of Economics at Queen’s University Belfast, gathered leading academics, researchers, and policymakers to exchange insights on pressing economic issues.

Dr. Paul Redmond from the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) presented TRAILS research titled: “Educational Mismatch in Europe: Incidence, Determinants and the Impact of Increased Remote Working.”The presentation explored how mismatches between education and job requirements persist across Europe, and how recent shifts towards remote work may be reshaping this dynamic. These findings are closely aligned with TRAILS’ mission to generate data-driven insights on skills development and labour market transformation.

A key theme throughout the conference was the importance of leveraging innovative datasets—including administrative records, surveys, and job vacancy data—to inform evidence-based policy. This strongly resonates with TRAILS’ methodology, which combines diverse data sources to understand and address skills mismatches.

The IEA Conference served as an excellent platform to engage with a diverse audience of academics and policymakers, all with a strong interest in labour market dynamics and education-policy alignment. Discussions highlighted the need for continued collaboration and data-driven research to address workforce challenges.

Looking ahead, TRAILS intends to submit a newly completed research report for consideration at the 2026 IEA Conference, continuing our commitment to contributing to this important dialogue.