Employment Demand Research Articles

Importance of digital and soft skills in the digital age

In our digital age, the effects of digital transformation, the scope and speed of current changes, and the emergence of digital technologies have led to a radical transformation of workplaces, resulting in a reduction of demand for employees carrying out routine, manual tasks, while evokes a need for digitally-skilled employees emphasising the importance of digital and soft skills for business growth. Organisations need to equip their employees with different types of skills to achieve organisational goals in order to benefit from investments in digital technologies. While practitioners and academics are increasingly focusing on the importance of the human factor of digital transformation processes, there is limited knowledge about the impacts of digital transformation on the digital skills of the employee and how organisations can guide employees through the digital transformation journey, yet. This study provides an important insight into a specific country's context, which has not been sufficiently examined. This paper aims 1) to investigate how the digital transformation has changed the demand for human workforce (Q1a) and the challenge in the lack of digital skills (Q1b) and 2) to examine the importance of soft skills as an impact of digital transformation (Q2). The target group of the research is the managers and white collar workers of Hungarian manufacturing companies. The data collection was in spring 2021. Descriptive statistics and relationship analyses (Cramer's V and Kendall's Tau) were used to analyse the collected data (n=489). The research investigates an important social-digital phenomena determining how digital transformation arises significant demands on digital and soft skills. Results indicate that digital and soft skills such as critical thinking, complex problem solving, adaptability, resilience and creativity are essential to successfully exploit the digital transformation. The result can add value and stimulate new research on digital and soft skills and provide a useful benchmark for other countries.

The difference in the skills employment, job training satisfaction and job engagement by training duration among NDTS Apprentices in Southern region of Malaysia

Globalization, technological advancements, and changes in work organization have increased the demand for skilled employment in many countries. In the absence of skills, employers are less likely to be able to find employment and are more likely to face skills-related unemployment, which decreases their competitiveness. In order to address the challenge of promoting skilled employability, the National Dual Training System (NDTS) apprenticeship training programme is an essential component. This enhances the ability of employees to find employment opportunities and earn income with the help of their skills. The development of skilled employability is one of the most effective strategies for ensuring a successful transition to the workforce and the access to career-oriented employment. Furthermore, the NDTS provides employees with the skills, knowledge, competencies, and attitudes necessary to find employment and to survive in an unstable economic environment. The performance of an employee is also related to the level of job satisfaction along with the skills of the employee. It has been demonstrated that satisfied employees perform better, resulting in a higher productivity level in the organization. Also, employees must be provided with necessary job training to ensure they develop the necessary skills to fulfill the requirements of their respective roles as well as prepare themselves for employment in specialized fields. The existence of training opportunities is likely to lead to employees remaining satisfied with an organization for a longer period of time. The improvement of employee engagement and workplace excellence can also be observed in this regard. As part of this study, the focus will be on identifying how the duration of the NDTS apprenticeship training program affects the employment of skilled employees. This will affect the satisfaction of job training, and the engagement of employees on the job.

Towards a competency-based doctoral curriculum at the University of Zambia: lessons from practice

We describe a collaborative, iterative, and participatory process that we undertook to develop and adopt a competency-based doctoral curriculum framework at the University of Zambia. There needs to be more than the traditional unstructured apprenticeship of PhD training in a knowledge-based economy where PhD graduates are expected to contribute to industry problem-solving. The lack of industry-driven competencies and, to some extent, limited skills possessed by PhD graduates relative to the demands of employers has led to the misclassification of doctoral degrees as mere paper certificates. Further, under traditional PhD training without specific core competencies, it has led to criticisms of such PhD studies as a waste of resources. The calls to rethink doctoral development in broader employment contexts led many countries to redesign their PhD programs. Training has increasingly introduced industrial linkages and industry-defined research projects to increase the attractiveness of doctoral students. Whereas developed countries have made significant reforms towards competency-based PhD training, little or nothing has been done in developing countries, especially in sub-Saharan Africa. This against the demands that Africa needs more than 100,000 PhDs in the next decade to spur economic development. Against this background, the University of Zambia has developed an industry-driven structured competency-based PhD curriculum framework. The framework will guide and support the development of standardized program-specific PhD curricula, delivery, and assessment of competencies at the University of Zambia, ensuring that doctoral students acquire skills and demonstrate core competencies that are transferable and applicable in industry settings. This framework focuses on the development of specific competencies that are necessary for successful PhD completion. The competencies are divided into three main categories: research, teaching, and professional development. Each category is then broken down into ten core competencies from which respective doctoral programs will develop sub-competencies. It is from these core competencies and sub-competencies that learning outcomes, assessment methods, and teaching activities are developed. It is envisioned that this new competency-based doctoral curriculum framework will be a helpful tool in training a cadre of professionals and researchers who benefit the industry and contribute to economic and societal development.

A Comparative Study of India's Education Policy 1986 And The New Education Policy 2023: Assessing Continuities, Changes & Implications

Education has been around since man first walked the earth's surface. Education is more than just reading books and earning a degree from a university; it is the physical, mental, financial, and economic development of an individual. The goal of education is to bring about an individual's overall growth and to make him an efficient participant actively contributing to the advancement of the future nation. Every country designs its education system to reflect and support its distinct socio-cultural character, while also addressing the rising demand for employment and professional opportunities. The country has reached a point in its economic and technological development when measures must be taken to ensure that the rewards of change reach all segments of society. The National Education Policy of 1986 centred on a standardised curriculum structure comprising shared core and adaptable elements. The child-centric approach is emphasised in elementary education, followed by secondary education, which emphasises girl-child education as well as the education of minorities. The National Education Policy-2023, which was modified after 34 years, emphasises a more holistic approach with multidisciplinary courses, and students are aided with a bucket system to choose subjects that align with their interests. This research focuses on a comparison of the main characteristics of the NEPs of 1986 and 2023. A Comparative Study of India's Education Policy 1986 and the New Education Policy 2023 will be discussed in this paper.

Implications of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Organization of Remote Work in IT Companies: The Managers’ Perspective

The study analyses the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on work models and explores managerial perspectives on remote work compared to stationary work. A survey was conducted among companies, resulting in a sample of respondents. An additional research methodology used to validate the hypotheses was a market basket analysis. The findings indicate a significant change in work models, with a majority of companies adopting fully remote work or hybrid models with remote work as the predominant mode. Managers generally perceive remote work as having a significantly worse outcome compared to stationary work. Concerns about remote work include difficulties in supervising remote workers, maintaining effective communication with the team, and potential negative effects on employee motivation and well-being due to limited interaction. Preferences for work models varied, with a notable proportion favoring fully remote work or hybrid models. Reasons for considering a long-term change to stationary or remote work include coordination needs, control and supervision requirements, physical presence demands, and impacts on organizational culture and atmosphere. Benefits of remote work include employee flexibility, talent attraction, and alignment with employee demands and the labor market. This study provides insights into the evolving work landscape and informs strategies for effectively managing remote work environments.

The Nexus between Employment and Economic Growth: A Cross-Country Analysis

The main objective of this paper is to examine the relationship between employment and economic growth in developed and developing countries over the period of 1970–2019. As documented in the literature in the past, economic growth in most developing countries has been less job-generating than in developed countries, even though high economic growth is observed in most of the developing world, indicating jobless growth. Based on the Cobb–Douglas production function, we developed an employment demand model to find the employment elasticity with respect to economic growth using working hours and population as explanatory variables. The main findings of the present study reveal that the employment elasticities with respect to GDP are positive and significant in developing and developed countries. But in the developing countries, the employment elasticity is relatively very low (0.11 to 0.15) compared to the developed countries (0.43 to 0.48), which led to the conclusion that a possibility of jobless growth exists in these countries. The findings of the study imply that policymakers should focus more on employment-led growth policies instead of growth-led employment policies, especially in developing countries.

Training and life satisfaction: a disrupted pathway to better work

Training is identified as a key feature of good quality work. Labour market education and training in the United Kingdom, however, operates within a weak institutional context and state interest is reserved for supply issues. Employer demand for a skilled labour market is constrained and the burden of investment in training is left with the individual. Can adult training in the United Kingdom offer a pathway to better work and life outcomes, particularly for those who are already disadvantaged? Using a longitudinal nationally representative data set, the UK Understanding Society initiative (2010–2020), we identify the effects of different types of training and their intensity on life satisfaction. We assess how the impact of training on life satisfaction is moderated by the socio-demographic characteristics of the learner, namely, employment status, gender, ethnicity and migration status, age and deprivation of the area in which they live.

The Unique Practice of the Clinical Nurse Specialist.

The Unique Practice of the Clinical Nurse Specialist.

The gap between bachelor’s degree graduates in health informatics and employer needs in Saudi Arabia

BackgroundIn the field of health informatics (HI), there is a crucial gap between employers’ needs and the output of academic programmes. Although industrial organisations and government agencies recognise the importance of training and education in the development and operation of health-information systems, advancements in educational programmes have been comparatively slow in terms of investment in healthcare information technology. This study aims to determine the gap between employer demands and academic programmes in HI in Saudi Arabia.MethodsThis mixed-methods study collected both qualitative and quantitative data. A qualitative content analysis was performed to identify the role of advertised HI jobs using two sources: Google and LinkedIn. In addition, university websites were searched to determine job opportunities for graduates with a bachelor’s degree in HI. Next, a quantitative, cross-sectional self-report questionnaire was administered to validate the findings of the qualitative data. Data obtained were analysed using SPSS, N-Vivo, and Microsoft Excel.ResultsThe study’s data were obtained from four sources: Google search engine, LinkedIn, five Saudi university websites, and 127 HI experts. The results show a discrepancy between academic programmes’ outputs and employer recruitment needs. In addition, the results reveal a preference for post-graduate degrees, either a master’s or PhD degree, with a bachelor’s degree in a health or medical discipline.ConclusionsEmployers tend to prefer applicants with a bachelor’s degree in computer science or information technology over those with a degree in HI. Academic programmes should incorporate more practical applications and provide students with a thorough understanding of the healthcare industry to better equip them as efficient future HI professionals.

Sustainable Employment and Economic Growth

This study investigates the relationship between economic growth and employment in Pakistan at the aggregate and sectoral levels. It uses different econometric models, such as the Cobb-Douglas production function, the employment demand model, and the ARDL model, to analyze the data and test the hypotheses. It finds that economic growth does not create enough jobs for the population and that there is a mismatch between the output and employment growth of different sectors. It shows that the service sector, which is the fastest-growing sector in Pakistan, has a contradictory and weak impact on employment and growth, and that it relies on more capital-intensive technology. It recommends that the government and policy makers should focus on the real sector, especially the industry sector, which has a positive and significant effect on employment and growth. It also suggests that Pakistan should use its large population as a source of labor-intensive development rather than relying on technology.

The wrong of mercenarism: a promissory account

The wrong of mercenarism: a promissory account

Distance learning using software in local budget management

The development of information technologies and full-scale military actions on the territory of Ukraine led to a more active use of methods and forms of distance learning during the training of applicants by domestic institutions of higher education. The use of modern distance learning technologies allows to qualitatively improve the educational process, opens up new opportunities for training competitive specialists who will meet the modern demands of employers.
 The article is devoted to the issue of improving the quality of distance learning on the example of the use of software in the management of local budgets in the educational process to strengthen professional practical skills of higher education students.
 The article reveals the experience and specifics of using distance learning elements at the State Tax University. In particular, the use of software in the management of local budgets during the study by students of higher education of the second (master's) level of training in the specialty 072 «Finance, banking and insurance» of the academic discipline «Financial resources of local self-government» is considered in detail. The study of the specified discipline will serve to form the skills of a confident user of the IPC «Local Budget» in students of higher education.
 The content of each of the six modules of the University's student training program with the use of software in the management of local budgets is disclosed. A list of knowledge and skills acquired by students as a result of studying each module of the program has been formulated. The advantages of using the software in managing local budgets based on the IPC «Local Budget» and the IAS «LOGICA» for higher education applicants are substantiated. The existing disadvantages of distance learning for higher education applicants are outlined.

Assessment of motor and process skills in Danish occupational therapy practice

Background The demand for employment of standardized evaluations is increasing. In Denmark, approximately 25% of all occupational therapists (OTs) are trained to use the standardized occupational therapy instrument Assessment of Motor and Process Skills (AMPS). Aims To investigate the use of AMPS within Danish occupational therapy practice and determine factors supporting or hindering the use. Material and methods An online cross-sectional survey was conducted among OTs from various settings. Results Overall, 844 calibrated OTs participated in the survey. Of these, 540 (64%) met the inclusion criteria and 486 (90%) completed the questionnaire. Forty percent of the participants used the AMPS in a standardized way during a one-month period and 56% reported being dissatisfied with the low number of AMPS evaluations completed. Five supporting and nine hindering factors were found to significantly influence the use of standardized AMPS evaluations. Conclusions/Significance Despite demands for standardized evaluations, the AMPS is not regularly used in a standardized way within Danish occupational therapy practice. Use of AMPS in clinical practice seems to be facilitated by an acknowledgement from the management and the OT’s ability to develop habits and routines. Time restraints were reported, however, time to conduct evaluations was not a statistically significant influencing factor.

Watch out for nomophobia, so it does not catch you! Effects of digital dependence syndrome on mental health

PurposeThis study aims to investigate the effects of nomophobia in the organizational environment, and the authors developed a research model consisting of the construct's loneliness, depression and anxiety. The growing competitiveness of the market and the need of many companies regarding the availability of employees demand attention.Design/methodology/approachThe authors surveyed 454 Brazilian respondents and used covariance-based structural equation modeling to analyze the survey results. The model’s hypotheses proved significant, confirming the relationships proposed by the theoretical model.FindingsLoneliness and depression, rather than anxiety, explained the influence of nomophobia on individuals’ ability to communicate when inserted in the professional context. Individuals were most likely to have high nomophobia incorporate psychological traits that involve emotional instability, and could benefit from the connection between people in a social group.Practical implicationsThis study confirms that nomophobia can be a situational phobia evoked by the unavailability of a smartphone or by the idea of not having it, not being able to use it or losing it, even within the business context.Social implicationsThe increase in loneliness and depression indicates a deficiency in the face of the smartphone’s benefits.Originality/valueThis paper provides contributions that seek to understand the effect of symptoms from smartphones in the workplace, also indicating that users may cause vulnerability. Companies can prevent vulnerability by creating policies prohibiting their use in the organization’s context and developing healthy habits that do not lead to addiction.

Особливості мотивування персоналу підприємств в умовах поглиблення міжнародного співробіництва

The article provides a definition of the term "motivation" and an overview of the motivation process. Following a summary of every source examined, the following conclusions can be made: By addressing all of an employee's demands, motivation is a method that encourages staff to perform efficiently to accomplish goals. The writers underlined the significance of researching motivational techniques and frameworks and the utilization of contemporary employee motivation theories and strategies in the context of strengthening global cooperation. The writers concentrate on the factors that contribute to staff motivation in the context of global cooperation. According to the authors, a number of factors are crucial to staff motivation in the context of international cooperation. Transformational leadership that motivates and advances employees is a crucial element. Organizational identification, which refers to a fit between a worker's perception of himself and his employer, is another crucial component. Staff motivation can also be significantly influenced by ongoing attention to employee engagement, and a comprehensive plan includes commitment, organizational identification, and motivation. Employee motivation can also be influenced by fundamental organizational procedures including performance reviews, feedback, engagement, and reward programs. Employers can boost employee intrinsic motivation and engagement in accomplishing their objectives for international cooperation by putting these components into practice. Incentives must be offered to employees in order to improve performance. The key recommendations for the area of employee motivation in businesses involved in international activities are identified based on the analysis of the literature. It is crucial to offer a personalized strategy for each employee when it comes to global cooperation. Particularly, it is important to consider diverse cultural, ethical, and religious aspects that could influence employee motivation. Another factor to think about is developing a healthy corporate culture at the company that supports employee growth and motivates them to deliver excellent results. Opportunities for professional advancement, a focus on wellness, and a balance between work and personal life are examples of components of a positive corporate culture.

Interdisciplinary Teaching Reform of Financial Engineering Majors Based on the Analytic Hierarchy Process in the Post-Pandemic Era

In the post-epidemic era, the labor market has become increasingly complex, making it even more crucial to incorporate sustainability into employment demand. As we enter the post-pandemic era, a globalization trend has become more apparent. It is crucial to modernize employability through educational reform in order to assist employees in enhancing their professional skills. This study began by analyzing the importance of financial engineering practice instruction and graduate employability in the post-epidemic era. Second, the study proposed the content and a plan for inter-disciplinary teaching reform to address talent cultivation needs based on labor market requirements. Third, a face-to-face survey and interview were conducted with students affected by changes in teaching, and the results were analyzed and summarized. On this basis, the impact of education reform was evaluated using both the expert scoring method and the analytic hierarchy approach. The results indicated that the suggested financial engineering teaching reform program improved the school’s discipline strength, enrollment rate, employment rate, and competition awards, especially discipline strength. This research can be used to inform the teaching of financial engineering majors in various countries, assist job candidates in enhancing their professional skills, and build a formidable talent pool for the labor market.

Identification of Characteristic Parameters in Seed Yielding of Selected Varieties of Industrial Hemp (Cannabis sativa L.) Using Artificial Intelligence Methods

Currently, there is a significant increase in interest in hemp cultivation and hemp products around the world. The hemp industry is a strongly developing branch of the economies of many countries. Short-term forecasting of the hemp seed and grain yield will provide growers and processors with information useful to plan the demand for employees, technical facilities (including appropriately sized drying houses and crop cleaning lines) and means of transport. This will help to optimize inputs and, as a result, increase the income from cultivation. One of the methods of yield prediction is the use of artificial intelligence (AI) methods. Neural modeling proved to be useful in predicting the yield of many plants, which is why work was undertaken to use it also to predict hemp yield. The research was carried out on selected, popular hemp varieties—Białobrzeskie and Henola. Their aim was to identify characteristic factors: climatic, cultivation and agrotechnical, affecting the size and quality of the yield. The collected data allowed the generation of Artificial Neural Network (ANN) models. It has been shown that based on a set of characteristics obtained during the cultivation process, it is possible to create a predictive neural model. Modeling using one output variable, which is seed yield, can be used in short-time prediction of industrial crops, which are gaining more and more importance.

Secure Smart Contract Based on Blockchain to Prevent the Non-Repudiation Phenomenon

Blockchain is an innovative technology that has gained interest in all sectors in the era of digital transformation where it manages transactions and saves them in a database. With the increasing financial transactions and the rapidly developed society with growing businesses many people looking for the dream of a better financially independent life, stray from large corporations and organizations to form startups and small businesses. Recently, the increasing demand for employees or institutes to prepare and manage contracts, papers, and the verifications process, in addition to human mistakes led to the emergence of a smart contract. The smart contract has been developed to save time and provide more confidence while dealing, as well as to cover the security aspects of digital management and to solve negotiation concerns. The smart contract was employed in creating a distributed ledger to eliminate the need for centralization. In this paper, a simple prototype has been implemented for the smart contract integrated with blockchain which is simulated in a local server with a set of nodes. Several security objectives, such as confidentiality, authorization, integrity, and non-repudiation, have been achieved in the proposed system. Besides, the paper discussed the importance of using the Blockchain technique, and how it contributed to the management of transactions in addition to how it was implemented in highly transparent real-estate scenarios. The smart contract was employed in creating a distributed ledger to eliminate the need for centralization. The elliptic-curve public key has been adopted as an alternative for the RSA in a signature generation/verification process and encryption protocol. For secure transactions, The Secure Socket Layer (SSL) also has been adopted as a secure layer in the web browser. The results have been investigated and evaluated from different aspects and the implementation was in a restricted environment. Experiments showed us the complexity of time and cost when using the (ECC) algorithm and using (RSA) algorithm depending on the size and length of the key. So if the size of the key in (ECC) equals (160) bits, and it corresponds to (1024) bits in (RSA), which is equivalent to 40% for (ECC) and 30% for (RSA). As a result, the (ECC) algorithm is complex, its key is smaller and the process of generating the key is faster, so it has achieved a high level of security.

Rethinking paid domestic services in modern societies – Experimental evidence on the effect of quality and professionalisation on service demand

PurposeAlthough essential to social welfare, unpaid domestic and care work is an increasingly scarce resource in modern societies. Despite the growing need, many households refrain from outsourcing their domestic chores to the market. Simultaneously, the household service sector is mostly characterised by low-qualification, informal jobs lacking quality and professional standards. Drawing on transaction cost theory, the present study aims to examine how trust problems deriving from the quality and professionalisation of domestic services can be overcome by also exploring the role of state subsidies in this context.Design/methodology/approachA factorial survey experiment in Germany (N = 4024) causally explores the effect of state-subsidised service vouchers, quality signals and professionalisation on preferences and willingness-to-pay for domestic services. The data were analysed using multilevel modelling techniques.FindingsHypotheses are mostly confirmed: strong quality signals help overcome trust problems, thus facilitating the demand for household services. Further, service vouchers can generate better pay for domestic workers while simultaneously reducing the costs for households.Research limitations/implicationsThe relevance of professionalisation and quality of service as important determinants of domestic service demand is revealed. However, the experimental survey design involves hypothetical scenarios.Originality/valueThe analysis offers insights into how to stimulate demand for household services and increase formal employment in a sector currently largely characterised by informal arrangements. It further shows how social policies can help secure quality and foster professionalisation by shifting paid domestic work from the informal to the formal economy.

Analisis Kebutuhan Layanan dan Fasilitas Eksisting Transportasi Ramah Lingkungan Dengan Kebutuhan Perjalanan (Studi Kasus: Pegawai di Lingkungan Pemerintah Kota Tanjungpinang)

State employees of Tanjungpinang consists of 4,303 people whose origins and destinations are spread throughout the city. This is the reason for the high travel demand where private vehicles are still superior to the other modes of choice. This adds to problems in environmental aspects, especially the contributors to air pollution and noise on the road. This study uses a quantitative method with descriptive analysis and spatial analysis. Descriptive analysis is used to identify existing employee travel characteristics. The graphic display presented in the results of the descriptive analysis aims to make it easier to explain the results of the analysis of the formation of zones, the number of trips in each zone, as well as the focus services and existing facilities. Spatial analysis is used to point to the edge of the location of existing facilities, and the ease of origin and destination of employee travel. The results of the study indicate that the current supply of services and facilities has not been able to accommodate the travel demand of state employees. The supply of transport services and facilities is still lacking because they only serve and available in several sub-districts which are the points of origin and destinations travel for employees. This caused low interest of employees by using green transport whose origin and destination areas are not covered and crossed by services. Therefore, it is necessary to request institutional-based travel demand management to encourage employees to travel using green transport in the form of policies, coordination, and cooperation within the internal scope of the Tanjungpinang city government.