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European Conference on Quality in Official Statistics Rome, 8-11 July 2008. National Job Vacancy Surveys: The Same or Still Different? Anja Kettner and Michael Stops Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg (Germany). “Job vacancies – a German problem”.
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European Conference on Quality in Official Statistics Rome, 8-11 July 2008 National Job Vacancy Surveys: The Same or Still Different? Anja Kettner and Michael Stops Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg (Germany)
“Job vacancies – a German problem” comparison of national job vacancy rates share of unmet labor demand (vacancies) in the total labor demand (vacancies + employees), in percent Source: IW 2006
Interpretation by the authors: The high German job vacancy rate means: • Low mobility of unemployed • Low flexibility of unemployed • Inflexibility of public employment agencies • “…Nowhere in Europe more jobs are vacant despite high unemployment…”
Job vacancy data in Europe: Something new! • Discussion on the need for data on the total number of vacancies started at the end of the 1990ies • Until that time in most countries only data on registered vacancies were available • Foundation of a Task Force in 2002 • First part of an European regulation was adopted in May 2008
Job vacancy data in economic researchA look at the West German Beveridge Curve Source: The German Job Vacancy Survey, Federal Employment Agency
Available national data (EUROSTAT) • Not all countries collecting data publish all indicators
Quarterly job vacancy rates Source: EUROSTAT
The definition of a job vacancy A job vacancy is defined as a post – newly created, unoccupied or about to become vacant – for which the employer (i) is taking active steps to find a suitable candidate from outside the enterprise concerned and is prepared to take more steps and (ii) intends to fill either immediately or in the near future.
Covered firms and sectors • All firm sizes and sectors should be represented in the sample • 1-9 not in all countries • Only C to K in all countries
The role of reference dates: Source: Job vacancies announced in the Internet, collected by the “Jobroboter” of the Federal Employment Agency, between January and March 2008, Represent about 20 percent of all vacancies
Auxiliary information is needed on: • Replacement ratio • Vacancy duration, vacancies difficult to be filled • National labor market policy, macroeconomic environment
Conclusion: • No international comparisons at the time being • Structured and detailed information on used methods and error measurement are necessary • Evaluation of different methods is necessary • Additional information on national labor markets is indispensable for an interpretation of the data
Thank you for your attention. anja.kettner@iab.de