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Manchester Grand Hyatt, Harbor E
Hosted By:
Labor and Employment Relations Association
Worker Skills, Abilities and Labor Market Returns: Improving Measurement, Identification and Policy Responses
Paper Session
Sunday, Jan. 5, 2020 10:15 AM - 12:15 PM (PDT)
- Chair: Marcus Dillender, W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research
On Job Requirements, Skill, and Wages
Abstract
Occupations are bundles of inseparable skill requirements and tasks. We propose a novel approach for studying the relationship between wages and bundles of required occupational skills and tasks. We predict occupational wages using a regression tree approach which also provides an empirically powerful aggregation scheme where detailed occupations with similar wages and job requirements are combined into 15 large occupation groups. The occupational aggregates are then used to non-parametrically analyze the well-known hollowing out phenomenon and the increase in log wage variance from 2005 to 2017.Skills and Hiring Frictions in the IT Industry: Evidence from a National Survey
Abstract
Concerns about a mismatch between the demand for and the supply of technical skills in the U.S. have persisted for decades and remain part of current policy debates about economic growth and worker outcomes. However, research on this topic has often had to rely on rough proxies and to ignore the impact of organizational characteristics and the local economic environment due to the absence of detailed data. This study sheds light on hiring frictions by presenting data from an original, nationally representative survey of Information Technology (IT) helpdesks. The results indicate that the level of skill mismatch for IT helpdesk technicians is modest, and that most measures of technology and technical skill demands are not predictive of greater hiring difficulties. Soft-skill demands relating to initiative predict hiring challenges, as do demands for higher-level writing skills. Beyond skills, factors that relate to job design, management practices, and labor-market monopsony power appear to play an important role. These results cast doubt on simple stories about technology-driven skill gaps while pointing to the importance of examining a broader range of organizational and market factors when addressing workforce challenges.Worker Hard and Soft Skills and Labor Market Outcomes: A Lens through the Temporary Help Industry over the Business Cycle
Abstract
Utilizing detailed order data between 2007 and 2011 from a large, nationally representative staffing company, we provide insights into the characteristics of temporary help work, employers' use of staffing agencies to screen workers for permanent positions, worker soft and hard skills and job performance, and employment outcomes and labor market adjustment over the business cycle. Our data enable us to distinguish measures of soft and hard skills observed in the employment context, specifically, measures indicating why an (assignment) order was closed and detailed classifications of performance-related issues. We find that temporary help workers are terminated for performance problems at strikingly high rates, particularly in manual, low-paying occupations, and primarily for "soft skill" deficiencies. Soft skill performance problems dominate hard skill deficits in their consequences for job length and subsequent offers of employment, and there are penalties in terms of wages on subsequent assignments (when offered) for both hard and soft skills deficits cited on prior assignments. We also find that firms lengthened temporary help assignments during recessions and reduced permanent hiring from their pool of temps, likely in response to economic uncertainty.Discussant(s)
Brad Hershbein
,
W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research
JEL Classifications
- J2 - Demand and Supply of Labor