Nearly half of Irish workers believe they are over skilled for the jobs they do.
New research from the ESRI shows Ireland is the fourth worst in Europe when it comes to under-utilising workers' skills.
Meanwhile, 8% said they do not have the skills required for the role they are employed in.
Report author Dr Paul Redmond said aligning people's skills and their jobs is good for the economy.
"If these employees were fully utilising their skills then this would represent a productivity gain, not only in terms of the employee and their wages but also to the economy as a whole," he said.
"If you have employees that really are skilled but aren't utilising their skills, then this represents a sort of missed opportunity."