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Purpose Current models of inclusive workplaces are primarily based on the perceptions of vulnerable workers, whereas attention for employer’s perceptions is lacking. This scoping review addresses this issue by mapping the literature that covers employer’s perceptions on the application and importance of organisational policies and practices aimed at the inclusion of vulnerable workers. Methods A literature search for qualitative and quantitative research articles was conducted in MEDLINE, Scopus, ProQuest, PsychInfo, Google Scholar and Web of Science. Studies were included when (a) they reported on practices aimed at the inclusion, participation, or rehabilitation of (b) workers with disabilities, a low education or migration background, or who were long-term unemployed, and (c) were based on samples of employers or their representatives. Results The search resulted in 3,134 articles. In total, 38 articles met the inclusion criteria of this study. We identified seven types of inclusive practices to stimulate the inclusion of vulnerable workers that employers applied and/or perceived as valuable: senior management commitment, recruitment and selection, performance management and development practices, job accommodations and redesign of work, supportive culture, external collaborations with other employers, and monitoring. Conclusions Our review identified seven categories of inclusive practices that pertain to all stages of the employee journey of vulnerable workers. These categories move beyond those reported in studies based on employee samples, for instance by highlighting the importance of monitoring and collaborations with other employers. Hence, our findings stress that insight into employers’ perceptions about effective measures is crucial to increase labour market participation of vulnerable groups.

A growing international literature has recently focused on the employment outcomes of Ph.D. holders, nowadays considered a strategic resource able to improve innovation and growth in contemporary knowledge economies. This article adds to previous studies by analyzing job satisfaction determinants among Ph.D. graduates in Italy. Drawing on data from the Italian National Institute of Statistics, we investigate the role exerted by the sector of employment, the typology of work and the area of the country where the Ph.D. holders studied and work. The empirical test, based on an ordered logit model and supported by analysis of marginal effects, highlights that university remains the favourite choice and that both the public and the private sectors do not adequately enhance the public effort devoted to Ph.D. education. Moreover, it indicates the existence of a significant North–South divide, mainly due to a scarce demand for R&D jobs in southern regions, suggesting that policy makers implement a capillary strategy aimed at filling this gap. Despite the peculiarity of the Italian case, this research suggests that regional divides within countries could affect the education systems of other EU countries, which are facing the transformation of the doctorate into a variety of school of highly educated workers.

Like those in other advanced economies, local American governments attempt to attract and retain skilled workers in their areas. This study aims to examine the determinants and spatial patterns of relocation among new graduates with a bachelor’s degree or higher across the U.S. Census Regions, in 2013–2015, using a nationally representative sample collected by the National Science Foundation. While the Northeast and Midwest had negative net migration, the South and West had positive net migration. Compared to the South, skilled workers in all the other regions were more mobile. In general, job satisfaction determined at multiple levels influences the relocation of the highly educated in multiple ways. We found skilled workers satisfied with their job location, security, promotion opportunities, and contributions to society were less likely to relocate. Workers satisfied with their intellectual challenge and independence were more likely to relocate. Race was also an important predictor among the highly educated in deciding whether and where to relocate. Policies considering geographic perspectives are recommended to improve talent attraction and retention. Therefore, our study provides public policymakers with a need to think about how to increase pull factors attracting workers, reduce the push factors making workers relocate, and maintain factors keeping workers in their regions.

Vandenbussche et al. (J Econ Growth 11(2):97–127, 2006) and Aghion et al. (in: Romer, Wolfers (eds) Brookings papers on economic activity: conference draft, Brookings, Washington, 2009) show that when economies operate close to the technological frontier, their ability to generate efficiency gains rests on the contribution of workers with advanced forms of education (i.e. tertiary). The contribution of this empirical paper is to revisit and improve the analysis of that assumption, in the context of firms located in advanced economics, assuming that what holds for OECD countries or US states should also be observed also at a more disaggregated level. To that end, we analyse a rich panel of Belgian firm-level data, covering the 2008–14 period. In the first step, we estimate each firm’s proximity to frontier using stochastic frontier methods. Step 2 consists in regressing each firm’s efficiency growth rate on (1) the share of workers by education attainment (2) its (initial) distance/proximity to the frontier and (3) (the main variable of interest) the interaction between (1) and (2), whose sign provides a direct test of the Vandenbussche/Aghion assumption. The main result of the paper supports the idea that the closer the firms are to what amounts to a local frontier; the more educated workers—in particular those with a master’s degree—matter for efficiency gains. The paper also shows that many of them are currently employed in firms that are distant from the efficiency frontier. Reallocating them would have a positive impact on overall efficiency.

Purpose – Based on the theory of planned behaviour and social learning theory, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of training participation and learning experience on the beliefs of low-educated employees about their self-efficacy for learning. Design/methodology/approach – Low-educated workers of three different organizations (n=359) filled out a questionnaire at three different points in time, with a half-yearly interval. Regression analyses were used to establish the effects of training participation and learning experience on learning self-efficacy. Findings – Training participation alone did not affect low-educated workers’ learning self-efficacy, but a positive learning experience did contribute to workers’ post-training learning self-efficacy. These results support the relevance of positive learning experiences. Research limitations/implications – Follow-up studies could focus on the effects of learning self-efficacy for subsequent learning activities, establish which aspects of training contribute to a positive learning experience, and include contextual characteristics that may predict learning self-efficacy. Practical implications – To stimulate learning among lower educated workers, it is necessary that they have confidence in their ability to successfully complete their training. Trainers and training developers working for this specific target group of lower educated workers should aim to provide training that is a positive experience, besides being a learning exercise. Originality/value – The study is the first to analyse the longitudinal effects of training participation and learning experience on post-training learning self-efficacy among low-educated workers.

A ground-breaking ethnography of an export-orientated factory in Egypt. Examines the dynamic relationships between the emergent Mubarak-bizniz (business) elites and the local realities of the daily lives of their young, educated, and mixed-gender labor force. Power, resistance, individual identity and aspirations, are explored through the articulations of class, gender and religion in shop floor practices and management discourses.

Contents: The conceptual framework -- Educational outcomes and their impact on labor market outcomes -- Employment outcomes and links to the broader economic context -- Conclusion : how education can improve labor market outcomes.

This book investigates trends in skills demand and supply over the past two decades for insights into ways to build (and use) the critical skills needed to sustain competitiveness of the Philippine economy. Part one of the book investigates trends in demand for skills in the country overall and by sectors, explores its possible determinants, and attempts to identify emerging skills gaps. Part two turns to the analysis of the supply of skills in the country with a focus on the ability of education and training to provide highly skilled labor, keeping workers' skills updated, and providing skills development opportunities for the unskilled. It explores employers' perceptions on the quality of institutions and provides detailed analysis of the main characteristics, outcomes, and challenges in four key (or growing) subsectors of the provision of skills in the country: higher education, postsecondary technical-vocational education, non-formal secondary education, and postemployment training. It concludes with a summary of policy recommendations.

Creating jobs and increasing productivity are key concerns for policy makers across the globe. For East Asian countries seeking to reduce poverty, expanding employment and productivity is at the top of the agenda. This book is a comprehensive look at the demand and supply of skills in Indonesia how skills have changed, how they will continue to evolve, and how the education and training sectors can be improved to be more responsive and relevant to the needs of the labor market and the economy as a whole. Using an innovative firm survey, the authors shed light on the functional skills that workers must possess to be employable and to support firms' competitiveness and productivity. They also assess the role of the education and training systems in providing those skills. Although this book focuses specifically on Indonesia, its methodologies, messages, and analysis will be instructive for researchers and policy makers who shape the delivery of education and training in other middle-income countries around the world.

There is growing interest, worldwide, in the link between education systems and the production of skills that are valued in the labor market. With growth stagnating and unemployment soaring in much of the world, educators are being asked to focus more on producing skills that feed into labor productivity and support the sustainable growth of employment and incomes. This timely volume contributes important new findings on the dynamics of education systems and labor market outcomes in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). It analyzes an important recent shift in labor market trends in LAC: the first decade of the 21st century has witnessed a marked decline in the earnings premia for university and secondary education. This, in turn, is contributing to reduced income inequality across the region. The recent trend contrasts with the sharp rise in tertiary earnings premia that was observed in the 1990s and that helped to reinforce high levels of income inequality in the region at that time. The authors recommend that, having achieved very large increases in secondary and tertiary enrollment, the region should now focus on improving the quality of its education systems and the pertinence of education curricula for the needs of the labor market. At age 15, the learning achievement of the average Latin American student still lags two years behind his or her Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) contemporary. The study opens up an important agenda for future research. While the evidence presented on the trends in education earnings premia is clear, the conclusions about the causes and significance of those trends are largely based on suggestive evidence for a limited number of countries, and are not definitive because of data limitations. The findings call for further in-depth analysis of the nature of skill mismatches, to inform policies that can strengthen the region's future economic growth by enhancing the productivity and earnings potential of the workforce.