Labor Markets

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  • Woman wearing a virtual reality headset to explore a mechanical engineering project, photo by Fat Camera/Getty Images

    Essay

    The Digital Skills Gap: What Workers Need for the Jobs of the Future

    Business leaders have warned for years that what they see on job applications does not match what they need in new employees. There are not enough workers with the right digital skills. And as the world economy struggles to its feet after COVID-19, that skills gap threatens to keep pushing it down.

    Mar 1, 2022

  • A parent of two students works as a substitute teacher at the Austin Jewish Academy as the spread of the Omicron variant leads to teacher shortages in Austin, Texas, January 20, 2022, photo by Callaghan O'Hare/Reuters

    Report

    School Staffing Challenges in the Pandemic's Third Year

    As of fall 2021, school staff shortages were most acute for substitutes, bus drivers, special education teachers, and paraprofessionals. The turnover of superintendents was normal but half of them said that they might leave in the next few years or were unsure of how long they would stay.

    Feb 15, 2022

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  • Journal Article

    Journal Article

    Using the Pareto Distribution to Improve Estimates of Topcoded Earnings

    Using Pareto estimation methods with less-censored internal data, we create an enhanced cell-mean series to capture top earnings in the public-use data.

    Nov 4, 2016

  • Report

    Report

    Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) and its long-term effects on educational and labour market outcomes

    Investing in Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) yields high rates of return for children later in life, however long term outcomes depends on the successful integration of policies aimed at improving ECEC quality and attendance rates.

    Oct 13, 2016

  • Political cartoon of a Republican elephant and Democrat donkey

    Multimedia

    Survey Says? Inside RAND's Election Poll

    In this Events @ RAND podcast, our panel of experts discusses the latest results of the RAND Presidential Election Panel Survey (PEPS), and what they might portend for Election Day.

    Oct 6, 2016

  • LED map of the continental United States

    Essay

    Election 2016: The Domestic Issues

    RAND offers a unique take on the big domestic issues facing America: research that is independent, reliable, and rigorously nonpartisan.

    Oct 3, 2016

  • A businessman giving a presentation to his team

    Multimedia

    Workforce Development for the Jobs of the Future

    In this Events @ RAND podcast, our panel of experts discusses what California, the federal government, and employers are doing to nurture a workforce that is well prepared for the jobs of today and the future.

    Sep 1, 2016

  • A ship is unloaded using Super Post Panamax cranes in Miami, Florida, May 19, 2016

    Commentary

    Eliminating Jobs or Strengthening the Economy? The Impact of Trade Policies on the American Worker

    The enormous benefits of trade include economic growth, more variety for industry and consumers, and lower prices. But trade can displace some American workers. Training programs, relocation assistance, and wage insurance can help.

    Aug 30, 2016

  • A senior man working on a tablet

    Commentary

    Living Longer, Working Longer

    When people live longer, the costs of Social Security and Medicare increase and threaten the sustainability of these programs. Households also worry about how to finance more retirement years. But people are working longer, and if they continue to do so, they will reduce some of the problems.

    Aug 25, 2016

  • A man working at a 3D printer

    Commentary

    Evolving 21st-Century Workplace and the American Workforce: Trends and Policy Responses

    Three trends have important implications for the future of work: a shifting demography toward older workers, more women, and more diversity; continuing technological change that will increase the demand for skilled workers; and increased globalization.

    Aug 23, 2016

  • Job seekers wait to enter a job fair in downtown Denver, Colorado, March 13, 2014

    Commentary

    Labor Day Blog Series: American Worker

    To celebrate Labor Day, the American Worker series of commentaries offers research, reflections, and policy insights on a variety of topics that affect American workers.

    Aug 22, 2016

  • Journal Article

    Journal Article

    Workplace Skills in Practice: Case Studies of Technical Work

    The study used a sociocultural approach to examine skills and work-related dispositions (tendencies to use one's capabilities on the job) in four diverse industries.

    Jun 28, 2016

  • Young people waiting for a job interview

    Commentary

    Young Workers Without College Degrees Face Uncomfortable Truths

    Young Americans without a college education suffer from high unemployment, low earnings, and delayed adulthood with a limited ability to buy a home. To help them, policymakers need to remind themselves that workforce training and labor policy must focus on the technology-driven jobs of tomorrow.

    Jun 23, 2016

  • Graduates wearing caps and gowns

    Commentary

    Making the 'Gap Year' More Inclusive and Purposeful

    High schools and universities should work together, with the support of policymakers, to develop programs that would provide a wider spectrum of U.S. students with the opportunity to take a purposeful gap year—and enter college with some real-world adult experience behind them.

    May 19, 2016

  • Research Brief

    Research Brief

    Employment Assistance for Reserve Component Members

    RAND researchers reviewed previous research, conducted informational discussions with employment program managers, and identified ways to improve efforts to provide federal job placement and related employment services for reserve component members.

    Mar 24, 2016

  • Army reservists hook a bay bridge to a CH-47 Chinook helicopter using a sling harness during a slingload training operation at Fort Chaffee, Arkansas

    Report

    Job Placement Assistance for Military Reservists

    There are 40 federal programs, resources, and offices that provide job placement assistance that can be accessed by reserve component members. There is potential overlap among the programs and clearer guidance on how to navigate them is needed.

    Mar 24, 2016

  • Two engineers check the status of equipment in a manufacturing facility

    Report

    Wages, Employment, and STEM Education in Appalachia

    The first county-level examination of wages and employment for workers in the Appalachia region with STEM training sets a baseline that will help measure the ongoing success of the Appalachia Partnership Initiative's efforts to prepare K-12 students and local workers for jobs in the energy and advanced manufacturing sectors.

    Mar 9, 2016

  • A woman works at a Polish delicatessen in Grays, Britain, December 11, 2015

    Commentary

    Are EU Migrants Over-Qualified for the Jobs They Do?

    Debates on EU mobility are focused on what EU migrants take away from their host countries, and the costs they may bring taxpayers. What may be ignored is the contribution migrants bring to local labor markets and how this can grow if they have jobs that make the most of their skills.

    Feb 24, 2016

  • Dissertation

    Dissertation

    Analyzing Reduced Teenage Employment, 2000-2013

    Builds a teenage labor market model and presents evidence regarding five different hypotheses for the decline in employment of 16-19 year olds from 2000 to 2013.

    Feb 19, 2016

  • Dissertation

    Dissertation

    Three Essays on the Development of the Labor Market and the Private Sector in Burma (Myanmar)

    Addresses the top five constraints inhibiting the development of the labor markets and the private sector in Burma.

    Feb 17, 2016

  • A laborer lifts a basket of crushed bricks at a construction site in Dhaka, Bangladesh, May 22, 2014

    Commentary

    What to Do About Informal Employment in Developing Countries

    The staying power of informal employment in developing countries is a concern, because informal employees (e.g., day laborers) tend to receive lower wages, fewer benefits, and fewer legal protections. How can policymakers improve conditions for informal workers?

    Jan 22, 2016

  • Journal Article

    Journal Article

    Policy Variation, Labor Supply Elasticities, and a Structural Model of Retirement

    This paper exploits a combination of policy variation from multiple pension reforms in Austria and administrative data from the Austrian Social Security Database.

    Nov 19, 2015

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