Objective <p>Continuous skills development is important for keeping up with new demands in workplaces and may also influence labour market participation. This systematic review aims to determine whether skills development affects labour market participation among workers aged 35 or older.</p> Materials and methods <p>A systematic review following Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) was conducted. We searched Web of Science Core Collection, PubMed, EBSCO, ProQuest and Ovid in May 2023, and conducted an additional search in Google Scholar in November 2023.</p> <p>Eligibility criteria were; 1) prospective cohort studies 2) workers 35+ years 3) participation in, or opportunities to participate in skills development 4) outcomes related to labour market participation and 5) studies published in English or Scandinavian languages.</p> <p>Two independent reviewers’ extracted data, assessed the risk of bias (Newcastle Ottawa Scale) and evaluated the certainty of the evidence (GRADE) of the included studies.</p> Results <p>The literature search identified 5,147 records, of which 19 (n=1,089,749 and 759,931 person-years) met the inclusion criteria. GRADE indicated a “very low” quality of evidence for all outcomes. Overall, 12 studies found an association: 1) four studies found that skills development / opportunities for skills development reduced early retirement, 2) one study found that a lack of skills development increased the likelihood of early retirement, and 3) seven studies found that skills development / opportunities for skills development were associated with working longer.</p> Conclusions <p>This systematic review presents varied findings concerning the link between skills development and labour market participation.</p> Trial registration <p>This systematic review was registered with PROSPERO (CRD42023419005).</p>