Youth Labour Market Research Articles

Soft Skills in the Youth Labor Market.

This paper provides new descriptive evidence about which soft skills employers value in young, entry-level workers. We ran employer surveys as part of an experiment to generate letters of recommendation for New York City's Summer Youth Employment Program participants. Supervisors rated over 9,200 of their summer employees on overall quality and 10 separate soft skills. Better ratings correspond to better outside employment and earnings. We find that communication skills and dependability most impress employers. Young women's advantage in soft skills explains their entire advantage in overall ratings, as well as 14 percent of their advantage in outside earnings.

Youth Hiring and Labor Market Tightness

It is well-known that recessions can lead to long-term scarring for young workers. I show that employers hire fewer young workers when there are few job openings per unemployed job seeker, while hiring rates for workers with more than 10 years of potential experience are much less cyclically volatile. During the COVID-19 pandemic, youth employment rates rebounded particularly quickly compared with other groups and historic patterns. I show this is consistent with the historic relationship between tightness and youth hiring rates, suggesting youth scarring from the COVID-19 pandemic may be less severe compared with previous recessions.

Service Exportation: The Effects in the Youth Labor Market and its Implications toward Economic Growth

The dawn of the digital economy has approached the Philippines through the transformation of the service trade in the labor market. The study analyzed and observed a 30-year time series of the relationship between the country’s service exports, productivity, and youth unemployment rate towards the end goal of economic growth. The young IT-BPO industry is now the country’s most significant contributor to GDP, outpacing the manufacturing industry with more than 5% growth each year. Service exports play a big role in how the country is positioned in the future, and the study has seen a significant relationship between the GDP which proves to show that policy improvements, market openness, ICT infrastructure and capital expansion within these variables could help the country improve its unemployment rate and share on the global market.

Youth labor market: sociological analysis of the interaction between employers and students (on the example of the Nizhny Novgorod region)

The work is devoted to the study of the problem of youth employment on the example of the labor market of Nizhny Novgorod. Purpose of the study: identification of critical points of inconsistency in the perception of effective interaction in the labor market between employers and young professionals. To solve this problem, an empirical study was carried out, which included a survey of university students to assess their employment prospects, as well as a series of expert interviews with representatives of HR departments of commercial companies about the goals and value of hiring young specialists. The results of the study revealed a number of factors complicating the process of employment of young specialists: the discrepancy between their expectations and the requirements of employers, the lack of tools for effective job search, self-presentation skills at different stages of employment, an insufficient level of development of professional competencies, as well as a lack of experience interactions in a corporate format. Within the framework of the study, it was found that a key contradiction begins to form at the stage of partnership interaction between a higher educational institution, a student and an employer, even in the process of professional training of a specialist. Employers confirm their readiness to include student youth in the process of updating the professional experience. However, there is little interest in the participation of students in internship programs offered by employers, since the factor of financial well-being in the present is of paramount importance for students, as opposed to the ability to form a competitive advantage for employment in the future.

Using a hybrid data collection tool: Analysis of youth labour market trajectories integrating quantitative, qualitative and social network data

AbstractThis article explains the factors that led to the use of a hybrid data collection tool—i.e., a single questionnaire designed to collect both quantitative and qualitative data—in two different research projects that focused on the relation between the labour market trajectories of young people and the use and accumulation of network social capital in these trajectories. The article describes the characteristics of this tool and the methodological challenges posed by its use. The advantages and disadvantages of this specific type of data collection are also addressed. Among the main advantages, the improvement of data quality and the overarching picture obtained of the career path and use of personal networks are highlighted. The most important downside found is the amount of time needed in the interview, which shows the need to pay attention to the balance between quantitative and qualitative elements in the structure of the questionnaire.

RESEARCH OF THE YOUTH LABOR MARKET IN THE CONTEXT OF A PANDEMIC

The purpose of this article is to study the public opinion of the youth of Kazakhstan on the problem of employment, labor market and labor migration, as well as to develop proposals for regulating the youth labor market.Research methodology. On the territory of 14 regions of Kazakhstan and 3 cities of republican signifycance: Nur-Sultan, Almaty and Shymkent, Atyrau city and 7 districts in Atyrau region, a survey of young people on the social well-being of young people aged 18-25 in Kazakhstan, including employment problems, labor market and labor migration was conducted. The survey was attended by young people of the Republic of Kazakhstan aged 18 to 25 years. The total volume of the sample set of studies was 4 000 people.Originality / value of the research. The problems related to the labor market and labor migration of young people of the Republic of Kazakhstan under "COVID-19" have been identified.Findings. The article deals with the issues of the youth labor market in Kazakhstan, youth unemployment and youth labor migration, and based on the results of the survey, recommendations are given on state regulation of the youth labor market. In particular, state support for entrepreneurship in the field of youth employment, digitalization of labor market infrastructure, development of youth professional skills.

Youth Labor Market in the Framework of Social Partnership: Current State and Directions of Development

In any developed country, the state pays special attention to the development of human capital, which has a positive effect on the quality of life and the efficiency of the economy. Kazakhstan is no exception. The current crisis conditions point to the need to create a system of social protection for the young unemployed since the future of independent Kazakhstan depends on youth. There have been significant changes in the structure of employment in Kazakhstan. The purpose of the study was to study and make recommendations on the development of the labor market based on the opinions of young people and employers in Kazakhstan. The online survey was conducted among working, self-employed and unemployed youth of 14 regions and 3 cities, namely, Nursultan, Almaty, Shymkent, seven districts of Atyrau region (Isatay, Makhambet, Kzylkoga, Kurmangazy, Inder, Makat, Zhylyoy). The public opinion of the youth of Kazakhstan on the problems of employment, youth labor market and labor migration are studied. Within the framework of the social partnership, the theoretical foundations of labor market regulation and its mechanisms were considered, the main causes of youth unemployment are considered, recommendations for the development of the youth labor market are given. The research has scientific value, as it makes a certain contribution to the development of the youth market. Professional training and retraining of young specialists, advanced training, informing young people about vacancies in institutions, improving the digitalization of the labor market are needed among young people.

Молодежь на рынке труда

The article examines the state of the youth labor market in Russia, identifies the problems of the modern youth labor market, such as the unjustified ambition of youth, mistrust of employers towards young people, the unpreparedness of the majority of young people after graduation for working life, the inadequacy of the educational system to the requirements of the business environment and the labor market, and , first of all, training of workers in professions that are not in demand on the labor market. A set of measures is proposed to solve these problems of the youth labor market: the formation of mechanisms of real interaction between the business environment, the labor market and the sphere of education; adjustment of educational programs in terms of their practice-orientedness; formation of a system for preparing young people to enter the labor market through their social and professional adaptation. The analysis of the socio-cultural characteristics of generations "Y" and "Z" is carried out, it is shown that taking into account these features will improve the situation on the youth labor market in the digital era.

Youth labor market vulnerabilities: evidence from Egypt, Jordan and Tunisia

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate the prevalence and drivers of employment vulnerability among youth in Egypt, Jordan and Tunisia, and their propensity to transition to better jobs over time.Design/methodology/approachThe analysis is based on longitudinal data from Labor Market Panel Surveys spanning 6–20 years. The authors use transition matrices to examine the prevalence of transitions between labor market statuses for the same individuals over time, distinguishing between youth and non-youth, and men and women, as well as multinomial logistic regressions that control for individual and family background, including previous labor market status, family wealth and parental education.FindingsThe paper finds that youth in all three countries were disadvantaged in terms of labor market outcomes with most young men in particular ending up in vulnerable jobs while women of all ages were most likely to exit the labor market all together, unless they had formal jobs. Moreover, youth who started out in the labor market in a vulnerable job were unlikely to move to a better-quality job over time. Family wealth, parental education and father's occupation were found to be important determinants of labor market outcomes and vulnerability, even after a long period of work experience.Social implicationsThe paper finds that wealth effects, parental education and occupation effects follow workers throughout their careers, implying low equality of opportunity and inter-generational and lifetime mobility.Originality/valueThe findings indicate worsening labor market outcomes over time, heavily influenced by family background. High levels of vulnerable employment persistence, regardless of skill and experience, reinforce the importance of initial labor market outcome on the quality of lifetime employment prospects.

The effect of parental job loss on youth transition to employment in Turkey

AbstractThis article analyses the impact of household head's involuntary job loss on young person's (15–24 years old) likelihood to transition from non‐employment to employment. We construct twelve two‐year pseudo‐panels based on previous year's labour market outcomes using Turkish Household Labor Force Surveys (THLFS) from 2005 to 2016 and then pool the twelve pseudo‐panels for analysis. We examine youth's labour market responses according to education levels and gender. We show that a female with at least a high school degree is about 8.7 percentage points more likely to transition to from non‐employment to employment in the group where the head experienced an unexpected job loss than a female in the group where the head remained employed. Furthermore, for females, the probability of transitioning to employment increases by education level. For males, although we find positive and statistically significant effect of head's job loss on the transition probability, we do not find any differences according to education level.

ПОЛИТИКА ИМПОРТОЗАМЕЩЕНИЯ И ЕЕ ВЛИЯНИЕ НА РАЗВИТИЕ МОЛОДЕЖНОГО РЫНКА ТРУДА В РЕГИОНЕ (на материалах Владимирской области)

The development of the modern national economy is based on the principle of import substitution, its implementation affects the functioning of the national and regional labor market, especially youth. This becomes especially relevant during periods of socio-economic instability, one of which the world economy is currently experiencing. The effectiveness of the implementation of the import substitution program in the Russian Federation, which has been consistently implemented since 2014, requires increased state attention to employment problems, as well as the search for innovative mechanisms of state regulation of the labor market, primarily youth. Among these mechanisms, a special place should be taken by ways to improve the quality of education and professional qualifications, ensuring the technological, economic, social, and informational development of enterprises, raising the prestige of working specialties, forming a positive image of professions in demand on the labor market, demand in the labor market for specialists and areas of training with a high level of competence. The development of the youth labor market in the context of the creation of import-substituting production will contribute to the productive employment of young people, which will reduce the risks of social instability. The article examines the trends in employment in the youth labor market during the growing economic recession and sanctions pressure on the Russian economy. The prospects for the development of the youth labor market in the conditions of the formation of import-substituting production in the region are analyzed. The mechanisms of formation and development of the youth personnel reserve as the basis for the creation of modern industrial potential are revealed. The main problems in the youth labor market are revealed, and ways to solve them are proposed.

Management and financing of the self-employment in the youth labor market: The developing country case study

The main objective of this research is to determine and analyze the impact of labor market management and financing in Kosovo, with a particular emphasis on labor market financing in the age group 18–24 years in Kosovo. In order to enrich this paper, a field survey was conducted, and the data were analyzed using comparative and empirical analysis. The findings of the study indicate that financial support for self-employment among young people in Kosovo is very low or negative, despite the fact that the regression coefficients of the variables in this study are statistically stable. In 2020, the youth unemployment rate in Western Balkan countries was over 26%, but it was much higher in Kosovo, at around 50% (Ramhorst, 2021). A significant portion of the young population, or approximately 48.6%, is unemployed, but the most pronounced unemployment is among women in this age group, which is approximately 53.5% compared to men at approximately 46.1% (Kosovo Agency of Statistics [KAS], 2021). The study recommends that labor market policymakers implement long-term labor market policies in order to create new jobs for young people in Kosovo, where employment is quite low, and so on.

The Impact of Vocational Training Interventions on Youth Labor Market Outcomes: A Meta-Analysis

The Impact of Vocational Training Interventions on Youth Labor Market Outcomes: A Meta-Analysis

Economic activity of youth in conditions of national challenges: economic stagnation, pandemic, martial law

Introduction. Employment for a person is a key issue of life. For young people, it acquires a much more important aspect, because it is young people who form new features of the future labor market. In the process of employment in the labor market, young workers can become a new drop of ideas, changes, they demonstrate their mobility quite easily, at the same time, they often cause concern among employers due to lack of experience or its complete absence or lack of patience, which reduces their competitiveness in front of more experienced competitors. Theoretical and applied problems related to changing the model of youth employment for the sake of economic growth and development in Ukraine need scientific attention. Goal. Determination of youth employment trends, their value orientations and prioritization of modern skills and abilities in the conditions of stagnation of the national economy, pandemic and martial law in Ukraine. Method. The theoretical-methodological toolkit and surveying methods are applied – interviewing young people about their employment experience; statistical – processing and analysis of questionnaire data, as well as employment center materials; graphic and tabular – strengthening the visual presentation of the material and data obtained in the research process; generalization and abstract-logical when formulating conclusions and recommendations. Results. The article examines the problematic issues of the youth labor market, which require priority solutions in the context of modern challenges. A comparison was made in the temporal dimension and the most important personal values, life priorities and goals of young people were singled out, which, together with the priority of modern skills and abilities, are the most in demand on the labor market in the conditions of a pandemic and martial law. The trends of young people's demand for the choice of a profession, which they consider promising and highly paid and which they would like to master in order to achieve success and material well-being, are considered. The importance of the reasons that can prevent youth from getting a job in Ukraine in the received profession in today's conditions has been analyzed and determined. The main sources of job search, which are the most effective for young people, have been established, including Internet resources and personal contacts. The key tasks that need to be solved in the labor market of Ukraine in the medium term in order to form a national model of youth policy are outlined.

What Works for Whom? Youth Labour Market Policy in Poland

This paper compares the relative effectiveness of selected active labour market policies available to young unemployed people in Poland over the 2015-2016 period. We use rich administrative data and propensity score matching techniques to control for the non-random selection of unemployed individuals into alternative interventions. We find large negative employment effects of participating in public works programmes, particularly among disadvantaged individuals. The differences in effectiveness between other interventions are rather small, and most become insignificant over time. We also show that vouchers that allow unemployed individuals find on-the-job training providers themselves are more effective than on-the-job training schemes in which the unemployed individuals are directed to the training providers by the public employment services (PES).

The Impact of Digital Technologies on the Labor Market of Belarusian Youth

The article examines the impact of modern digitalization processes on the youth labor market in Belarus within the framework of the risk theory. This made it possible to assess the possible negative consequences of digitalization and to determine the ways to regulate them. On the empirical base of data analysis of two studies of youth, conducted with the participation of the authors, the contradictory influence of digitalization on the youth labor market is highlighted: the characteristics of the youth professional trajectories and labor values are described. The article also discusses the possibilities for the develop-ment of entrepreneurial initiatives and the information and communication environment of modern youth. Particular attention is paid to the analysis of risks in the youth labor market: the imbalance of supply and demand, unemployment, the emergence of new forms of labor relations. It is concluded that the key to the problem of balancing the youth labor market is the modernization of the education system in accordance with the requirements of digital transformation: focus on the formation of the students’ digital competencies; introduction of new information technologies (IT) in the educational process, etc. Improvement of the institutional conditions for doing business can enhance youth activity in entrepreneurship and allow young people to successfully adapt to new forms of labor relations.

Career Motivation in the Process of State Regulation of Youth Employment

Purpose: The main objective of the study is to find new methods for the state promotion of career motivation in the process of providing youth employment.Design/Methodology/Approach: To accomplish the research objectives, a set of mutually reinforcing general scientific and special research methods was used.The basic statistical analyses of unemployment rate data according to the methodology of the International Labour Organization, while the level of registered unemployment (the national indicator of the unemployment rate in Ukraine) serves as an indicator of the State Employment Service performance.Findings: A detailed analysis of career motivation theories and the technology of servicing potentially unemployed people helped justify the feasibility of applying a communicative and psychological method in employment center specialists’ work with their clients, in particular the youth. Thus, a number of measures were identified and proposed in order to better encourage employment and increase the effectiveness of career motivation.Practical Implications: In the course of the research, the development trends in the youth labour market of Ukraine were estimated, the main causes for youth unemployment were determined, and the value orientations and characteristics of modern youth were analysed. The importance of employment services focusing on effective communication with their clients to motivate them for successful employment and self-development is substantiated. The issues of young people’s migration activity, which can have a negative effect on the economic development of the country and increase the socio-demographic risks to national security, need a detailed scientific study.Originality/Value: Currently, the science of public administration does not pay due attention to the role of public institutions in providing career motivation or to the legal consolidation of the measures that motivate productive work. A vast majority of research works on professional motivation and career development were conducted by scientists from the fields of pedagogy, psychology and social economy. These works reveal the essence of pedagogical education and the peculiarities of human psychological influence, yet fail to define the role of the state as the main social institution which should lay the basis for youth development and encouragement to employment. This renders the topic of the present study relevant.

Lost in recessions: youth employment and earnings in Spain

Young workers in Spain face the unprecedented impact of the Great Recession and the COVID-19 crisis in short sequence. Moreover, they have also experienced a deterioration in their employment and earnings over the last three decades. In this paper, we document this evolution and adopt a longitudinal approach to show that employment and earnings losses suffered by young workers during recessions are not made up in the subsequent expansions. We also estimate the size of the scarring effects of entering the job market in a recession for college-educated workers during their first decade in the labor market. Our empirical estimates indicate that while there is some evidence of scarring effects, the driving force is a trend worsening of youth labor market outcomes.

Прекаризация занятости молодежи в контексте последствий пандемии COVID-19

Objective: to assess the impact of coronavirus (COVID-19) on the youth labor market in the context of the spread of precarization processes in employment.Methods: qualitative methods were used to analyze labor market institutions, together with in-depth interviews and interpretative analysis of actors’ discourses.Results: the COVID-2019 pandemic posed new challenges to the economy and contributed to the active development of new employment formats and employer-employee interaction in the form of informal employment, freelance platforms, and precariat development. The article considers the features and risks of informal and non-standard employment. Based on the labor market analysis, we determined the impact of the pandemic on working conditions, inequality growth and the increasing role of the informal sector. The impact of the crisis on employment conditions for young people with higher education is particularly emphasized. To form the models of students’ behavior under the conditions of labor market instability, the authors conducted in-depth interviews with students and graduates of the Southern Federal University to assess the employment opportunities of university graduates. The characteristics of respondents’ perception of the processes associated with precarization in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic consequences are clarified and specified. Scientific novelty: it consists in the development of theoretical and methodological approaches to the analysis of precarization of youth employment in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic consequences. It is shown that the observed increase of employment precarization is associated with behavioral features caused by dominant behavioral models and distortions in the perception of unstable employment by university graduates in relation to the structural opportunities provided by the labor market.Practical significance: the identified features of employment of the Russian university graduates can be used to develop recommendations for improving the system for monitoring the employment precarization level in the regional labor markets.

Meet the need – the role of vocational education and training for the youth labour market

AbstractTo combat negative trends in the youth labour market, policymakers around the world support vocational education and training (VET) programmes. This paper investigates how enrolment rates in upper‐secondary education programmes – general education, school‐based VET and dual VET – affect ten youth labour market indicators on integration and job quality. We run first‐difference generalized method of moments regressions on panel data of 36 countries for 2004 through 2014. We complement the existing literature by dealing with unobserved heterogeneity across time and reverse causality and by analysing non‐linear effects that might arise due to general equilibrium effects. Our findings show that school‐based VET and dual VET have different effects: school‐based VET's effect on the labour market depends on the outcome indicator and country, whereas dual VET overall improves both labour market integration and job quality. Depending on the labour market indicator, we find evidence for both linear and non‐linear effects. In educational reforms, policymakers should therefore consider the non‐linear and heterogeneous effects of VET.