This study proposes and tests an operational framework to examine the significance of resilience and the related concept of vulnerability, for labour market efficiency, in the context of regional competitiveness. The performance of European regional labour markets is analysed, compared and assessed using a methodology based on principal component analysis with regression modelling and decision tree techniques. The proposed operational framework and its spatial distribution offer new theoretical, methodological and empirical insights into understanding the real contribution of resilience and vulnerability to regional labour markets. The added value of the proposed operational framework is its direct policy-oriented perspective.