Emerging Labor Market Research Articles

Work-integrated learning in the humanities, arts and social sciences: where to from here?

ABSTRACT Amidst increasing pressures on Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences (HASS) disciplines regarding graduate career readiness, this study examines HASS student participation in work-integrated learning (WIL) and its impacts on employability and short-term employment outcomes, using data from the Australian Graduate Outcomes Survey from 2020 to 2023. The research examined the extent of participation across WIL types (work-based, non-workplace and global) and its influence on graduates’ perceived employability and employment outcomes (full-time employment and perceived overqualification), while investigating demographic differences using descriptive analysis and logistic regression models. Results indicated rising WIL participation yet identified disparities by activity type and among student groups. Work-based WIL (e.g. internships) was the most effective type for enhancing employability and facilitating transitions into professional roles and work aligned to degree study. Non-workplace WIL (e.g. projects), while beneficial for skill development, showed limited impact on immediate employment outcomes and there was relatively low participation in global WIL (e.g. industry study tours) across all discipline groups. The study illuminates the need for more inclusive WIL programmes and flexible models to accommodate diverse student needs. Recommendations for HASS faculties include integrating career development learning, optimising industry engagement and providing targeted support for underrepresented groups. By aligning WIL experiences with emerging labour market opportunities, HASS faculties can prepare graduates for successful careers, addressing both individual aspirations and broader economic needs. Future research regarding WIL in HASS could focus on postgraduate participation and industry perspectives on scaling programmes to ensure initiatives effectively bridge the gap between academic learning and professional practice.

Workplace Flexibility: Identifying New Trends and Directions from the Grey Literature Sources

Abstract Background and purpose This literature review examines labour market trends, focusing on workplace flexibility. It analyses grey literature and statistical reports to understand the impact of policies promoting sustainable digitisation. The analysis seeks to understand how these strategies have influenced labour market dynamics. Methodology The research utilised descriptive and compilation techniques to analyse grey literature, focusing on theoretical frameworks and temporal trends. It analysed non-traditional publications, reports, and statistical data to understand emerging labour market trends, particularly workplace flexibility and sustainable digitisation policies. This approach provided unique insights beyond traditional academic publications. Results Three major themes were identified by the review of grey literature sources. First is the impact of digitalisation on the labour market, the second is flexible working arrangements, and the third is working time flexibility. Conclusion The digital revolution transforms lifestyles and practices, leading to novel work forms. The pandemic has accelerated this trend, focusing on digitisation for work optimisation and flexibility. These new work forms increase productivity efficiency and reduce operational costs. Technological integration affects work quality and employee competencies, influencing the workforce’s needs.

RURAL INHABITANTS IN THE PERSPECTIVE OF LABOUR MARKET CHALLENGES

The study delves into the nuanced challenges rural inhabitants face within the contemporary labour market landscape. As rural areas experience dynamic socio-economic shifts, this research aims to comprehensively understand the intricate intersection between rural livelihoods and emerging labour market trends. Employing a mixed-methods approach, the study investigates the constraints and opportunities in accessing and thriving within the labour market. The methodology includes pointing out the impact of megatrends described within the Horizon 2020 RURALIZATION project on the labour market and reviewing the research topics addressed during the XVII Congress of the European Association of Agricultural Economists 2024. The megatrends identified include an ageing population, the influence of globalisation, the ramifications of urbanisation, environmental stewardship, climate change concerns, efforts to counteract unequal development and rural decline, the surge in food demand, infrastructural considerations, regional accessibility, and connectedness, as well as the evolving patterns of migration. The review of contributions provided to the XVII EAAE Congress underscores the significance of addressing the inflow and outflow of the labour force in agriculture. Delving into specific aspects such as farm succession and the various factors influencing these processes, including the impact of agricultural policies, further solidifies the assertion that labour supply in rural areas holds paramount importance within agricultural economic research.

The Employment of Ukrainians as an Opportunity to Fill the Labour Market in Poland – Selected Issues

The labour market in Poland has undergone significant transformations over the past two decades. The observed changes have been influenced by various factors related to, among other things, the possibility of free movement of the population resulting from membership of EU structures, demographic changes, technological changes, and the automation and robotisation of production processes. Demographic change is becoming a significant challenge, highlighting the shortage of workers with different qualifications and competencies in the labour market in various sectors of the national economy. This paper aims to indicate to what extent Ukrainian citizens can fill the gaps in Poland’s emerging labour market. To that end, a survey was conducted in the Qualtrics programme in May-June 2022 among Ukrainian citizens who arrived in Poland before 24th February 2022, i.e., before the outbreak of the war and who were registered in the Gremi Personal database. This particular company provides support connected to employment for Ukrainians. Due to the non-probabilistic sampling technique, the results cannot be generalised with regard to the entire population. To analyse the results, descriptive statistics were used to examine the population structure and determine the signifi cance of the characteristics studied and the correlation between them. The research shows that labour shortages in Poland’s labour market can be compensated to some extent by employing migrants from, for example, Ukraine. The commencement of the proper research was preceded by the preparation of a pilot study and the collection and analysis of statistical data related to the situation on the Polish labour market, taking into account the level and structure of employment and an indication of shortages in the labour market when the research was prepared, and the fact that complete statistical data ended in 2020, hence the decision to include this research period in the analyses.

Corporate Social Responsibility Disclosure and Performance in China: Does the Background of Foreign Women Directors Matter?

In the context of economic advancement, developing economy firms are witnessing a growing influx of directors with foreign backgrounds who are joining their corporate boards. Giving the significance of this emerging labor market trend for board members and the particular value of women directors in corporate governance, this study delves into the impact of women directors’ foreign backgrounds on a firm’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) disclosure and performance. Using a dataset of listed firms on Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges from 2010 to 2019, we find that the foreign education and the work experience of women directors improve firm CSR disclosure and performance. Corporate boards with a higher proportion of women directors with foreign education experience tend to disclose more CSR information. And women directors with foreign work experience have a more pronounced impact on enhanced CSR performance. This study provides new insights into integrating stakeholder, social role, and neo-institutional theories to advance the understanding of CSR engagement in emerging economies.

Emotional communication by service robots: a research agenda

PurposeMany service industries are facing severe labor shortages. As a result, service providers are turning to new sources of labor, such as service robots. Critics however often point out that service robots lack emotional communication capabilities without which they cannot be expected to truly replace human employees and fill the emerging labor market gaps. Here, a research agenda for the investigation of the role of emotional communication by service robots and its effects on customers and their service experience are laid out. This paper aims to propose that research in this area will further understanding of how service robots can add value to service frontlines, engage customers, increasingly replace service employees and ultimately help overcome pressing labor shortages.Design/methodology/approachA research agenda structured around the three-step emotional communication process (i.e. read, decide and express) and the four emotional communication strategies crucial for service interactions (i.e. mimicking, alleviating, infusing and preventing) are conceptualized.FindingsThree contributions are made. First, the importance of emotional communication by service robots during service interactions is highlighted. Second, interdisciplinary research priorities and opportunities in this emerging field are mapped out. Third, a theoretical structure to connect the findings of future studies is provided.Originality/valueService research investigating the role and implications of emotional communication by service robots is scarce. A research agenda to guide the exploration of this crucial, yet underresearched component of customer-robot service interactions is structured and mapped out.

The heterogeneous impact of COVID-19 in a two-sided market: evidence from a live-streaming platform

ABSTRACT Two-sided digital platforms play an increasingly important role in our economy. During the COVID-19 pandemic, our involvement with these platforms increases drastically, but little is known about how the behavior of consumers and the labor market performance of workers in a two-sided market are affected by an economy-wide shock. This article uses a unique real-time dataset from a live-streaming platform to investigate how virtual gifting of fans and live e-commerce decisions and sales of anchors are influenced by COVID-19. Our general quantile regression approach suggests that the pandemic severity on the fans side instead of the anchors side increases virtual gifting to low-paying anchors, consistent with our theoretical prediction. In addition to the prices adjusted by the platform, we also find user participation and gender potential mechanisms through which COVID-19 affects virtual gifting. Due to increased popularity caused by the pandemic, low-paying anchors conduct more live e-commerce and achieve higher sales. Our results document the de-polarization of a novel and emerging labor market with flexible workforce on a digital platform and emphasize the need to take market structures into account when studying the impact of demand shocks.

Career counselling and sustainable decent work: Relationships and tensions

The concept of decent work is intuitively desirable, an ideal to strive for, and a human right. Awareness of the decent work agenda has been raised in career counselling and is posing challenges about what role, if any, career counselling can play towards the achievement of sustainable decent work for all. Feeding into the social justice values of career counselling, the decent work agenda has drawn considerable attention. To date, however, limited suggestions have been provided about career counselling's potential contribution toward the achievement of decent work for all, the focus of this special issue. In this article we consider the contexts of decent work, career counselling, and social justice and the relationships and tensions between them. In particular, we raise questions about what exactly is being asked of career counselling in the promotion of decent work. In view of proponents of the decent work agenda in career development questioning whether decent work is achievable for many people, especially in developing countries, the purpose of this article is to consider the potential role of career counselling in the contemporary and emerging labour market.

Who Owns the Lunger Building? Disease, Property, and the Limits of Accountability in Tenement Reform in St. Louis, 1832-1917

This article traces the rise and fall of an urban land tenure system in an industrializing American city, St. Louis, alongside efforts to regulate it in the name of health. Historians of tenement reform have placed the question of accountability at the center of reformist critiques of housing conditions in 19th- and early-twentieth-century America. Few, however, have incorporated informal and temporary housing into their analyses. This article argues that these spaces were both common and vital to the rise of St. Louis’ cyclical and often transient market in unskilled labor. Reformers, operating from an antebellum-era conception of property, sought to create a system of accountability that placed the burden of healthfulness on landlords. Yet, St. Louis’ emerging labor market undermined the accountability they sought. Confronted with a crisis of housing affordability, reformers failed to question the market or look beyond property regulation alone as a means to protect health.

Linkages Between Employment and Net FDI Inflow: Insights from Individual as Well as Panel Data for Emerging South Asian Labour Market

In emerging labour market, particularly, the direct and indirect association between employment level and foreign direct investment (FDI) in a dynamic economy is non-deniable. Like private and public investments, FDI promotes employment generating agenda and at the same time, sound employment scenario of an economy attracts FDI to inflow. Under this backdrop, the present study attempts to examine whether employment and net FDI inflow have long-run associations and short-run dynamics in South Asian economies for the period 1991–2016. Applying cointegration and Granger causality tests for individual country level and panel cointegration, vector error correction and Wald test on the two standardized variables—employment–population ratio and per capita net FDI inflow—reveal that the two indicators have cointegrating relations for Bangladesh and Nepal and FDI makes a cause to employment generation in Bangladesh only. Further, the panel data exercise shows the existence of long-run or equilibrium relations linking the two indicators without significant error correction results. The Wald test results show that there is short-run causality working from employment ratio to per capita FDI and vice versa. The study, thus, prescribes for ensuring quality environment in the concerned domestic economies of the region so that employment opportunities invite FDI inflow to their territories.

The emerging labour market and transformation from state amateurs to professional athletes

Corporate governance and its associated concerns had no bearing on Chinese industry management before its national economic reform in the early 1980s. The government's intention has been to make all state-owned enterprises more effective and efficient than they previously were by gradually introducing Western enterprise methods with a capitalist market approach. The article explores the notion of corporate governance in the context of Chinese football by studying the emerging labour markets and management of professional football players to gain a comprehensive understanding of the issues concerning the governance of Chinese sports and its human resource management. It seeks to contribute to the development of stakeholder theory as an important analytical framework on Chinese management studies in the field of professional sport during its economic transition.

Emerging environmental industries: impact on required skills and TVET systems

ABSTRACTThe global urgency for green growth and mitigation of climate change has resulted in the need for a labor force with skill sets necessary for establishing and sustaining new environmental industries, services, and practices. This emerging labor market requires technical and vocational education and training (TVET) systems and skills development programs to respond. This article analyzes recent trends in Hong Kong, China; India; and Malaysia where government policies in the last two decades have paved the way for the rapid development of these industries, resulting in new employment opportunities for young people and new skills requirements. It analyzes how these are being met, and reports on some effective responses by governments and TVET providers. Finally, it suggests an evidence-based, holistic framework to support the development of road maps relevant to different contexts that extend beyond TVET to all levels of education, and which involves close partnerships between governments, industry, civil society, and education.

The digital economy and the future of European welfare states

AbstractAs a consequence of new technology, labour markets are changing. This article’s central aim is to discuss variations among welfare states in Europe to adjust to changing labour markets. These variations in adjustment suggest that some welfare states are more prepared than others, including their capacity to ensure their sustainable financing. In the years to come, the predicted impact of technological development on labour markets will be huge. Impacts will include stronger “dualization” and new cleavages between “insiders” and “outsiders”. Fewer industrial jobs are to be expected, and service‐sector employment faces a risk of decline due to automation. While the creation of new jobs is likely, it remains to be seen whether these will replace the number of jobs destroyed, leaving the risk that many people whose skills become obsolete will become unemployed in the short as well as the longer term. Furthermore, even if the same number of jobs are eventually created, there will be a period of transition. In the light of this, welfare states will be challenged, not only in how they can finance their activities but also in terms of the threat posed to social cohesion by emerging labour market “winners” and “losers”, with an accompanying higher risk of increasing inequality. The article offers suggestions as to how welfare states may cope with the changes related to the financing of welfare states, and how active labour market policy can be part of the response to help alleviate the expected dramatic changes. Also required is a discussion on the annual average number of hours people will work and how this might be a factor in lower future levels of unemployment.

Gender Inequality in Employment in Mozambique

AbstractWe investigate the gender employment gap in the expanding non‐subsistence sector of the economy in Mozambique, a country still characterized by a large subsistence agricultural sector. We show evidence that the gender gap has widened over time and we identify two structural factors strongly associated with it. One factor is the still relatively lower level of female human capital, with less attained education, as well as literacy and Portuguese proficiency rates. The lower conditional employment probabilities of married women, as compared with men, is the other factor. These findings point at expanding women´s education and facilitating the access of married women to the emerging labour market as the most effective ways of achieving a more inclusive growth path that does not leave women behind.

Human capital formation under neo-liberalism: the legacy of vocational education training in Australasia and implications for the Asia-Pacific region

This appraisal considers the role and impact of vocational education and training (VET) in Australia and New Zealand, and suggests directions such policy might take in other Asia-Pacific countries. It identifies key issues and constraints in making VET more responsive to emerging labour market needs in the region as an important factor in sustaining high economic growth. It focuses on the way in which the demands of the government, industry, trainees, and, in particular, shifts in political ideology that have influenced the education and training sectors in both countries. It addresses points of specific relevance for the delivery of VET in the broader Asia-Pacific context and concludes with a consideration of lessons and experiences of Australia and New Zealand with VET that may hold for other countries in the region in formulating priorities and implementing strategies in meeting their current and emerging needs for skills development.

Labor Market Segmentation in Urumqi, Xinjiang: Exposing Labor Market Segments and Testing the Relationship between Migration and Segmentation

Labor market segmentation and migration are two phenomena that are dramatically reshaping the spatial, economic, and social relationships of many urban cities in both developed and developing countries. To this point, the bulk of Chinese literature falls within the context of area studies, without much effort to link Chinese migration and emerging labor market outcomes to larger global trends and discourse. This research attempts to link the body of internal Chinese migration and emerging labor markets to labor market segmentation theory, primarily developed by urban economists and sociologists. My findings provide evidence that applying labor market segmentation theory to examine emerging markets in China offers fruitful results that help to identify the new urban stratification that exists in China.

Weak ties, strong ties, and job mobility in urban China: 1978–2008

The economic transformation in urban China provides a unique opportunity to assess how institutional arrangements shape network-based job searches. Despite several studies on this issue, disagreement exists over how network-based job searches evolve in the Chinese emerging labor market. We argue one way to solve this controversy is to examine the patterns of change in the use of weak ties and strong ties separately. Using pooled data from three cross-sectional surveys in urban China, the results show a steady increase in the use of weak ties and an increasing and persistent use of strong ties in finding jobs between 1978 and 2008. The results also show no systematic difference between the use of weak ties for finding jobs in the market sector versus the state sector. However, they show faster growth in the use of strong ties for finding jobs in the state sector, compared to the market sector.

Нематеріальні ресурси адаптації сільського населення

The transformation processes, which continue in Ukraine for more than 20 years are associated with significant changes in the system of orientation of the population, including changing priorities in their needs, interests of society and the state. The basic condition for the country to reach the real sustainable development, according to many scientists, is a successful adaptation of the population, which is the development, by a sufficient number of people, of effective models of socio-economic behavior based on the use of individual resources. The subject of our study are non-material resources of the rural population, because they cannot be lost or alienated as a result of external influences and social experiments that occurred in the 90s of the last century and, unfortunately, have cyclically repeated. Under non-material resources we consider educational characteristics, professional qualification skills, informational and cultural opportunities, the peasants' connections and non-financial benefits of temporary labor migration. The study found that the information and cultural resources of the rural population are the scarcest. Long-term constraints to the use of modern information technologies such as the Internet, computer programs and databases, specialized periodicals, and visiting cultural institutions leads to mental-and-cultural and cognitive deprivation. Insufficiency or lack of information inevitably leads to its distortion and causes erroneous or inadequate decision-making, and the farmers' slow adaptation to rapidly changing conditions. Theoretical analysis of the development of relations among the rural population demonstrates the unilateralism of the resource development. There is a well-established network of horizontal interaction (family, neighbors) and vertical network relationships are almost completely absent. Any kind of care inaccessible to the rural population, peasants' representation in government and political movements are of local character. In order to diversify the risks associated with the implementation of an adaptation strategy, it is advisable to supplement the hopes for own assets with external interaction. It is proved that the educational and professional-qualification resources, provided their quality improvement and modernization, in the short term, will allow the rural population to build effective adaptation oriented behavioral strategies. Level of education meets, by certain criteria, the general European levels, while the use of this resource, in today's realities, is complicated by the inconsistency in orientation, profile, and quality of previous education with the requirements of the emerging labor market. Modernization of knowledge, institutionalization of new forms and methods of teaching, and the widespread introduction of lifelong education will positively influence the rapid evaluation of particular features of external changes and development of a rational adaptation strategy. The non-material adaptation resources include the effects of temporary labor migration. Without idealizing the process, and focusing only positive features in terms of adaptation of the population to the changing conditions, we found that working in more developed countries enhances the outlook, the formation of a new way of life, the transformation of priorities, and creating new needs for its own existence and livelihood of their families. Further studies will be directed to identify links between adaptation to available resources, including intangible ones, and improving (worsening) economic and situation of the farmers.

Labor Market Segmentation in Urumqi, Xinjiang: Exposing Labor Market Segments and Testing the Relationship between Migration and Segmentation

Labor market segmentation and migration are two phenomena that are dramatically reshaping the spatial, economic, and social relationships of many urban cities in both developed and developing countries. To this point, the bulk of Chinese literature falls within the context of area studies, without much effort to link Chinese migration and emerging labor market outcomes to larger global trends and discourse. This research attempts to link the body of internal Chinese migration and emerging labor markets to labor market segmentation theory, primarily developed by urban economists and sociologists. My findings provide evidence that applying labor market segmentation theory to examine emerging markets in China offers fruitful results that help to identify the new urban stratification that exists in China. I employ a set of quantitative methods using employee-level field data that I collected in Urumqi in 2008 to identify distinct segments within Urumqi's labor market and argue that migration is a major driver of labor market segmentation. Cluster analysis shows Uyghur minorities and women are found to be overwhelmingly concentrated in the lower sector, composed mostly of “bad” jobs. Discriminant analysis reveals that migrant status and ethnicity are the most important variables that deepen the gap among the labor market segments. The social inequality created as a result of market segmentation can partially explain Uyghur discontent in the region and the July 2009 riots, one of the worst riots in Xinjiang's modern history.

Young people's management of the transition from education to employment in the knowledge‐based sector in Shanghai

This paper reports on a study of the transition from university to work by students/employees in the complex and rapidly changing socio‐economic context of contemporary Shanghai. It aims at understanding how highly educated young people perceive the nature and mode of operation of the newly emerging labour market for knowledge‐based jobs, and how they manage and construct their employability in relation to the economic, educational and sociocultural values. Uncertainty and opportunity emerge as key perceptions of the new context and we identify strategies used to negotiate the way between these two. This is seen as part of a wider project of the reflexive construction of ‘self’ that includes the salvaging of ontological security based on key traditional values. The analysis leads to further discussion of the nature and role of human capital in relation to the employment ‘battle’ and with respect to education, training and qualification.