ESCO is the European multilingual classification of occupations, skills, competences and qualifications. The Occupations pillar is the part of the taxonomy that expands the International Standard Classification of Occupations (ISCO) providing a richer level of granularity. ISCO-08 provides the top four levels for the occupations pillar while ESCO occupations are located at level 5 and lower.
ESCO occupations are defined by one preferred term but include also a number of synonyms (non-preferred and hidden terms) that allow better identification of real occupations in the labour market in each of the ESCO languages. In addition to the identification terms, each occupation is thoroughly described including links to the relevant skills and competences.