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We propose a reweighting-estimation-transformation (RWET) approach to estimate the impacts of [Coronavirus Disease 2019] COVID-19 on job postings in Australia. Contrary to the commonly used aggregation-based method on counting data, our approach can be used in a relatively 'thin' market, such as Australia. In a thin market, the number of job postings is relatively small, and the share of empty cells increases substantially when aggregating the data into finer categories. Using Australian job postings collected by Burning Glass Technologies and the RWET approach, our empirical evidence shows that the overall labour demand in Australia as of July 2020 is slowly recovering from its lowest 45 per cent dip at the beginning of May. Our results also suggest that the impacts of the pandemic are relatively evenly distributed across skill levels, but vary substantially across states, industries and occupations. Our findings of the dynamics on the demand side of the labour market suggest that skill-targeted policies might not be as effective as policies targeted at the state and industry levels to facilitate economic recovery.

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The U.S. labor market is as tight as it has been since the Great Recession, with unemployment at 4.1 per cent in December 2017. Yet employers continue to struggle to find the skilled labor they need. If job creation in the aggregate isn't solving the problem, how can we identify and address the specific places where supply isn't meeting demand? In this report, prepared for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation, we examine the skills gap on an occupation-by-occupation basis. This is the best way to both understand the gap, and to close it. An overall surplus of workers doesn't offer much insight into the challenges of a specific industry looking to fill specific roles requiring specific skills. A crucial lesson of this research is that the skills gap is not singular; it is cumulative - the result of different gaps across different kinds of occupations. That is part of why addressing the skills gap has proven so elusive: it defies easy categorization.

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This report presents an analysis of the current state of the Irish labour market, and in particular an assessment of job displacement and the jobs and skills that can help displaced workers regain employment in Ireland. It offers a starting point for those requiring re-employment and identifies top job opportunities for the communities facing the most displacement, whether due to the pandemic or other factors. This report provides key insights to policymakers and workers looking to understand the effect of [Coronavirus Disease 2019] COVID-19 on the Irish labour market and highlights opportunity for reskilling and upskilling to help get displaced workers in-demand jobs.

The first section analyses COVID-19's differential impact on the labour market by identifying occupations that had strong demand throughout both 2020 and 2021. Next, we investigate changing trends in skills with respect to selected job families, identifying how changes from COVID-19 and underlying labour market trends such as digitalisation have impacted these roles. In the following section, we identify jobs that were negatively affected by the pandemic and have not recovered. Finally, we investigate labour tightness in the current job market by observing trends in the benefits offered by employers, including remote work availability and willingness to train new employees.

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In theory, professional certifications ought to be a key element in addressing the skills gap in the job market - yet in practice, certifications still fall short of their potential. How do employers use these credentials in their hiring process today? What would make certifications more valuable in the job market? In this report, we seek to bring clarity to the debate by using job posting data to examine the market value of industry certifications. Using our database of more than 700 million historical job postings, we are able to track how often employers explicitly ask for certifications, and in what context. Our hope is that this study answers some key questions about credentials: What does the demand for certifications look like in the real world of the market today? What role do certifications play in careers? Where have certifications gained traction with employers and where have they not? Where are the opportunities to develop new certifications that prove successful in resolving the skills gap?

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This report responds to a request from the National Network of Business and Industry Associations. It highlights the key challenges facing the infrastructure workforce if the United States embarks on a major overhaul of its aging infrastructure. A wave of retirements and changing demand for skills means employers and training providers need to act to ensure there are enough workers, and especially managers, to meet the need. Challenges include: (1) changing demand for skills creating cross-cutting gaps: the changing nature of work creates gaps for key skills across a range of roles because the skills needed today differ from what the existing workforce possesses and what training providers currently offer; (2) misaligned occupational supply and demand: many rapidly growing occupations face supply shortages. There are just not enough new entrants to keep up with employer demand and; (3) occupation-specific skill gaps: in some roles, there may be enough workers to meet demand, but those workers do not have the specific technical skills employers need. The report concludes with possible avenues for future analysis of skill gaps at both an industry and regional level, and recommends the development of new career pathways to address undersupplied occupations or skills.

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Using data on the near-universe of online US job vacancies collected by Burning Glass Technologies in 2016, we calculate labor market concentration using the Herfindahl-Hirschman index (HHI) for each commuting zone by 6-digit SOC occupation. The average market has an HHI of 3,953, or the equivalent of 2.5 recruiting employers. 54 per cent of labor markets are highly concentrated (above 2,500 HHI) according to the DOJ/FTC guidelines. Highly concentrated markets account for 17 per cent of employment. All plausible alternative market definitions show that more than 33 per cent of markets are highly concentrated, suggesting that employers have market power in many US labor markets.

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Digital skills are becoming near-universal requirements for employment in the United Kingdom. This new analysis finds digital skills are essential entry requirements for two-thirds of UK Standard Occupation Classification (UK SOC) occupations and carry a wage premium over non-digital roles. This report was commissioned by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) and finds the move up the career ladder from low-to high-skill jobs in the UK comes with increased demand for digital skills. Acquiring specific digital skills makes career progression as well as a pay increase more likely. In certain fields, job seekers need to develop digital skills related to specific technical tools of their chosen discipline to advance their careers.

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Industry-recognized credentials allow students to validate the knowledge and skills required for success in a specific occupation or industry. However, not all credentials are created or valued equally in the workforce; in fact, some credentials lead students to dead-end, low-wage jobs. As states, educators, students and families consider pathways to various careers, they should consider the long-term outcomes related to wages and potential for employment afforded by each available career pathway and associated credential(s). All stakeholders must play a role in improving alignment to ensure students have opportunities to be successful. State agencies, policymakers, employers, educators, credentialing entities and families can improve student career readiness by identifying, promoting and reporting valued industry-recognized credentials. Approaching this challenge in silos may result in piecemeal improvements in student outcomes. To see the greatest impact, states and stakeholders must undertake this work through strategic partnerships and collaboration. This report examines the impact of credential attainment on long-term student outcomes in Florida, Indiana and Kentucky-three states that collect rich, student-level data. Specifically, the report analyzes the credentials students earn in high school and their impact on students' high school completion, community college enrollment and completion, and wages.

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In recent decades, technological change has reshaped the tasks performed in many occupations. One result of these task shifts has been an increase in the digital skill requirements of workers. Digitalization and digital platforms have become driving forces in the global economy widely, and in the German economy in particular. The digitalization of occupations, and the increase in digital skills requirements across industries, has reshaped the labor market in recent decades. In this report, Burning Glass Technologies and the Bertelsmann Stiftung collaborate to understand recent trends in digitalization in the German labor market. To do so, we build a digitalization index by occupation using job postings data. This index allows for analyses of the levels and changes in the demand for digital skills in Germany in the period 2014-2018. The index includes a digital score for each occupation from 0 to 100, and, in addition to digitalization by occupation, is used to analyze digitalization by region, industry, education, gender, and salary.

Of all the online job ads analyzed for the study, the share that required at least one digital skill rose from 38.1 per cent in 2014 to 47.5 per cent in 2018. In terms of the digital intensity of different types of jobs, the findings show that, in 2018, almost 80 per cent of online job ads were for occupations for which digital skills and knowledge are a basic requirement. When qualification levels are examined, however, several key differences become apparent: among high-skill jobs, 94 per cent of the postings are for occupations that require digital skills, a figure that drops to only 62 per cent for low-skill jobs, such as assistants in the logistics or catering industries. Differences are also apparent across economic sectors. In addition to the information and communications industry, digitalization has become prevalent in the financial services and insurance industry, and among people providing professional, academic and technical services. Conversely, the hospitality and healthcare industries require relatively few digital skills, as do jobs in the social services sector.

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This follow-up report to 'The permanent detour: underemployment's long-term effects on the careers of college grads' [available in VOCEDplus at TD/TNC 132.659] examines resume and job posting data in order to identify strategies to increase the likelihood of graduates finding appropriate work. The authors posit three key strategies to maximise career prospects: (1) evaluate the underemployment risk when choosing a major: when examined by major, underemployment rates vary by 50 percentage points, from 29 per cent in engineering to 80 per cent in personal and culinary services, a more than twofold difference in risk; (2) avoid underemployment by building the skills to succeed: for all college majors, the acquisition of specific workplace skills can add up to 20 per cent to a college graduate's earnings. Students in underperforming majors can significantly improve their prospects by selecting a high-demand specialization; and (3) accrue meaningful and relevant work experiences before graduation: internships and other work experience programs can provide students with an opportunity to build skills.

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