QS World Future Skills Index: Spain Spotlight

Spain performance overview

Spain’s economy is on an upward trajectory, with strong potential for future skills adoption. While Economic Transformation (70.8) suggests structural challenges, this is common across Europe. However, its high Future of Work score (93.0) signals growing employer demand for AI and Green skills, where Spain outperforms many European peers. Universities have strengthened research excellence in AI, Digital, and Green fields, yet a gap remains between research capability and how well students develop these skills. This misalignment risks widening the gap between industry needs and graduate readiness. Without stronger industry-academia collaboration and applied learning, Spain may struggle to ensure that its graduates can fully meet evolving labour market demands.

Spain performance in detail

Skills Fit

Spain performs well in Skills Fit and most of its sub-indicators. These results suggest that Spanish graduates are adaptable, ethical, and capable of leadership. However, Entrepreneurial and Innovative Mindset is a weaker area, signalling that universities could better integrate entrepreneurship and innovation-focused learning into their curriculum. Employers increasingly value these skills. Stronger engagement between industry and academia could help bridge this gap.

Future of Work

Spain’s Future of Work score (93.0) highlights strong employer demand for AI and Green skills. This reflects a concentration of innovation in workforce needs with companies actively seeking future-ready skills. However, despite this demand, job creation has not kept pace, limiting opportunities for highly skilled graduates. To retain talent and ensure graduates remain in Spain, the country must stimulate job growth in high value sectors through R&D investment.

Academic Readiness

Spain’s universities are among the world’s best in AI, Digital and Green skills, positioning their universities as leaders in future-focused subject areas. These scores highlight Spain’s robust research ecosystem, with universities driving innovation in these fields. However, despite this foundation, there is a disconnect between academic excellence and Skills Fit. Spanish universities must ensure skills are truly relevant and translate to economic impact.

Economic Transformation

Spain’s economy is on an upward trajectory, but its Economic Transformation score suggests that high-value job creation is not keeping pace with its skilled graduate output. Spain’s AI and Green skills are in high demand but low Economic Capacity (54.1) could limit opportunities in knowledge-driven industries. Workforce Readiness (57.0) indicates that employers are struggling to integrate future-focused skills into business operations. Low Future-Oriented Innovation & Sustainability scores also shows universities are not yet translating academic excellence into widespread economic impact.

Conclusion and analysis

Spain’s economy is on an upward trajectory, with strong employer demand for AI and Green skills (Future of Work: 93.0). However, Economic Transformation (70.8) lags behind, signalling limited job creation in high-value industries. Spanish universities excel in AI, Digital, and Green research, yet a gap remains between research strength and graduate skill development. Without stronger industry-academia collaboration and policies to stimulate job growth, Spain risks widening its skills gap.

Our analysis and recommendations:

1. Spain’s higher education system has the potential to be a key driver of job creation, turning academic excellence into economic impact. By strengthening industry ties, expanding R&D investment, and embedding entrepreneurship into curricula, universities can fuel business growth and innovation. Expanding start-up incubation, spin-off companies, and applied research partnerships will allow graduates to create, rather than just seek, high-value jobs.
2. Spain’s high scores in Academic Readiness (96.3) and Future of Work (93.0) indicate a strong talent pipeline. To accelerate economic transformation (70.8), universities must act as catalysts for AI, Digital, and Green innovation. Enhanced R&D-commercialisation pathways, government-backed innovation zones, and stronger employer-university collaboration can ensure that graduates enter industries that are growing, not stagnating.
3. With Workforce Readiness at 57.0, there is a major opportunity to strengthen applied learning. Expanding dual-degree programmes, industrydriven curricula, and university-led innovation hubs will ensure that graduates possess the skills to immediately impact the labour market. Stronger integration between academic research and industry needs will enhance both employability and business competitiveness.

This tailored resource empowers

The Skills Fit indicator measures how well countries are equipping graduates with the skills that employers desire. This is assessed by determining the gap between what employers find important and their level of satisfaction with the skills provided by graduates. This is done using data from the QS Global Employer Survey, the largest of its kind, and data from the World Bank Group. Since 2021, over 100,000 employers have rated the importance of certain skills and their satisfaction in their graduate hires.

UK’s future skills supply

The Skills Fit indicator measures how well countries are equipping graduates with the skills that employers desire. This is assessed by determining the gap between what employers find important and their level of satisfaction with the skills provided by graduates. This is done using data from the QS Global Employer Survey, the largest of its kind, and data from the World Bank Group. Since 2021, over 100,000 employers have rated the importance of certain skills and their satisfaction in their graduate hires.

Economic transformation

The Skills Fit indicator measures how well countries are equipping graduates with the skills that employers desire. This is assessed by determining the gap between what employers find important and their level of satisfaction with the skills provided by graduates. This is done using data from the QS Global Employer Survey, the largest of its kind, and data from the World Bank Group. Since 2021, over 100,000 employers have rated the importance of certain skills and their satisfaction in their graduate hires.