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The surprisingly exclusive nature of medium- and low-skilled jobs: Evidence from a Slovak job portal

Miroslav Beblavý (Centre for European Policy Studies, Brussels, Belgium AND Institute of Public Policy and Economics, Comenius University, Bratislava, Slovakia)
Lucia Mýtna Kureková (Slovak Governance Institute, Bratislava, Slovakia AND Department of Public Policy, Central European University, Budapest, Hungary)
Corina Haita (Department of Economics, University of Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany)

Personnel Review

ISSN: 0048-3486

Article publication date: 7 March 2016

Issue publication date: 7 March 2016

935

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to learn more about demand for competences is crucial for revealing the complex relationship between employee selection, different strands of education and training and labor market regulation.

Design/methodology/approach

Content analysis and statistics of job advertisements.

Findings

Employer skills requirements even for low- and medium-skilled jobs are highly specific. Formal education requirements are higher than they “should” be. No detectable “basic package” of general cognitive skills for low- and medium-skilled jobs was found. Employer demand focusses on non-cognitive skills and specific cognitive skills. Specificity of skill requirement across different sectors or occupation groups differs vastly between different types of low- and medium-skilled jobs and is linked to the interactive nature of the job, not to the qualifications or the experience required.

Research limitations/implications

The analysis can be considered an initial feasibility test for a larger comparative cross-country project that would aim to understand labor demand in different EU countries.

Practical implications

The analysis could be used as input in designing labor market policy and life-long learning programs to integrate low-skilled and unemployed.

Social implications

The research provides a tool to match disadvantaged workers to jobs for which they possess greater capabilities or to help them develop crucial skills for a given occupation.

Originality/value

This paper contributes to the HRM literature with a more demand-led approach to labor market policy. The authors reveal what role skills and upskilling can play in alleviating the problem of unemployment. The results can be useful for HR specialists and policy makers.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

Research and drafting of this paper were supported by NEUJOBS, a large-scale research project funded by the European Union under its seventh Framework Program. While the proximate objective of the paper was described in the project proposal, the European Commission or any other body did not intervene in the research or paper production. The authors wish to thank online job portal Profesia.sk for making data available for the analysis. The authors also appreciate comments of Miroslav Štefánik on an earlier draft of this work. All errors remain the author ' s own.

Citation

Beblavý, M., Mýtna Kureková, L. and Haita, C. (2016), "The surprisingly exclusive nature of medium- and low-skilled jobs: Evidence from a Slovak job portal", Personnel Review, Vol. 45 No. 2, pp. 255-273. https://doi.org/10.1108/PR-12-2014-0276

Publisher

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Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2016, Emerald Group Publishing Limited

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