Chutes and Ladders? Job Opportunities for Generation Covid

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18291/njwls.149979

Abstract

Focusing on jobs for youth, this study analyzes the development of job postings in Norway during the first and second waves of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Jobs for youth are defined by the top 20 three-digit occupations for young workers, and postings for these occupations took a heavier hit than other jobs during the pandemic. We also identify the top 20 occupations for entrants immediately after completing their highest education to reveal that, during the pandemic, entry jobs for young people with lower education declined the most. Using 2018 and 2019 as reference years, we show that the decline started before ‘lockdown’ policies were in place but worsened during the lockdown. As the economy reopened, job posting rates improved but did not reach the 2018 and 2019 levels.

Author Biographies

Erling Barth, Institute for Social Research

Research Professor. E-mail:erling.barth@socialresearch.no

Harald Dale-Olsen, Institute for Social Research

Research Professor

Pål Schøne, Institute for Social Research

Research Professor

Kjersti Misje Østbakken, Institute for Social Research

Research Director

References

Alstadsæter, A., Bratsberg, B., Eielsen G., Kopczuk, W., Markussen, S., Raaum, O., & Røed, K. (2020). The first weeks of the corona virus crises: Who got hit, when and why? Evidence from Norway, National Bureau of Economic Research. Working Paper 27131.

Arulampalam, W. (2001). Is unemployment really scarring? Effects of unemployment

experiences on wages, The Economic Journal 111(475): 585–606. doi:

1111/1468-0297.00664

Bamieh, O., & Ziegler, L. (2020). How does the COVID-19 crisis affect labor demand? An Analysis using job board data from Austria, IZA DP No. 13801.

Barth, E., Dale-Olsen, H., Schøne, P., & Østbakken, K.M. (2022). Er arbeidsmarkedet blitt mindre stramt etter COVID? (Is the labor market less tight after COVID?) Magma – Tidsskrift for økonomi og ledelse.

Bartik, A. W, Bertrand, M. Lin, F. Rothstein, J., & Unrath, M. (2020). Measuring the labor market at the onset of the COVID-19 crisis, Technical Report, National Bureau of Economic Research.

Bell, D., & Blanchflower D. (2011). Young people and the Great Recession, Oxford Review of

Economic Policy 27: 241–267.

Bussink, H., Vervliet, T., & Weel, B. (2022). The short-term effect of the COVID-19 crisis on employment probabilities of labor-market entrants in the Netherlands, IZA DP No. 15242.

Cajner, T., Crane, L.D., Decker, R.A, Grigsby, J., Puertolas, A., Hurst, E., Kurz, C. & Yildirmaz, A. (2020). The U.S. labor market during the beginning of the pandemic recession, Working Paper 27159, National Bureau of Economic Research.

Campello, M., Kankanhalli, G., & Muthukrishnan, P. (2020). Corporate hiring under COVID-19: Labor market concentration, downskilling, and income inequality, National Bureau of Economic Research. Working Paper 27208.

Cortes, G. M., & Forsythe, E. (2022). Heterogeneous labor market impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 76(1), pages 30–55, January.

Dodini, S., Salvanes, K. G., Willén A., & Zhu L. (2023). The career effects of union membership, NHH Discussion paper SAM 12/2023.

Forsythe, E., Kahn, L. B., Lange, F., & Wiczer, D. (2020a). Labor demand in the time of COVID-19: Evidence from vacancy postings and UI claims, Journal of Public Economics 189. doi: 10.1016/j.jpubeco.2020.104238

Forsythe, E., Kahn, L.B., Lange, F., & Wiczer, D. (2020b). Searching, recalls, and tightness: An interim report on the COVID labor market, NBER Working Paper No. 28083.

Forsythe, E., Kahn, L.B., Lange, F., & Wiczer, D. (2022). ‘Where Have All the Workers Gone? Recalls, Retirements, and Reallocation in the COVID Recovery’. NBER Working Paper No. 30387.

Gjerde, A., Jensen, M. C. E., & Sørbø, J. (2020). Den store nedstengningen. Arbeidsmarkedet gjennom koronakrisen og scenarier for utviklingen fremover, (The big lockdown. The labor market during the Corona crisis and scenarios for the future) Arbeid og velferd nr.2-2020

Hensvik, L., Barbanchon, T. L., & Rathelot L. (2021). Job search during the COVID-19 crisis, Journal of Public Economics 194. doi: 10.1016/j.jpubeco.2020.104349

Kahn, L. B. (2010). The long-term labor market consequences of graduating from college in a bad economy, Labor Economics 17: 303–316. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.labeco.2009.09.002.

Major, L. E., Eyles, A., & Machin, S. (2020). Generation COVID: Emerging work and education inequalities, Centre for Economic performance, Working Paper No. 011.

Nyström, B., Mulder, B. J., & Schlachter M. (2020). Seniority in a comparative perspective,

Arbeidsrett 17: 114–151. doi: 10.18261/issn.1504-3088-2020-02-02

OECD (2021). OECD Employment Outlook 2021: Navigating the COVID-19 crisis and recovery, Paris: OECD Publishing. doi: 10.1787/5a700c4b-en

Oreopoulos, P., von Wachter, T., & Heisz, A. (2012). The short-and long-term career effects of graduating in a recession, American Economic Journal: Applied Economics 4: 1–29.

Pastore, F. (2015). The Youth Experience Gap. Explaining National Differences in the School-to-Work-Transition, Heidelberg: Springer. doi: 10.1007/978-3-319-10196-5

Raaum, O., & Røed, K. (2006). Do business cycle conditions at the time of labor market entry affect future employment prospects? The Review of Economics and Statistics 88: 193–210.

Rothstein, J. (2023). The lost generation? Labor market outcomes for post-great recession

entrants. Journal of Human Resources 58(5): 1452–1479.

SSB (2023). Table 11587: Job vacancies, by major industry division (SIC2007). Seasonally

adjusted and trend-cycle 2010K1–2023K2. Statistics Norway. https://www.ssb.no/en/statbank/table/11587

Schwandt, H., & von Wachtel, T. (2019). Unlucky cohorts: Estimating the long-term effects of entering the labor market in a recession in large cross-sectional data sets, Journal of Labor Economics 37: S162–S198. https://doi.org/10.1086/701046

Downloads

Published

2024-10-02

How to Cite

Barth, E., Dale-Olsen, H., Schøne, P., & Østbakken, K. M. (2024). Chutes and Ladders? Job Opportunities for Generation Covid. Nordic Journal of Working Life Studies. https://doi.org/10.18291/njwls.149979

Issue

Section

Articles