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Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to test the impact of selected characteristics of jobseekers on employers' decisions regarding potential hires (direct and probabilistic signals). The main focus of the study is to test the impact of jobseekers' participation in selected active labour market programmes on employers' hiring decisions for three positions: unskilled worker, skilled worker and administrative employee. Other characteristics tested include age, gender, presence of children in the household, state of health, experience of short- and long-term unemployment and indebtedness. Design/methodology/approach: This study analyses data from a representative survey of employers with five or more employees in the Czech Republic. The survey was conducted in December 2020 using stratified random sampling, combining online questionnaires and personal interviews. The study includes 1,040 employers and uses the factorial survey experiment (FSE) design.

Findings: The results of the FSE suggest that the perceived positive impact of completing one of the activation programmes depends on the position for which the candidate is being recruited. While for the unskilled job category, the completion of any of the tested schemes (training, subsidised jobs or public works) had a positive effect; for the skilled job category, only the training and subsidised jobs schemes had a positive effect; and for the administrative job category, public works programme even had a negative effect. Research limitations/implications: A somewhat limiting factor in the context of this study seems to be the definitions of the positions tested (unskilled and skilled workers and administrative staff). The decision-making of the respondents was somewhat restricted by such broadly defined categories. Typically, studies with FSE designs have a focus on a specific sector of the economy, which allows for a better definition of the positions or jobs under test. The relationship between position and the impact of individual characteristics is clearly a matter for further research.

Practical implications: The results of the study confirm that completion of the activation programme, as well as other candidate characteristics, constitute differentiating signals for employers that influence their hiring decisions. At the same time, there is evidence that the training programme and the subsidised jobs programme are effective in terms of increasing participants' chances of employment. Originality/value: The demand side should be included in the evaluation of activation policies. The design of the FSE provides an appropriate way to test the impact of activation measures on the decision-making of employers.

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This report is part of a series that considers labour migration policies in OECD countries. It examines whether labour migration policy is effective and efficient. Each study in the series covers a specific country. Each looks at discretionary labour migration - that is, labour migration movements over which policy has direct, immediate oversight - focusing on two key areas: the country's labour migration system and its characteristics; and the extent to which policy is responding to the needs of the domestic labour market and its impact on the latter. Japan has historically been among the OECD countries with the lowest migration flows relative to its population. However, the situation has changed significantly in the past few years. To counteract the impact of rapid population ageing on the labour market, Japan has introduced major policy changes in the governance of recruitment from abroad.

This review examines the role of labour migration policy in the specific context of Japan and identifies policy directions for the future. Covering labour migration at all skill levels, the review assesses how the long-standing migration channels for international students and high-skilled migrants fare in attracting and retaining international talent. It also reviews the main channels for low to medium skill trades, including the recently introduced Specified Skilled Worker Programme.

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When viewed from the vantage point of job postings, Skills-Based Hiring seems to be a juggernaut. However, deeper analysis of actual hiring patterns suggests a wide gap between intent and impact. Simply dropping stated requirements seldom opens jobs to those who don't have a college degree. As a result, most companies' commitment to Skills-Based Hiring manifests itself primarily at the level of policy. It does not extend to reforming process and changing incentives so as to prevent companies from slipping into the In Name Only and Backsliders cohorts. Until such reforms are made on a widespread basis, the promise of Skills-Based Hiring will go unrealized. Public pronouncements, made with the best intentions, that herald increased job access without actually opening new doors won't yield change.

Yet, there is still cause for optimism. The 37 per cent of firms we classify as Skills-Based Hiring Leaders are proving the proposition daily in the real-world laboratory of hiring, with an average increase in new non-degreed hires of 18 per cent. Those firms are making tangible changes to their internal processes to turn words into action and hire more non-degreed workers. More broadly, if the arc of corporate practice bends toward profitability, the win-win that skills-based hiring represents is an opportunity firms are remiss to ignore. Stripping out the artificial constraints of gratuitous requirements both eases recruitment burdens in a tight labor market and substantially increases worker retention - all while creating substantial opportunity and mobility for workers.

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The role of disability in producing disadvantage in employers' hiring assessments was explored in a factorial survey, where a random sample of Norwegian employers (n = 1341) evaluated fictional job-seeker profiles. The results revealed that including an impairment description in a job-seeker profile significantly decreased the likelihood that employers would want to hire a candidate. The degree of disadvantage varied with the type of impairment. Being eligible for a wage subsidy scheme improved employers' assessments of candidates while including information about other types of support measures did not. Furthermore, when an impairment description was introduced into a job-seeker profile, other crucial characteristics of the job seeker lost some or all of their impact on employers' assessment scores. These findings are interpreted as disability becoming a 'master status' when employers make hiring assessments.

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In the hiring discrimination literature, employers are depicted primarily as majority members who strive to bolster their privileged group status by limiting immigrants' employment opportunities. While minority employers are expected to be less discriminatory towards immigrant hiring than their majority counterparts, our argument contradicts this expectation. Building on the segmented assimilation and social identity literature, we analyse the disparities in organisational support for high-skilled immigrant hiring among Standard and Poor's (S&P) 1500 firms (2009-2018) with a focus on organisations led by Asian [chief executive officers] CEOs.

We find that firms with Asian CEOs tend to have a lower intent to hire high-skilled foreign workers compared to those with CEOs of other races, but such a negative effect improves significantly when the Asian CEOs received a prestigious college education. This article extends theoretical discussion on hiring discrimination by emphasising the importance of CEO minority status and education.

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While the federal minimum wage has remained fixed since 2009, many state and local governments have increased their minimum wages to redistribute income to low-wage workers. Based on these frequent policy changes, a large academic literature has shown that, on average, higher minimum wages mainly accomplish this goal: despite reductions in aggregate hiring, low-wage workers see increased earnings, with little change in the number of low-wage jobs (e.g., Cengiz et al. 2019). Despite these null findings, young Black men may be disproportionally affected by minimum wage increases, because unemployment data suggest that they are the most likely group to be on the margins of employment. In the summer of 2018, the unemployment rate in the United States for Black men 18 to 19 years old was 24.7 per cent, the highest for any demographic group (Bureau of Labor Statistics 2018). Previous evidence on how the minimum wage affects young Black men is both limited - considering a large national minimum wage increase in the 1960s - and inconclusive (Bailey, DiNardo, and Stuart 2021; Derenoncourt and Montialoux 2021), with modern-day impacts unknown.

Our paper provides new experimental evidence on how recent state minimum wage hikes affect racial disparities in the labor market. We submitted nearly 35,000 fictitious applications to about 15,000 unique jobs in states across three periods: 1) just before new, higher minimum wages were announced; 2) after they were announced but not yet implemented; and 3) for up to a year after the increase took effect. For every application, we randomized the perceived race of the applicant through the applicant's name and observed whether the employer called the applicant in for a job interview. Based on the employer responses collected from the 35,000 applications, we find that minimum wage hikes cut the racial differences in callback rates approximately in half. Before minimum wage hikes were announced, Black applicants received 8 callbacks for every 10 that White applicants received. After minimum wages increased, the callback gap shrunk by 2.6 percentage points, and Black applicants received a little over 9 callbacks for every 10 that White applicants received.

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Context: Skill mismatches and especially skill shortages present significant challenges for the socio-economic development of many [European Union] EU countries and neighbouring developed economies in the conditions of the post-pandemic recovery and degrading global geopolitical situation. The EU New Pact on Migration (European Commission, 2020) encourages the establishment of wide skills partnerships in the EU and third countries covering policies of education, economic development, public administration, sectoral development, research, energy, environmental protection and dealing with climate change.

This research study seeks to discuss the implications of the skills shortage models of Lithuania and Germany for the choices of economic stakeholders and policymakers between the investment in the development of local human capital and attracting a migrant workforce. There are discussed the following research questions: (1) What are the common and specific features of skill matching and skills shortages in Lithuania and Germany? (2) How are the eventual skill mismatches and shortages regarded and treated by the enterprises, education and training providers and policymakers? (3) To what extent is immigration and attracting a foreign workforce favoured as the solution to skill matching and shortage problems? It is based on the research executed in the framework of the EU Horizon 2020 programme project 'Skill Partnerships for Sustainable and Just Migration Patterns' (Skills4Justice) implemented in 2023-2026.

Approach: The research study involves the identification of the demand for qualifications in the sectors of the economy and the explanation of the reasons for existing shortages of qualifications, identification of the changes in the demand for skills in the selected occupations with the most important shortages of skilled workforce, research of the availability of the free skilled workforce, disclosing capacities of the national system of qualifications, education and training providers to adjust the existing supply of qualifications to the changing demand. Exploration of the skills shortage model for recruitment of skilled workers is based on the collection and analysis of the available official statistical data on the demand and supply of skills and qualifications, as well as conducting of qualitative research by interviewing representatives of employers, education and training institutions, national policy-making institutions in the involved countries.

Findings: This research study will disclose the key characteristics of the skill shortage models in the EU countries and will explain the related choices of policy and practice solutions between the investment in the development of the local human capital and attracting migrant workers. It will also elaborate on the sustainability of these solutions by referring to the challenges posed by the global demographic, socio-economic and geopolitical context.

Conclusions: Integration of third-country nationals in the labour market and skill formation systems is an important solution to the shortages of skilled workforce in the EU countries. Nevertheless, the attitudes and approaches of the policymakers and stakeholders to immigration largely depend on the size of the country and economy, capacities for integration of skill formation and employment systems, and engagement of state and stakeholders in the regulation of migration and skill formation.

Published abstract.

The volume from which this paper is taken is available in VOCEDplus at TD/TNC 157.215. Show less

Purpose: The Further Education and Training (FET) sector is being positioned as a centrepiece of the government's post-pandemic [Coronavirus Disease 2019] recovery. However, issues of capacity and staff churn are threatening the potential success of this strategy. Unfortunately, there has been almost no strategic analysis of teacher churn in the English FET system or of the derivative issues of recruitment and retention, both of which jeopardise the sector's capacity to deliver high-quality teaching and improve workforce skills. This paper examines these issues for policymakers and sector leaders and makes suggestions on how these can be redressed. A call for a more joined-up FET sector is presented. Design/methodology/approach: This is a follow-up paper to a report published by the Education and Training Foundation in 2022 on teacher recruitment in the English FET sector. This paper pulls together all of the most recent research on the English FET sector on teacher recruitment and retention and frames these against the [Department for Education] DfE's Skills for Jobs policy commitments. It also analyses a number of proposed solutions, reflecting on their merits and potential consequences.

Findings: An updated profile of FET institutions within the college, private training and adult subsectors is offered, showing how the FET sector in England has been in steady decline, which is juxtaposed against the rhetoric of industrial productivity and economic renewal. Four variables, namely funding, institutional numbers, staffing and learner numbers are examined to explore this disparity. A more in-depth analysis of recruitment and retention research follows, showing that pay, job insecurity and status are the factors influencing the decision to start an FET career. Strategies for remedying the 'crisis' are assessed, including the role of national campaigns and professional bodies. Research limitations/implications: The first point for any research programme is to draw together the research data and themes that have been previously discussed in order to build a platform for future investigation, which is what this paper does. There are clear steers on where future research might be located: staff well-being, professional status, recruitment methods and what is meant by an FET career. These are factors that affect the desirability of FET work and the sector's ability to recruit high-quality candidates. The consequences of not doing this research is the likely continuation of the status quo, which is unsustainable for the FET sector and potentially catastrophic to UK productivity.

Practical implications: Policymakers and sector leaders are presented with analysis and advice on the impact of teacher shortages and the factors that contribute to this. The evidence to support these factors is explored and solutions discussed in light of this evidence. A research agenda is suggested including an appeal for professional organisations and FET stakeholders to work together to solve the recruitment and retention crisis. The power of research to enlighten and inform is one of several conclusions proposed. Social implications: Addressing the factors that corrode staff professionalism and increase teacher attrition is an essential component of a wider discourse to improve the desirability of an FET career. Issues of status and esteem are interwoven in this analysis, as are the implications of not recruiting talented teachers and assessors. This includes staff well-being - a rare topic in FET journal papers - as well as organisational culture and importance of the FET mission, which is considered to be embedded in an ethic of public service. This mission is linked via the [Augar] Report [available in VOCEDplus at TD/TNC 136.934] to the sector's transformational properties to raise social mobility. Originality/value: There is no precedent for this paper. It is the first article that has provided a comprehensive examination of teacher recruitment and retention issues affecting the whole FET sector in England. Whilst its comparative analysis builds on the Education and Training Foundation (2022) earlier report, it uniquely draws on other contemporary research that triangulates and discusses these findings, including setting out a new agenda for change and future research. In doing so, new issues are introduced for discussion including professional status and staff well-being.

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Graduate employment programmes offer university students the prospect of a reasonable salary and development opportunities. For employers, such programmes offer a talent pipeline and a means to identify future leaders. The psychological contract which develops during recruitment processes creates high expectations on both sides of the employment bargain. A corollary is that graduate programmes usually entail highly competitive, multi-stage selection processes, in which applicants must repeatedly demonstrate their employability in online psychometric tests and computerised activities before progressing to the final selection stage. Drawing on Foucauldian theories of governmentality, this study uses interviews (n = 17) and focus groups (n = 2) to explore how final-year students at a post-1992 English university navigate graduate recruitment processes and learn to signal what they believe is employability. The article shows how students' understanding of employability is formed not only through traditional channels such as university careers services or employer communications, but increasingly through third-party (and often commercial) 'helper' apps offering online test-practice sessions, templated careers advice, and other methods for gaming the recruitment process. These helper apps can have distorting effects, producing graduates focused on the performance rather than the substance of employability.

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This study derives insight into changing demand for Indigenous workers by applying artificial intelligence to identify Indigenous-focused job postings. A natural language processing algorithm is used to classify a national database of online job ads according to whether they encourage Indigenous applicants, require Indigenous cultural capability, prioritize Indigenous candidates or are not Indigenous-focused. The analysis reveals significant growth in Indigenous-focused job postings but they are disproportionately concentrated in three sectors and one occupation group. In addition, although employers in sectors such as arts and recreation are advertising well-paid and high-skilled roles to Indigenous workers, there are other sectors where employers tend to advertise their more low-skill and low-wage roles to Indigenous workers. We also find that Indigenous-focused job postings are not well-aligned with Indigenous career pathways. Our research offers practical insights for Indigenous employment policy and our methodology can also be applied to evaluate employers' recruitment strategies for other target groups.

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