1
National Job Vacancy Surveys:
The Same or Still Different?
Anja Kettner and Michael Stops
Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg (Germany)
European Conference on Quality in Official Statistics
Rome, 8-11 July 2008
2
“Job vacancies – a German problem”
Germany 3,2
Sweden 1,2
France 0,5
comparison of national job vacancy rates
share of unmet labor demand (vacancies) in the total labor demand (vacancies + employees), in percent
Source: IW 2006
3
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…”
4
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
5
Job vacancy data in economic researchA look at the West German Beveridge Curve
Source: The German Job Vacancy Survey, Federal Employment Agency
2007
2006
2005
2004
2003
2002
2001
2000
1999
1998
1997
1996
1995
2004
2003
2002
2001 2000
1999
1998
1997
1996
1995
2005
2006
2007
7
8
8
9
9
10
10
11
11
0 1 2 3 4 5
job vacancy rate
un
emp
loym
ent
rate
6
Available national data (EUROSTAT)
Indicators, quarterly and yearly
Number of job vacancies • Two firm size classes
• Economic sectors
• Regions
Number of employees
Job vacancy rate
Not all countries collecting data publish all indicators
7
0,0
0,5
1,0
1,5
2,0
2,5
3,0
3,5
4,0
4,5
I./20
02
II./200
2
III./2
002
IV./2
002
I./20
03
II./200
3
III./2
003
IV./2
003
I./20
04
II./200
4
III./2
004
IV./2
004
I./20
05
II./200
5
III./2
005
IV./2
005
I./20
06
II./200
6
III./2
006
IV./2
006
I./20
07
II./200
7
III./2
007
IV./2
007
vaca
ncy
rate
(%
)
Bulgaria Germany Netherlands PortugalRomania Finland United Kingdom
Quarterly job vacancy rates
Source: EUROSTAT
8
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.
9
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
10
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
125.000
135.000
145.000
155.000
165.000
175.000
185.000
195.000
205.000
215.000
225.000
2008
-01-
01
2008
-01-
16
2008
-01-
31
2008
-02-
15
2008
-03-
01
2008
-03-
16
2008
-03-
31
last day of the first month: 176.000
15th of february: 181.000
last day of the quarter: 203.000
11
Source: EUROSTAT
One reference day:the last day of the middle month Cyprus, Romania
the 15th of the middle month Estonia
the first day of the last month Greece
the first calendar day of the last month Finland
the last day of the reference quarterNetherlands, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Spain, Hungary, France, Bulgaria
last working day of the last month Italy, Latvia
the end of the reference quarter Lithuania
Three reference days:Friday between the 2nd and 8th of each month
United Kingdom
the middle Wednesday of each month Sweden
the last day of each month Slovenia, Luxemburg
the 15th of each month Czech Republic
Continuous survey:continuous survey between the second week of the first month and the third week of the last month
Germany
12
Auxiliary information is needed on:
Replacement ratio
Vacancy duration, vacancies difficult to be filled
National labor market policy, macroeconomic environment
13
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
