Sector Employees Research Articles

Projecting the Future Registered Nurse Workforce After the COVID-19 Pandemic

Health care delivery systems rely on a well-prepared and adequately sized registered nurse (RN) workforce. The US RN workforce decreased by more than 100 000 in 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic-a far greater single-year drop than observed over the past 4 decades. The implication for the longer-term growth of the RN workforce is unknown. To describe recent trends in RN employment through 2023 and forecast the growth of the RN workforce through 2035. Descriptive analysis of recent trends since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in RN employment using data from the US Bureau of the Census Current Population Survey and including employed RNs aged 23 to 69 years from 1982 through 2023, and retrospective cohort analysis of employment trends by birth year and age to project the age distribution and employment of RNs through 2035. Annual full-time equivalent (FTE) employment of RNs by age, demographics, and sector of employment; forecast of RN workforce by age through 2035. The final sample included 455 085 RN respondents aged 23 to 69 years. After a sharp decline in 2021, RN employment recovered, and the total number of FTE RNs in 2022 and 2023 was 6% higher than in 2019 (3.35 million vs 3.16 million, respectively). Using data on employment, education, and population through 2022, the size of the RN workforce was projected to increase by roughly 1.2 million FTEs to 4.56 million by 2035, close to prepandemic forecasts. Growth will be driven primarily by RNs aged 35 to 49 years, who are projected to compose nearly half (47%) of the RN workforce in 2035, up from 38% in 2022. In this study, the rebound in the total size of the US RN workforce during 2022 and 2023 indicates that the earlier drop in RN employment during the first 2 years of the COVID-19 pandemic was likely transitory. Updated forecasts of the future RN workforce are very close to those made before the pandemic.

Understanding the Employment Landscape in People With Systemic Sclerosis.

Systemic sclerosis (SSc) can restrict employment participation. Our objectives were to comparatively evaluate health factors, work factors, and workplace accommodations between those who are employed and those who recently gave up employment. A cross-sectional study was conducted of employed and recently working, but now unemployed, individuals with SSc. Demographics, employment sectors, health factors, flare frequency, work context, and information about the need, availability, and use of workplace supports were collected. Participants were 140 individuals (108 [77.1%] women, 32 [22.9%] men), of whom 110 (78.6%) were employed and 30 (21.4%) were unemployed. Participants worked in education/health/sciences/arts (n = 51, 36.4%), sales/retail (n = 23, 16.5%), banking/insurance/business/technology (n = 22, 15.7%), government (n = 15, 10.7%), construction/utilities (n = 10, 7.1%), and manufacturing/agriculture/mining/logging (n = 10, 7.1%). Employed participants had a lower mean age (48.4 vs 54.3 yrs), and higher level of education (77.3% with postsecondary education vs 22.7% without). Those who had no flares were more frequently employed (41.7%), compared to those who had 1 to 2 flares (35.2%) and ≥ 3 flares (23.1%). The availability of workplace accommodations differed significantly between the employed and unemployed: flexible hours (74.5% vs 40%, P = 0.0005), more rest periods (73.6% vs 46.7%, P = 0.0001), special equipment (82.7% vs 46.7%, P < 0.0001), and work schedule flexibility (66.4% vs 33.3%, P = 0.003). Health factors alone do not differentiate those who are employed and those who gave up employment. This study lays the groundwork for where SSc-specific efforts in workplace policies and practices should be directed, especially workplace support.

The contribution of knowledge-intensive firms to employment growth: a Granger causality approach for German regions

ABSTRACT Academic discussions have frequently examined the interrelation between regional employment growth and firm locations. Two growth patterns emerge: employment growth induced through new firm locations or vice versa, where firms locate in areas experiencing employment supply growth. The specific causal relationship responsible for regional employment growth in Germany remains uncertain. In the German context, however, more research is needed to identify contributors to employment growth, as most existing studies rely on highly aggregated data or focus on specific case studies. This paper aims to approach this subject by using a uniquely matched dataset of firm locations and the individual employment of 480 multi-locational firms in the knowledge economy and comparing it to total employment in Germany. We assume that a change in knowledge-intensive firms’ employment may affect regional employment growth. The study uses longitudinal historical employment data at the functional urban area (FUA) level from 1999 to 2019, aggregated to knowledge-intensive high-tech and advanced producer services (APS) sectors. The analysis employs aggregated and individual Granger causality tests, evaluating the relationship between employment in knowledge-intensive sectors and overall employment change. Results are spatialised using GIS to provide evidence of where the Granger causalities occur at the FUA level in Germany. Findings indicate that, in general, knowledge-intensive employment growth Granger causes total employment growth in a few economically more active FUAs. In contrast, for a greater number of FUAs, total employment Granger causes knowledge-intensive employment.

Public service motivation and public sector employment in Korea

AbstractThis study aims to investigate whether individual differences in public service motivation (PSM) between the public and private sectors are a cause or a consequence of choosing a job, testing self‐selection and socialization hypotheses using a longitudinal dataset from a nationally representative cohort in Korea. The study uses two samples from the data of three successive waves (t − 2, t, t + 2) surveyed biennially, finding that “self‐selection” can more persuasively explain the state that employees in the public sector have higher levels of PSM than those in the private sector, with job seekers with high PSM levels being more likely to work in the public sector and with the magnitude of differences in PSM between the public and private sectors maintained through the early years after entry into the workplace, while the levels of PSM, however, decrease in all job sectors. Implications of our findings are discussed.

Effect of the farmer term of trade and farmworkers wages on rural unemployment and poverty in Indonesia

This study aims to determine the determinants of the welfare of agricultural sector workers who come from poor households in rural areas. The exchange rate of farmers and the wages of farm laborers will affect the level of employment in the agricultural sector, which in turn will affect the level of rural poverty. The methodology used in this study uses a panel data regression model with a recursive equation model. The best model for unemployment estimation is the random effect model, while the best model for poverty estimation is the fixed effect model. The results showed that the daily wage of farm laborers had a significant negative effect on unemployment. This may be due to the fact that higher wages will increase the number of workers who are willing to work in the agricultural sector, so unemployment will fall. While the unemployment variable has a significant positive effect on the level of rural poverty. The practical implication of these research findings is that to reduce poverty in rural areas, efforts from the government are needed to increase the wages of farm laborers, as the government sets minimum wages in the formal sector. The higher daily wages of agricultural laborers will attract unemployed people in villages to work in the agricultural sector.

Not a single path to success: alternative HRM configurations for well-performing small and medium-sized hotels

PurposePrevious literature has identified human resources as a key source of competitive advantage in organizations of all sizes. However, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) face difficulty in comprehensively implementing all recommended Human Resource Management (HRM) functions. In this study, we shed light on the field of HRM in SMEs by focusing on the context of Greek Small and Medium-sized Hotels (SMHs), which represent a dominant private sector employer across the country.Design/methodology/approachUsing a fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) and 34 in-depth interviews with SMHs' owners/managers, we explore the HRM conditions leading to high levels of performance, while taking into consideration the influence of internal key determinants.FindingsWe uncover three alternative successful HRM strategies that maximize business performance, namely the Compensation-based performers, the HRM developers and the HRM investors. Each strategy fits discreet organizational characteristics related to company size, ownership type and organizational structure.Originality/valueTo the best of the authors' knowledge this is among the first empirical studies that examine different and equifinal performance-enhancing configurations of HRM practices in SMHs.

Factors Associated with Israeli Social Workers' Intention to Stay in the Profession.

The phenomenon of social workers leaving the profession occurs frequently, underscoring the importance of understanding factors contributing to the intention to stay (ITS) in the profession. Based on the job demands-resources theory (JD-R), this study examined selected social worker workplace "demands" (i.e., their organizational sector of employment and level of work-family conflict) and "resources" (i.e., levels of meaning, locus of control, and salary satisfaction at work). Online survey data were obtained from 407 Israeli social workers. The findings showed that higher levels of meaning and salary satisfaction at work, greater professional seniority, and lower levels of work-family conflict were associated with greater ITS in the profession. Data were gathered during the COVID-19 pandemic, enabling examination of variables contributing to the ITS during times of crisis. These findings confirm that meaning at work is the main factor that motivates social worker ITS in the profession. Salary satisfaction was also found to be an essential factor, highlighting the recent escalation in social worker demands for fair compensation in Israel. Greater work-family balance also contributed to ITS. These findings should be considered by governmental decision makers and welfare service providers wishing to preserve this essential workforce, not just in Israel but also in other countries.

Regional decline and structural changes in Northeast China: an exploratory space–time approach

Literature on New Economic Geography (NEG) highlights the importance of spatial concentration and spillover effects in economic growth or decline. Northeast China, as an old industrial base, is experiencing a regional decline since its transition to the post-industrial stage. Therefore, what is the main sectoral composition in Northeast China and how does this influence regional decline? To what extent do spatial spillovers play a role before and during the regional decline of Northeast China? Based on these questions, we investigated the spatial connections between regional decline and structural changes in Northeast China over three development periods: Rust Belt (1995–2002), revival (2002–2015), and decline (2015–2019). The recent exploratory space–time data analysis was employed on prefecture-level income and its structural change components (sectoral output and employment ratio). We found that the possible reason for the regional decline in Northeast China is premature deindustrialisation. Spatial co-decline in the employment of industry and construction, the primary source of regional decline, facilitates most of the space–time patterns of the regional income. Agglomeration of the agricultural sector has shifted to the north, while industry and construction have gravitated towards the middle and south, with no clear spatial patterns in the service sector. Dependence on natural resources has a "lock-in effect" that inhibits the transition from industry to services, so industry and construction remain the most efficient in Northeast China. Strengthening spatial connections is essential for local governments to develop service sectors and overcome declining conditions.

Immigration and the distribution of income, consumption and wealth in the euro area: Implications for economic policies

We use representative data from household surveys in the euro area to describe differences in wages, income, consumption, wealth and liquid assets between households born in their country of residence (“natives”) and those born in other EU and non-EU countries (“immigrants”). The differences in wealth and liquid assets are more substantial than the differences in wages, income and consumption: immigrants earn on average about 30% lower wages than natives and hold roughly 60% less net wealth. For all variables, only a small fraction of differences between natives and immigrants—around 30%—can be explained by differences in demographics (age, gender, marital status, education, occupation, sector of employment). Immigrants are more likely to be liquidity constrained: while we classify 17% of natives as “hand-to-mouth” (they hold liquid assets worth less than two weeks of their income), the corresponding share is 20% for households born in another EU country and 29% for those born outside the EU. Employment rates of immigrants are substantially more sensitive to fluctuations in aggregate employment. We discuss the implications of these findings for economic policies, including monetary, fiscal and pre-distribution policies.

Real-world data of a digitally enabled, time-restricted eating weight management program in public sector workers living with overweight and obesity in the United Kingdom: A service evaluation of the Roczen program.

The health of the United Kingdom workforce is key; approximately 186 million days are lost to sickness each year. Obesity and type 2 diabetes (T2D) remain major global health challenges. The aim of this retrospective service evaluation was to assess the impact of a digitally enabled, time-restricted eating (TRE) intervention (Roczen Program, Reset Health Ltd) on weight and other health-related outcomes. This service evaluation was conducted in people living with overweight/obesity, with 89% referred from public sector employers. Participants were placed on a TRE, low-carbohydrate, moderate protein plan delivered by clinicians and mentors with regular follow up, dietary guidance, goal setting, feedback, and social support. A total of 660 members enrolled and retention was 41% at 12months. The majority were female (73.2%), 58.9% were of White ethnicity, with a mean (SD) age of 47.5years (10.1), and a body mass index of 35.0kg/m2 (5.7). Data were available for 82 members at 12-month. At 12-month, members mean actual and percentage weight loss was -9.0kg (7.0; p<0.001) and -9.2% (6.7, p<0.001) respectively and waist circumference reduced by -10.3cm (10.7 p<0.001), with 45.1% of members achieving ≥10% weight loss. Glycated hemoglobin was significantly improved at 6months in people living with T2D (-11mmol/mol [5.7] p=0.012). Binge eating score significantly reduced (-4.4 [7.0] p=0.006), despite cognitive restraint increasing (0.37 [0.6] p=0.006). Our service evaluation showed that the Roczen program led to clinically meaningful improvements in body weight, health-related outcomes and eating behaviors that were sustained at 12-month.

외국인 근로자의 조직 신뢰가 근로환경 만족도에 미치는 영향

As of 2022, the number of migrant workers entering the Korea through the Employment Permit System has surpassed 84,000, with the employment permit quota expanding to 110,000 individuals in 2023. These migrant workers mainly find employment in sectors typically shunned by domestic laborers, such as manufacturing, small and medium-sized enterprises, construction, agriculture, and fisheries. The Korean government has been implementing measures to mitigate the labor shortage in these industrial sectors due to a declining birth rate and an aging population, with a concerted effort to normalize the influx of foreign workers through policy support.&#x0D; Given that a substantial portion of foreign workers occupies roles in production settings, they often exhibit lower expectations regarding organizational responsibility and job engagement compared to their Korean workers. Language communication barriers and cultural adaptation issues further complicate the establishment of trust relationships in the workplace. Consequently, there exists a compelling need to comprehend the influence of organizational trust, trust in superiors, and job engagement—significant components of strategic human resource management measures—on satisfaction with the working environment, even in workplaces that employ foreign workers. This study seeks to enhance the working conditions and ensure occupational safety and health for foreign workers by examining the mediating role of job engagement and the moderating influence of trust to their supervisors in the relationship between the migrant workers' organizational trust and their satisfaction with the working environment. The main goal of this study is to offer practical insights for business preparations in their workplace.&#x0D; This study analyzed responses from 288 migrant workers collected through the 6th Working Environment Survey. Hierarchical regression analysis was used to assess the relationships among organizational trust, trust in supervisors, organizational commitment, and satisfaction with the working environment. The findings revealed that migrant workers' trust in their organization positively influences their overall satisfaction with the working environment. Additionally, organizational trust was found to significantly affect organizational commitment. Organizational commitment partially mediates the relationship between organizational trust and work environment satisfaction, and trust in immediate supervisors strengthens the positive relationship between organizational trust and commitment.&#x0D; These findings provide essential insights into the dynamics of organizational trust among migrant workers and its implications for job satisfaction and engagement. This research contributes to the development of practical strategies for employers and managers to enhance organizational trust and commitment among migrant workers. It also highlights the importance of safety behaviors and leadership in workplaces that employ a significant number of migrant workers, emphasizing the need for establishing a safety culture in these settings.

“Not Like Father, Like Son”: Public Sector Employment Reforms in Egypt

The slowing of public sector hiring has been a tool for sector downsizing and one of the markers of the reform trajectory in public administration in Egypt. The effect of this long-term and non-confrontational approach to downsizing on the workforce of the public sector is captured in this article using a unique national panel dataset. The analysis shows that the share of public sector employment has declined in a pattern punctuated by a number of critical junctures that shaped the trajectory of the adoption of New Public Management (NPM)-inspired policies. The data shows that the sector workforce is becoming more educated, older, and slightly more feminized. Despite the specificity of the context of Egypt, the analysis furthers the study of public sector reform trajectories and the complexity of the contextualization of NPM-inspired policies in countries with a socialist legacy in the global South.

The use of Community/Public Health Nursing Competencies during the COVID-19 pandemic.

(1) Ascertain the use of the Quad Council Competencies for Community/Public Health Nursing (QCC-C/PHN) Competencies by community/public health nurses (C/PHNs) during the COVID-19 pandemic; (2) Inform from a systems-level the need to sustain the C/PHN workforce; (3) Assess the C/PHN infrastructure for response capacity. Cross-sectional. Statewide email distribution lists were used for dissemination. Convenience sample (n=169) obtained using emailed Qualtrics link with the eligibility criteria of self-identification as a C/PHN who works in the state of Missouri. Demographic questions included employment sector, nursing education level, years of nursing, and C/PHN experience. Two Likert-type questions and one optional open-text question were created for the eight domains. One hundred sixty-nine participants' data were analyzed. One hundred fifty-four were employed in a local public health agency. Total 63.2% held a bachelor's degree in nursing or higher. The average number of years of nurse experience was 20.84, and C/PHN experience was 9.84. The domain of Communication Skills scored highest and Cultural Competency was the lowest. Three themes emerged from the open-ended questions including vulnerabilities of the public health system. Understanding the experiences of C/PHNs in Missouri related to the utilization of QCC-C/PHN competencies informs efforts to strengthen public health infrastructure and target resources to equip Missouri's C/PHNs.

Guest editorial: Introduction to the special issue on productive employment in rural farm and non-farm sectors in sub-Saharan Africa

Guest editorial: Introduction to the special issue on productive employment in rural farm and non-farm sectors in sub-Saharan Africa

Job Flows Into and Out of Health Care Before and After the COVID-19 Pandemic

Anecdotal evidence suggests that health care employers have faced increased difficulty recruiting and retaining staff in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Empirical research is needed to understand the magnitude and persistence of these changes, and whether they have disproportionate implications for certain types of workers or regions of the country. To quantify the number of workers exiting from and entering into the health care workforce before and after the pandemic and to examine variations over time and across states and worker demographics. This cohort study used US Census Bureau state unemployment insurance data on job-to-job flows in the continental US to construct state-level quarterly exit and entry rates for the health care industry from January 2018 through December 2021 (Arkansas, Mississippi, and Tennessee were omitted due to missing data). An event study design was used to compute quarterly mean adjusted rates of job exit from and entry into the health care sector as defined by the North American Industry Classification System. Data were examined from January to June 2023. The COVID-19 pandemic. The main outcomes were the mean adjusted health care worker exit and entry rates in each quarter by state and by worker demographics (age, gender, race and ethnicity, and education level). In quarter 1 of 2020, there were approximately 18.8 million people (14.6 million females [77.6%]) working in the health care sector in our sample. The exit rate for health care workers increased at the onset of the pandemic, from a baseline quarterly mean of 5.9 percentage points in 2018 to 8.0 (95% CI, 7.7-8.3) percentage points in quarter 1 of 2020. Exit rates remained higher than baseline levels through quarter 4 of 2021, when the health care exit rate was 7.7 (95% CI, 7.4-7.9) percentage points higher than the 2018 baseline. In quarter 1 of 2020, the increase in health care worker exit rates was dominated by an increase in workers exiting to nonemployment (78% increase compared with baseline); in contrast, by quarter 4 of 2021, the exit rate was dominated by workers exiting to employment in non-health care sectors (38% increase compared with baseline). Entry rates into health care also increased in the postpandemic period, from 6.2 percentage points at baseline to 7.7 percentage points (95% CI, 7.4-7.9 percentage points) in the last quarter of 2021, suggesting increased turnover of health care staff. Compared with prepandemic job flows, the share of workers exiting health care after the pandemic who were female was disproportionately larger, and the shares of workers entering health care who were female or Black was disproportionately smaller. Results of this cohort study suggest a substantial and persistent increase in health care workforce turnover after the pandemic, which may have long-lasting implications for workers' willingness to remain in health care jobs. Policymakers and health care organizations may need to act to prevent further losses of experienced staff.

The Economic and Geopolitical Implications of China's Belt and Road Initiative in Eastern Europe: A Case Study on Serbia

This paper critically analyses the economic and geopolitical consequences of China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) on Serbia. The primary focus is on the initiative's effects on the country's infrastructure development, employment, and trade sectors. The study adopts a positivist research ethic and employs a deductive technique. It utilizes quantitative methodologies by administering an online survey to 350 practitioners actively engaged in BRI projects in Serbia. The data analysis was conducted using the SPSS program. The research findings demonstrate that the infrastructure investment and employment generation associated with the BRI have had notable positive impacts on Serbia's economic and geopolitical development. Moreover, it has been discovered that trade dynamics with China have the potential to bolster economic growth and foster positive geopolitical relations. Nevertheless, the study admits many limitations, including a restricted sample size and the lack of qualitative data. Future study recommendations encompass the need for enhanced stakeholder engagement on a wider scale and the implementation of longitudinal studies to effectively capture the dynamic and evolving impacts over time.

Live Performers’ Experiences of Precarity and Recognition during COVID-19 and Beyond

COVID-19 devastated the ability of self-employed and freelance live performers working in the UK’s live entertainment industries to sustain a living in an already precarious sector of employment. It also exposed the inadequacies of existing ways of conceptualising precarity in allowing a complete understanding of performers’ experiences of precarious employment, particularly during such a crisis. Combining research into precarity, recognition theory and qualitative data on how such performers experienced and responded to the pandemic, this article identifies two forms of precarity they experienced: socioeconomic and recognitive. In doing so, it contributes to the sociology of work by demonstrating how these two modes of precarity generated considerable operational and existential challenges for performers while extending the conceptualisation of precarity in such a way as to offer a more nuanced understanding of its impact, not only on the livelihoods of those experiencing it but also on their work identities and sense of self.

Examining The Inclusion of Persons with Visual Impairment in The Formal Employment Sector in Uganda

This article examines the inclusion of persons with visual impairments (PwVIs) in the formal employment sector in Uganda. It examines their experiences while searching for jobs, the attitudes of employers towards their employment, and their working conditions. The article is based on research on access to and retention of PwVIs in formal employment in Uganda. The research was examined within the theoretical perspectives of disability as a social model and human rights issues. A qualitative research design using a phenomenological approach was applied to obtain information through interviews. Ten employees with visual impairment in the formal employment sector were possessively selected. Results indicated that employers did not have enough knowledge and specialized manpower to employ PwVI. They also lacked reasonable accommodation provisions for employees with visual impairment. In addition, employers had negative attitudes towards PwVI, which led to discrimination, exploitation, abuse, and humiliation. Artikel ini meneliti inklusifitas bagi penyandang disabilitas netra di sektor ketenagakerjaan formal di Uganda. Artikel ini meneliti pengalaman mereka saat mencari pekerjaan, sikap penyedia kerja terhadap pekerjaan mereka, dan kondisi kerja mereka. Artikel ini didasarkan pada penelitian tentang akses dan retensi penyandang disabilitas netra di sektor ketenagakerjaan formal di Uganda. Penelitian ini diperiksa dalam perspektif teoritis tentang disabilitas sebagai model sosial dan isu-isu hak asasi manusia. Desain penelitian kualitatif menggunakan pendekatan fenomenologis diterapkan untuk mendapatkan informasi melalui wawancara. Sepuluh karyawan dengan disabilitas netra di sektor ketenagakerjaan formal dipilih secara positif. Hasil menunjukkan bahwa penyedia kerja tidak memiliki pengetahuan terkait ketenagakerjaan disabilitas yang cukup untuk mempekerjakan Penyandang disabilitas netra. Mereka juga tidak memiliki ketentuan akomodasi yang layak untuk karyawan dengan disabilitas netra. Selain itu, penyedia kerja memiliki sikap negatif terhadap penyandang disabilitas netra, yang mengarah pada diskriminasi, eksploitasi, penyalahgunaan, dan penghinaan.

Relevant Skills for Employment and Entrepreneurship in the Agri-Food Sector

In the current social, economic, natural and geopolitical context, there is an acute need for research on professional and entrepreneurial skills in line with the challenges and opportunities of the rapidly changing global economy. The aim of this study was to determine the skills required by employees and entrepreneurs in the agri-food sector. This research study consisted of interviews, questionnaires and focus groups on a sample of 111 employers, 288 students and 139 teachers from the North-East Development Region of Romania. The most important skills needed by higher education graduates in the agri-food sector were communication, learning and social skills, with values of 90.5, 74.3 and 70.6 points, respectively. The least appreciated skills were cultural, linguistic and mathematical skills, with values of 17.5, 36.9 and 43.8 points. For developing and running an entrepreneurial activity, the subjects appreciated communication (91.0 points), as in the case of employment-related skills, followed by economic skills (81.4 points) and learning skills (75.4 points). Additional efforts are needed to increase the relevance of practical activities in correlation with the skills required by the market, and it is necessary to strengthen the current partnerships and create new partnerships between universities and the economic environment by employing public and research entities.

Employment and wage dynamics in the electricity sector: Evidence from Portugal 2002–2020

Exploring a rich administrative matched employer-employee longitudinal dataset over the 2002–2020 period and a task-based approach, this study investigates to what extent the recent paradigm shift in the electricity sector has affected the structure of employment and wages in the Portuguese case. Our results show that the liberalization in the sector led to the entry of new players and firms' downsizing of the workforce, most notably in occupations involving routine cognitive tasks and non-routine manual tasks. In two decades, the employment share of occupations involving non-routine cognitive tasks (abstract or interactive) doubled, from 29.7% in 2002 to 58.1% in 2020. Regarding wage premiums, the results reveal a clear positive trend in real hourly wages for all types of occupations in the sector. However, we observe a lower wage growth acceleration for workers employed in routine (cognitive or manual) occupations, when compared with similar workers employed in non-routine occupations (cognitive or manual). Our findings are partly consistent with the skill-biased and routine-biased technological change hypotheses in the sense that we observe, respectively, a skill up-grading translated into an increase in employment share in non-routine cognitive occupations and a substantial decline in employment share in routine cognitive occupations.