Criteria lists of academic skills are widely used to assess the work readiness of people who are looking to enter or re-enter the apprenticeship market. These instruments represent a particular hurdle in the path to vocational training for low-skilled would-be trainees. We investigate the validity of one such list used in Germany. As different…

The purpose of this research on working young adults who are without formal education is to explore how they experience work, their career adaptability and if they view their work as decent. Participants were 154 young working adults, aged 18-29, and unqualified. It was found that participants worked mainly in low-skilled jobs, but many aspired to…

Research on the labour market experiences of highly skilled migrants has revealed the crippling employability challenges they face in the UK workplace resulting from the devaluation of their homeland qualifications and experiences. Studies on highly skilled migrants from Zimbabwe have revealed how migrants have to resort to semi-skilled and…

This paper uses evidence from an Australian research project into under-recognized skills in occupations, gathered through industry-level interviews and company case studies, to examine VET curricula. The project, funded by the Australian Research Council, focused on skill in jobs traditionally regarded in Australia as unskilled. As part of the…

Individuals who pass through low-skilled work in their careers can represent this phase as showing strength of character as obstacles are overcome. However, continuing to work in low-skilled employment has so many negative consequences that finding ways to assist those individuals' career development is an important challenge for guidance policy…

Stimulated by studies on South Korean students' early and later-on study abroad and Japanese companies' practice of hiring monolingual college students, the present literature-based discussion advances the knowledge of commonalities and distinctiveness between the two nations that manifest in either a textbook-case or a non-linear relationship…

Improvements in workforce skills are essential for European countries to attain higher economic growth and to compete effectively on product markets. Literature indicates a positive relationship between levels of education and productivity growth. This report builds on and expands this body of research in two ways: (1) It investigates the…

Purpose: This study aims to examine which variables at the level of the individual employee and at the company level are predictors of self-directed learning in low-qualified employees. Methodology: Results were obtained from a sample of 408 low-qualified employees from 35 different companies. The companies were selected from the energy sector,…

For many people, domestic bliss does not involve cleaning, home repairs, or yard work. That doesn't mean that their vision of a happy home involves a dirty, broken-down house with an unkempt yard. It simply means that they prefer to pay others to do the grittier tasks of residential upkeep. And in doing so, they create employment opportunities for…

The main purpose of this paper is to provide an in-depth analysis of participation in non-formal learning in different European Union member states. The paper also seeks to extend analysis of the training gap by pursuing the distinction between the supply and the demand for skills. We use aggregate data from the Adult Education Survey (Eurostat)…

Northeastern University economists Paul E. Harrington and Andrew M. Sum argue that a recent report, "Help Wanted", "radically overstates the size of the college labor market." This overcount, they claim, has nothing to do with the recession. "Even in times of near full employment," Harrington and Sum argue that…

Reprinted from the Fall 1968 issue of "Daedalus.

The purpose of the Washington metropolitan area classified employment advertising research project was to determine the number of jobs actually available to the poor on unskilled out of the total job openings as advertised in the want ads in the newspapers. (DS)

Develops a theory to integrate the effects of three factors--the relative supply elasticities of skilled and unskilled labor, adjustments in skilled labor hiring standards, and the presence of fixed employment costs for skilled labor--on the response of skill differentials to demand variation. (Editor/LAS)

According to job length and skills required author examines jobs abroad. Short-term unskilled positions in work camps and voluntary service projects are detailed; information sources are listed. Suggests short-term skilled jobs such as trainees and tour guides. Reviews long-term employment opportunities in U.S. government jobs, international…