Soft Skills in the Youth Labor Market
AEA Papers and Proceedings
vol. 112,
May 2022
(pp. 121-25)
Abstract
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.Citation
Heller, Sara B., and Judd B. Kessler. 2022. "Soft Skills in the Youth Labor Market." AEA Papers and Proceedings, 112: 121-25. DOI: 10.1257/pandp.20221034Additional Materials
JEL Classification
- H75 State and Local Government: Health; Education; Welfare; Public Pensions
- J13 Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
- J16 Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
- J24 Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
- J31 Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials