Lithuanian Labour Market Research Articles

“Survival” of Older Persons in the Labour Market: the Case of Lithuania in the EU Context

The rapidly ageing populations are a source of concern, but they also provide new opportunities. The purpose of this article is to analyse the factors which affect the participation of older persons in the Lithuanian labour market. The research method is based on data from SHARE (7-8 waves). The research shows that the factors of participation of older persons in the Lithuanian labour market can be mainly linked to the group of involuntary "stuck" factors. Older persons in Lithuania mostly want to leave the labour market as soon as possible. Retaining older persons in the labour market often depends on financial motives. The main challenges for employment in old age are related to the reduction of involuntary motives and to the promotion of positive voluntary motives to stay in the labour market.

Transformations of Changes in the Labour Market Situation of Young People and Older Adults in Lithuania: A Demographic Approach

The paper assesses labour market integration opportunities for the groups of country’s population that are highly contrasting in social terms, i.e. young people and older adults, and their dependence on demographic changes. Since the beginning of the 21st century up to 2050 in the future, demographic changes have demonstrated and will continue to have an increasing impact on the social and economic development of European countries. In this context, it is particularly appropriate to monitor the demographic prospects and labour market situation of young people and older adults. These marginal social groups of economic activity are the best reflection of the overall labour market prospects of an individual country. The paper provides a detailed analysis of the situation in Lithuania. Transformations of the situation of young people and older adults in the Lithuanian labour market are closely linked to highly dynamic changes in demographic structures. Using a variety of labour market indicators, the paper identifies trends characterising the situation of the target groups at issue, with a particular emphasis on the observed changes in unemployment and employment (economic activity) during crisis periods. The results of the analysis help to highlight weaknesses and strengths of the labour market situation of the target groups. The strengths include the positive dynamism of most of the observed labour market indicators in Lithuania in the long term and the fact that the situation is, in many cases, relatively better than the average for EU countries. The weaknesses in the labour market situation of young people and older adults are related to the relatively higher vulnerability of these social groups during economic downturns; they appear to lose jobs faster and need longer time to find a suitable job during economic recoveries.

THE TRANSITION FROM EDUCATION TO THE LABOUR MARKET DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC: THE ATTITUDES AND EXPERIENCES OF UNEMPLOYED YOUTH IN LITHUANIA

This paper presents a subjective evaluation of the attitudes and experiences in the Lithuanian labour market of currently unemployed youths (aged 18 to 35) registered at the public employment service (PES). The main focus is on identifying the main issues related to the successful transition of youths from education to the labour market. Research questions: How do currently unemployed young people evaluate their prospects on the labour market? What is the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on youth transitions? What are the obstacles in the search for a (first) job? The study is based on survey research that was carried out in Lithuania from February to April 2021. A total of 453 young people who are currently unemployed and registered at the PES participated in the study. The results reveal that the Covid-19 pandemic has affected more vulnerable young people with a lower educational level and less work experience living in rural areas. Respondents with lower levels of education indicated greater difficulties in the search for a first job and in obtaining a stable working position. The Covid-19 pandemic has affected the transition from education to the labour market for young women more than for men.

Analysis of gender wage gap in Lithuania

This study aims to discern and quantify the personal and labour market characteristics, which are most relevant to the persistence of a gender wage gap in Lithuania. The Oaxaca-Blinder model, employed in this study, revealed the largest explained gender wage gap to be attributable to the characteristics of occupation and industry. These contribute to the gap mainly by the horizontal and vertical segregation effects, as women are more concentrated in typically ‘feminine’ jobs, which pay less. The educational attainment of women is slightly higher than that of men, and this reduces the gender wage gap in the Lithuanian labour market. The analysis also revealed that work in the public sector entails an increase in the gap despite greater wage transparency and a more regulated remuneration mechanism. This is due to the ‘glass ceiling’ effect or the pervasive resistance to the efforts of female workers to reach the top rank positions, which we find to be stronger in the public sector.

The Concept and Trajectory of Active Inclusion: Lithuanian Case

The article analyses the two dimensions of Active Inclusion Strategy (the provision of adequate income and inclusive labour market) in the country (due to limitation of the scope of the article, the empirical part does not reflect the social services dimension). The analysis revealed that during the period of 2009–2017, the adequacy of the guaranteed minimum income in Lithuania was constantly decreasing, while the differences between persons with different family status were widening. The minimum needs of some population groups remain unmet: in 2018, both the average social benefit and unemployment benefit in Lithuania were below the absolute poverty line, and the at-riskof-poverty rate of the unemployed in Lithuania was as high as 62.3%. The analysis also showed that the labour market in Lithuania is not sufficiently inclusive due to relatively low and non-motivating wages. The unemployment trap rate in Lithuania remained high throughout 2009–2018; in 2017, the indicator was by 15 percentage points higher than the EU-28 average. The high unemployment trap rate in the country indicates that there is a strong incentive to remain unemployed as income from employment will only be slightly higher than the unemployment benefits. The high incidence of involuntary part-time work in Lithuania (30.6% in 2017) and the decline in the transition from temporary to permanent employment contracts since 2011 also indicate that the Lithuanian labour market is not sufficiently inclusive.

Economic Indicators Paradigm on the Labour Market in Lithuania and Slovakia

Labour markets in the EU have been profoundly changed. Recently, unemployment rates have declined due to the economic recovery. The economic growth that Europe has been enjoying is extremely labour-intensive. Statistical data show that unemployment has been falling for several consecutive years. Labour markets of the former Eastern European countries are attractive for investors for their skilled labour and low cost of labour. Nevertheless, there are processes and phenomena occurring which can have damaging consequences to the labour markets. The present study compares current trends in the Slovak and Lithuanian labour market. Since the existing analyses usually address economic situation in the V4 countries, Baltic countries or compare their performance with developed EU countries, the originality of the paper lies in comparing the selected economic indicators on the Slovak and Lithuanian labour markets. The purpose of the study is to analyse and compare selected macroeconomic indicators of individual countries, to find paradigms of development on the labour market and to predict development forecasts in individual macroeconomic indicators. The authors' research revealed that long-term sustainable growth in the labour market is secured in both countries, based on the analysis of the development of indicators affecting the labour market. A polynomial model and the moving average model are used for the analysis. The arrival of the new crisis could stop this growth, but the countries have learned from the last crisis. Therefore, they are gradually making decisions to alleviate the consequences.

The impact of higher education on employment in the labour market: Lithuanian case

This study aims to investigate the employment of higher education in Lithuanian labour market between 2005 and 2014. Today, this problem is relevant to Lithuania, as level of high school graduates employment is changing yearly. The purpose of the research is to evaluate the impact of higher education on employment in Lithuanian labour market. Seeking to define the impact of higher education on employment in Lithuanian labour market, analysis and synthesis of scientific literature about the influence of education on the labour market; systematic statistical data analysis of Lithuanian education and employment and unemployment rate are presented. In order to compare the impact of Lithuanian higher education on employment rate, unemployment rate and real labour productivity with other countries of the EU-28, the correlation analysis are used. Results indicate that education attainment has influence on employment and unemployment level in Lithuanian labour market and relationship between higher education and employment, unemployment and real labour productivity are dominated in all the EU-28 countries.
 
 Keywords: education; higher education; employment; unemployment; labour productivity.

Integration of beneficiaries of international protection in the Lithuanian labour market: policies and practices

Integration of beneficiaries of international protection in the Lithuanian labour market: policies and practices

Key Features of the Labour Law Reform of Lithuania of 2016

The article reveals and analyses the key features of the new Labour Code of Lithuania of 2016. The reforms of the Lithuanian labour market were initiated to deal with the issues of the increasing international competition, to find a new balance between the flexibility required by employers and the relevant social security benefits for employees, as well as to bring the law in compliance with the recent developments in the employment sector. At the same time, recodification implies not only changes in the institutions of working hours, protection in the course dismissal, term contract or other atypical forms of employment. The new Labour Code is intended to update the industrial relations on a wider scope: to revive the partnership spirit both on the personal and collective level, to enforce the judicial protection of employees, to ensure a wider application of technologies and human asset investment, to increase the respect for the personality of an employee and his/her family commitments. Changes in the collective representation to boost the collective bargaining process and build up “industrial democracy” in the work place are also called for.

Main Features of Lithuanian Labour Law Reform 2016

This article presents and analyses the main characteristics of the new Lithuanian Labour Code. The reforms of the Lithuanian labour market have been initiated to meet the challenges of fierce international competition, to find a new balance between the flexibility desired by business and the required social protection of workers and to bring the law into the line with contemporary changes at work. However, re-codification is not only about changes in the areas of working time, dismissal protection, fixed-term employment or other forms of atypical work. The Labour Code of 2016 ought to modernize the employment relationship in a much broader perspective – to revive the spirit of cooperation both at individual and collective level, to increase the judicial protection of employees, to allow for wider acceptance of technologies, investment in human capital and respect of the employee’s personality and his/her family commitments. Changes in the collective representation system are also necessary to revitalize collective bargaining and increase industrial democracy in the workplace.

Lithuanian labour market – policy priorities in the context of the European Union

Lithuanian labour market – policy priorities in the context of the European Union

The assessment of flexicurity model elements and perspectives in Lithuanian labour market

The assessment of three elements of flexicurity model and perspectives (in Lithuanian labour market) are carried out by analyzing the flexibility of labour market, active labour market policy measures and social security system. It was found out that labour market in Lithuania is relatively less flexible and less secure than in Denmark and EU 28.

Changes in the Situation of Different Demographic Groups in the Lithuanian Labour Market and the Influence of Methodical Differences on Relative Unemployment Indicators

The paper analyses employment, activity and unemployment trends in Lithuania by sex and age, with thefocus on the monitoring of the labour market situation of different demographic groups. The possibilities of integratingwomen and men, elderly and young people into the labour market are evaluated using key labour market indicators. Differentunemployment estimation methods are used for the assessment of changes in the labour market situation of differentdemographic groups in Lithuania. Statistical data analysis is supplemented by the results of individual research.

The minimum wage and the Lithuanian labour market

AbstractThis paper presents a comprehensive and non‐standard labour market analysis based on univariate and multivariate models for wages. The novelty of this paper lies in the use of non‐normalized cointegrating vectors for labour market analysis. Wages are the basis of labour market models, as well as the key factor for employees and employers; therefore, the central analytical axis is a classical wage bargaining process, where one side requires and the other side proposes a certain level of wages. Analysis is divided into two parts: foremost, a careful analysis of Lithuanian wages is conducted and a univariate model for the investigation of interactions between the minimum wage and the rest of the wages is proposed; only after the minimum wage model is drafted can the multivarate model for the whole economy be built up. Briefly, the methodology used in this article can be annotated as a synthesis of sequential theoretical and empirical considerations that combine the results of theoretical macroeconomics with data‐generating patterns and stylized facts. The model is considered as the final one only if macro‐theory preconditions, statistical prerequisites, and stylized real‐world requirements are met and fulfilled. In addition, this article gives an example and a quantitatively, as well as qualitatively, motivated suggestion as to how to incorporate minimum wages into econometric models and puts forward an explanation for why it is necessary to include minimum wage dynamics into labour market analysis. The article is nothing but an empirical case study that demonstrates how many minor details have to be taken into account until a realistic labour market model is built up. Although the paper deals with the labour market, the suitable application of time series methods is the main subject of the analysis.

The Economic Assessment of Economist-Financier Specialty Perspectives in Lithuania

The main attention is focused on the assessment of the perspectives of the economist-financier specialty (in the Lithuanian labour market). Lithuanian labour market of economists-financiers is classified into three sections: present (employees) and potential (students of schools and students of universities) labour supply, and present demand (employers). The assessment is carried out using 6 criteria: the selection to study economicsfinance, the change of study fields or education, future plans, the time required to get a job, the assessment of the economist-financier specialty (in Lithuania) by the labour supply and labour demand in 2014–2015 and in the future, the assessment of the career prospects of the economists-financiers on a global scale. It was found that the perspectives of the economist-financier specialty are increasing.

How Successful are Highly Qualified Return Migrants in the Lithuanian Labour Market?

AbstractThis article analyses whether the human capital gained abroad helps returning migrants to integrate into the Lithuanian labour market. The analysis focuses on highly qualified migrants, defined narrowly as people with higher education who held qualified jobs when working abroad. The article found that for this group of returnees professional aims were important when taking a decision to return, together with other motives such as family reasons and home‐sickness. Most of the returnees were able to find employment and pursue their careers without major difficulties, although a significant minority signalled an intention to emigrate again. The article examines the key factors that sometimes helped and sometimes hindered integration of the returnees and discusses the role of the public policy.

CHANGES OF LABOUR MARKET DURING THE RECESSION: IN CASE OF LITHUANIAN

The science problem stated that to increase employment and to decrease unemployment is social and economic necessity in every country. The Lithuania integration to ES had direct influence to structure of Lithuania labour market, reduced level of unemployment, but macroeconomic indexes reversed market structure. The unexpected vicissitude of negative economic processes signify period of recession. The main indexes of labour market help to indicate employment figures and unemployment problems. The object of work is Lithuanian labour market. So it was analysis of processes in Lithuanian labour market and factors which have influence to market structure. The purpose of work is to make research of Lithuanian labour market in recession period. The results of labour market research showed that the level of unemployment is related with economic processes, so government policy and decisions have to be diverting to reduction of unemployment damages and help the unemployed. A sudden increase in unemployment signified slowdown of salary especially in the constructional and financial agency sectors, slumping of demand and growing number of registered unemployed. Small and medium sizes companies confronted with financial difficulties. These companies try to reduce activity outlay, so employers downsize, minimize salaries. The main decision of government is organizing of vocational training, to provide the right qualifications for the job.

Young People with Physical Disabilities at Work in Lithuania: Experiences and Attitudes

The aim of this paper is to disclose the experiences and attitudes of young people with disabilities towards their professional activities and finding a job and to discover what the main opportunities and obstacles are for the integration of young disabled people into the Lithuanian labour market. The empirical basis of this research consists of 18 in-depth interviews with 18-35 year old young people with physical disabilities. In-depth interviews with young people with physical disabilities disclosed that a successful transition into the labour market first of all depends on the educational level (especially tertiary education) of a person, acquired appropriate employability skills, etc. Young disabled people experienced stigmatized attitudes by employers and a lack of interest to employ a disabled person. It is emphasized that employers in Lithuania are unwilling to employ a disabled person due to some special requirements (e.g., work assistant services, special requirements for the workplace, shorter working hours, etc.). In the high number of cases young people with disabilities face a double stigma, e.g., young and disabled, lack of working experience, etc.

Econometric Modelling of Lithuanian Labour Market

Lithuanian labour market indicators, such as the total number of employees, the number of employees in the private and public sectors, the number of the unemployed, labour force, employment and unemployment rates, the relative number of employees, average monthly gross income are analysed in the paper. The experience of foreign countries and Lithuania in creating labour market models and econometric methodology has been examined. As a result, a new model of the Lithuanian labour market is produced, comprising five regressive equations, which are part of the recursive SVAR model, and four identities, which are part of balance equations. According to the logic of economic and other research, relevant connections in the economy have been specified, unknown parameters of equations have been estimated. Finally, forecasts of endogenous indicators for 2014 have been provided, and results have been compared with the projections of the main labour market indicators for 2014−2017, published by the Ministry of Finance. Calculations have been made using a statistical package Gretl.

Public health specialist in Lithuanian labour market

Objectives To assess the public health students’ withdrawal from studies and distribution of the public health specialstist’ at the in labour market. Methods A retrospective descriptive study included 487 students, who started public health bachelor studies at the Vilnius University (hereinafter – VU), Lithuanian Health Sciences University (hereinafter – LHSU) and Klaipėda University (hereinafter – KU) in 1999-2000 and 2004-2005. The data was collected from archives of …