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PolicyResearchWorkingPaper11086

UnderstandingLaborMarketDemandinRealTimeinArgentinaandUruguay

EvelynVezza

GonzaloZunino

LuisLaguinge

HarryMoroz

IgnacioApella

MarlaSpivack

WORLDBANKGROUP

SocialProtectionandLaborGlobalDepartmentMarch2025

PolicyResearchWorkingPaper11086

Abstract

Thispaperexploreshowjobvacancydatacanenhancelabormarketinformationsystems(LMISs)inArgentinaandUruguaywhere,asinmanycountries,dataonin-demandskillsislacking.ByanalyzingjobpostingscollectedoverfouryearsinArgentinaandUruguay,thisstudyassessesthepotentialofvacancydatatofilllabormarketdatagaps.Thefindingsrevealthatvacancydatacapturelabormarketdynamicsacrosstimeandgeography,showingastrongcorrelationwithtraditionallabormarketindicatorssuchasemploymentandunemployment.However,thedataarebiasedtowardshigher-skilledoccupations.Despitetheselimitations,thelargevolumeofpostingsallowsforrobustinferencesandprovidesvaluableinsightsintoskillsdemand.Thestudypresentsthreekeyapplicationsofthedata:1)usingpostingsasaleadingindicatoroflabormarket

health;2)identifyingin-demandskills;and3)mappingsimilaritiesbetweenoccupationstoimprovetheinforma-tionavailabletojobcounselorstoprovideadviceaboutjobtransitions.Finally,thepapercontributesmethodologicallybydevelopingbothamanuallycreatedskillstaxonomyandanexperimentalmachinelearningapproachtoclassifyingskills.Themachinelearningmethod,whilelesscomprehen-sive,highlightsin-demandskillsandcancomplementthemanualapproachbykeepingituptodatewithminimalinput.Overall,thepaperdemonstratesthepotentialofjobvacancydatatoimproveLMISsandinformlabormarketpoliciesinArgentinaandUruguaywithimmediatepracticalapplicationsforlabormarketanalysis,skillsdevelopment,andworkforcetraining.

ThispaperisaproductoftheSocialProtectionandLaborGlobalDepartment.ItispartofalargereffortbytheWorldBanktoprovideopenaccesstoitsresearchandmakeacontributiontodevelopmentpolicydiscussionsaroundtheworld.PolicyResearchWorkingPapersarealsopostedontheWebat

/prwp.Theauthorsmaybe

contactedathmoroz@.

ThePolicyResearchWorkingPaperSeriesdisseminatesthefindingsofworkinprogresstoencouragetheexchangeofideasaboutdevelopmentissues.Anobjectiveoftheseriesistogetthefindingsoutquickly,evenifthepresentationsarelessthanfullypolished.Thepaperscarrythenamesoftheauthorsandshouldbecitedaccordingly.Thefindings,interpretations,andconclusionsexpressedinthispaperareentirelythoseoftheauthors.TheydonotnecessarilyrepresenttheviewsoftheInternationalBankforReconstructionandDevelopment/WorldBankanditsaffiliatedorganizations,orthoseoftheExecutiveDirectorsoftheWorldBankorthegovernmentstheyrepresent.

ProducedbytheResearchSupportTeam

UnderstandingLaborMarketDemandinRealTimein

ArgentinaandUruguay

1

EvelynVezza,GonzaloZunino,LuisLaguinge,HarryMoroz,IgnacioApella,andMarlaSpivack

JELcode:J21,J23,J24,J63,O15

Keywords:Argentina,employment,labormarketinformationsystems,machinelearningskills,Uruguay

1ThispaperbenefitedfrominputsfromateamfromCharlesRiverEconomicsLabsattheUniversityofChicagothatconsistedofUtkarshDandanayak,KiranDuggirala,IshaanGoel,GiyoungKwon,KatherinePapen,andPrakharSaxena.TheauthorsaregratefultotheSecretaríadeTrabajo,EmpleoySeguridadSocialinArgentinaandtheMinisteriodeTrabajoySeguridadSocialinUruguay.Theteamreceivedveryusefulcomments,advice,andassistancefromSofiaBelenDeBenito,MariaEugeniaBonilla-Chacin,AlejoUrielBurgos,CarolinaCrerar,MaddalenaHonorati,VictoriaLevin,DavorMiskulin,MauroPelucchi,MarcelaSalvador,AivinVicquierraSolatorio,andWilliamWiseman.

2

Introduction

ThenatureofworkischanginginArgentinaandUruguay.First,ArgentinaandUruguayareexperiencingdeindustrializationasjobsmovetowardstheservicessector.Employmentinindustrydeclinedfromaroundone-thirdandone-quarterofjobsin1991inArgentinaandUruguay,respectively,tojustoverandjustunderone-fifthin2019.

2

Servicessectorjobsnowrepresentaroundthree-quartersofemploymentinbothcountries.Thisimpliesadifferentgrowthmodeland,forlabormarkets,onethatfacilitatesskillsbuildinginskill-intensiveservicesgenerallyanddigitalskillsinparticular(Nayyar,Hallward-Driemeier,andDavies2021).Second,technologicaldevelopmentsarehavingasubstantialimpactonthelabormarketsofbothcountries.Employmenthasalreadyshiftedstronglytowardsjobsthatrequirethekindsofanalyticalandinterpersonaltasksthatcomplementnewtechnologiesandawayfrommanualones(ApellaandZunino2017,2022).Notably,technologicalprogresshasledtochangesinthekindsofworkdoneratherthanincreasedunemployment.Thereisevidencethattechnologicalchangeisleadingtolabormarketpolarization,thatis,increasingemploymentinlow-andhigh-skilledjobsbuthollowingoutmiddle-skilledones(Apella,Rofman,andRovner2020).Still,mobileroboticsandartificialintelligence(AI)arecapableofaccomplishingsomeorevenmanyanalytical,interpersonal,andothernonroutinetasks,meaningthatfurtherlabormarketdisruptionmaybeonthehorizon(Brynjolfsson,Mitchell,andRock2023;Brynjolfsson,Li,andRaymond2023;Eloundouetal.2023;Gmyrek,Winkler,andGarganta2024).Finally,effortstotransitiontoalow-carboneconomywillbothcreatenewskillsdemandsingreengrowthsectorsandreducethedemandforotherskillsincarbon-intensiveindustries(WorldBank2022).

Thesechangesareoccurringinchallenginglabormarketcontextsinbothcountries.Argentina’slabormarkethasbeenweaksincethelate2000saftertheendofthecommodityboomandcontinuestostruggleasthegovernmentundertakessubstantialeconomicreforms.Informalityishigh(50percentofworkersin2023)andprivatesectorjobcreationisstagnant(forexample,95percentofjobgrowthbetween2012andthestartofthepandemicin2019waspublic).

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Youngpeopleandwomenhaveparticularlypoorlabormarketoutcomes(WorldBank2023).Uruguay’slabormarketisstrongerthanArgentina’sinseveralrespects.ThelaborforceparticipationrateishigherthanArgentina’s(64percentversus61percentin2023),drivenbyasmaller–thoughstillsizable–gapbetweenfemaleandmaleparticipationrates(17percentagepointsversus20percentagepointsin2023).

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Uruguay’sinformalityrateof26percentin2023ismuchlowerthanArgentina’sandthatofLatinAmericaandtheCaribbean(LAC)asawholewheretheaveragerateis50percent.

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However,weaknesseshaveappearedinUruguay’slabormarketsincetheendofadecade-longperiodofstrongeconomicgrowthin2014(TorresandMcKenzie2020).Theunemploymentrateclimbedseveralpercentagepointsfrom2014to2019priortotheCOVID-19pandemicinapatternsimilartothatofArgentina.Laborforceparticipationhasdeclined,drivenbyadeclineinparticipationbymen.

Theseoverlappingchallenges–long-termchangesinthenatureofworkandshort-andmedium-termlabormarketweaknesses–aremakingitdifficultforfirmstofindworkerswiththerightskillsandforworkerstodeveloptheskillsthatfirmsdemand.ArgentinaandUruguaybothscorepoorlyrelativetocomparatorcountriesonasummarymeasureofhowwellhumancapitalisdeployedinthelabormarket

(Figure1)

.Largesharesoffirmsinbothcountriesidentifyaninadequately

2DataarefromtheILOandavailableintheWorldDevelopmentIndicators.

3TheinformalityrateisfromILOSTAT.ThedataonprivatesectorjobcreationisfromtheEncuestaPermantedeHogares(EPH)ascompiledintheBoletíndeEstadísticasLaborales.

4ThedataarefromILOSTAT.

5TheinformalityrateforUruguayisfromILOSTAT.TheregionalaverageisfromILO(2023).

3

educatedworkforceasamajorconstraint:40percentinArgentinaand37percentinUruguayversusaLACaverageof29percent.

6

Argentinahasthethird-highestrateof“qualificationmismatch”amongG-20countries(OECDandILO2018;OECD2021b).Uruguay’scontinuedsuccessinnontraditionalserviceslikeinformationandcommunicationstechnologyrequiresdevelopmentofcomplementarytechnologyandengineeringskills,whichmaybeundersupplied(WorldBank2015;Che2021).Skillsmismatchiscitedasapossibleexplanationfortherelativelyhighyouthunemploymentrate(TorresandMcKenzie2020).RecentlabormarketassessmentsinArgentinaandUruguayemphasizetheimportanceofreskillingandupskillingprogramstorespondtorapidlyevolvingskillsneedsandofemploymentsupportserviceslikelabormarketintermediationtohelplink(retrained)jobseekers,particularlydisadvantagedones,togoodjobs(WorldBank2022b;Apella,Rofman,andRovner2020).

Figure1:DeploymentofhumancapitalinArgentinaandUruguay,2020

Percentageofproductivity

60%

50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

0%

Korea,Rep.PolandUnitedStatesChileUruguayMalaysiaArgentina

Source:Pennings2020.Theyearis2020fortheHumanCapitalIndex.

Note:TheWorldBank’sHumanCapitalIndex(HCI)measurestheproductivitythatachildborntodaycouldexpecttohaveatage18basedontheirhealthandeducationasapercentageoftheproductivitytheycouldhaveenjoyedwithcompleteeducationandfull

health.Theutilization-adjustedHCI(UHCI)incorporatesinformationaboutemploymentratestoassesshowinefficienciesdisruptdeploymentofhumancapitalinlabormarkets(Pennings2020).

Stronglabormarketinformationsystemsarethebackboneofthedemand-driventrainingandemploymentservicessystemsthatcanhelpcountriesrespondtochangingskillsdemands.Establishingskillsdevelopmentpathwaysthatareresponsivetolabormarketneedsrequiresinputsintheformofhigh-quality,reliable,andup-to-datelabormarketinformationandalabormarketinformationsystem(LMIS)capableofchannelingthisinformationtorelevantuserswithdifferentneeds.LMISsareincreasinglyrecognizedasacornerstoneoflabormarketpolicies,particularlyaslabormarketdisruptionsassociatedwiththechangingnatureofworkrequiredemand-drivenupskillingandreskilling(WorldBank2019).Whenfullyrealized,thesesystemssupportthedevelopmentanddeploymentofhumancapitalthroughlabormarketintelligence,laborintermediation,careerandskillsguidance,andlinkstoactivelabormarketpolicies.Whileprivateprovidersareessentialsuppliersoftheseservices,publicprovisionisoftenneededtosupportdisadvantagedgroupsthatarenotservedbytheprivatesector.

DataextractedfromjobvacancypostingscanhelpLMISsmeetthedemandforhigh-quality,reliable,andup-to-datelabormarketinformation.Jobpostingsmadebyemployersinnewspapersor,morecommonlynow,onlinehavearangeofinformationaboutjobdemandsincludinglocation,skillandtaskrequirements,andsalary.Thesepostingsaremade,andcanbecollected,inrealtimeofferinganopportunityforimmediateinsightintodemand.

6WorldBankEnterpriseSurveys.Theyearis2017forbothcountries.

4

ThispaperinvestigateswhetherandhowdatafromjobvacancypostingscanbeusedtoinformlabormarketpolicyinArgentinaandUruguay.Thepaperfirstprovidesabriefintroductiontotheroleoflabormarketinformationingeneralandjobpostingsinparticularinimprovinglabormarketoutcomes.AfterreviewingthelandscapeofexistinglabormarketinformationinArgentinaandUruguay,thepaperinvestigatesthequalityofonlinejobpostingsdatacollectedinArgentinaandUruguaybetween2020and2023.Thesequalitychecksrevealthedata’sstrengthsandweaknesses.

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Thepaperthenexploresthreepotentialusecasesforthejobvacancypostings:1)usingjobvacancypostingsasa(leading)indicatoroflabormarkethealth;2)identifyingskillsdemandattheaggregateandoccupationleveltoinformeducationandtrainingcourses;and3)identifyingsimilaritiesbetweenjobstoinformjobseekers,publiclabormarketintermediaries,traininginstitutions,andotheractorsaboutpotentialjobtransitions.

Thepaperadvancesbothknowledgeaboutandtheuseofanimportantnewdatasourcetoinformtrainingandemploymentpolicy.Thepapermakesseveralcontributions.First,theonlinejobpostingsdatafillsgapsinknowledgeaboutskillsdemandinArgentinaandUruguayandimprovesonpastapproachestoanalyzingjobtransitions,whichhavebeencurtailedinscopebecauseofdatalimitations.Second,thedataisexpansive,coveringmultiplesourcesofonlinejobpostingsincludingjobsearchwebsites,employers,andrecruiters.Thoughimportantcontributions,recentanalyticaleffortshavebeenlimitedtokeywordanalysisandhavebeenfocusedonasinglejobsearchwebsite(DiIonnoandMandel2016;Bennettetal.2022).Additionally,wehaveaccesstodatafromtwoadditionalcountries–ChileandtheUnitedStates–thatareusedforbenchmarkinginseveralcases.Third,thepaperofferspracticalguidanceforpolicymakersonhowtousethedatatakingintoaccounttheanalysisofitsstrengthsandweaknesses.

8

Finally,thepapermakestwomethodologicalcontributions.First,wecategorizeskillsbothmanuallyandusinganunstructuredmachinelearningapproach.Weprovideguidanceonhowtoapplybothapproachesthatcanbeusefultoothersworkingwithskillsandjobpostingsdata.Second,weexplorealternativeapproachestomeasuringoccupationalsimilarity,againprovidingguidanceonthebenefitsanddrawbacksofthedifferentapproaches.

Section1:Theroleoflabormarketinformationinimprovingeducationandemploymentoutcomes

Inadequateinformationaboutthelabormarketcanhinderproductivitywithconsequencesforgrowthandequity.Inadequateorinaccurateinformationaboutthelabormarketcanleadworkerstounderinvestineducationandtraining,raisesearchcostsforfirms,andreducethequalityofmatchesbetweenfirmsandworkers.Withoutasteadysupplyofgoodlabormarketinformation,educationalinstitutionsfacedifficultiesrespondingtochangingskillsneedsandpublicsectorinstitutionsfacedifficultiesmakinginformedchoicesaboutskillsinvestments(WorldBank2021).Thiscanunderminetheaccumulationanddeploymentofhumancapitalthatunderpineconomicgrowth(WorldBank2020;Pennings2020).Lackofinformationmayposegreaterchallengestoyoung,informal,andless-skilledworkersbecausetheyoftenrelyonpersonalnetworksthatlackaccurateinformationaboutgoodjobs(CarranzaandMcKenzie2024).

7Previousresearchhasestablishedthatjobvacancypostingsaresuitableforstudyingskillsdynamicsincludingindevelopingcountries.SeeWorldBank(2022c)forIndonesia;Cunninghametal.(2022)forMalaysia;Nomuraetal.(2017)forIndia;Brancatelli,Marguerie,andBrodmann(2020)forKosovo;andDelCarpioetal.(2017)andMullerandSafir(2019)forUkraine.

8ThepaperhasbeenundertakeninclosecoordinationwiththeSecretaríadeTrabajo,EmpleoySeguridadSocialinArgentinaandtheMinisteriodeTrabajoySeguridadSocialinUruguay.

5

Labormarketinformationsystems(LMISs)canhelpalleviateinformationproblems.LMISscollect,analyze,store,anddisseminateinformationaboutlabormarkets.ThislabormarketintelligencefunctionthenfeedsintoLMISs’threeothercorefunctions:jobmatching;careerandskillsguidance;andreferralservicesthatconnectjobseekersandotherlabormarketstakeholderstoothergovernmentprograms(TestaverdeandPosadas2021).Thesesystemsrangefrombasicones,whichfocusprimarilyonthelabormarketintelligencefunction,toadvancedones,whichutilizethelabormarketinformationcollectedtoinformserviceprovision

(Table1)

.MoreadvancedLMISscollectdatafromarangeofsourcesincludingsurveys,administrativedata,andprivatecompanies,amongothers.StrongITinfrastructure,user-friendlyinterfaces,andaclientorientationarekeyattributesforreliableandefficientsystemsthatseektoberelevanttoarangeofdifferentusers.

Table1:Hierarchyoflabormarketinformationsystems

Stage

Description

Basic

•Generatebasiclabormarketstatisticsprimarilyfromsurveydata

•Donotprovideservicesbasedonlabormarketdatacollected

•Collaboratewithalimitedsetofpublicactors

Intermediate

•Incorporateadditionaldatasources(e.g.,administrativedata)

•Providebasicservicestojobseekersandfirms

•Collaboratewitharangeofpublicactors,includingeducationandtraininginstitutions

Advanced

•Providetoolstocollect,produce,evaluate,anddisseminatelabormarketdatafromawiderangeofsources(includingreal-timesources)

•Offerafullrangeofservices(labormarketintelligence,jobmatching,careerandskillsguidance,andreferralservices)targetedtodifferentusers

•Expandcollaborationtoincludeprivatesectoractors

Source:SorensenandMas2016;TestaverdeandPosadas2021.

EffectiveLMISsareimportantbecausebetterlabormarketinformationcancontributetobetterlabormarketoutcomes.Evaluationsoftheimpactoflabormarketinformationinterventionsshowmodestimpacts(McKenzie2017).Butbetterdesigncanleadtomoreimpactfulprograms.Suchprogramstendtoencouragejobsearchindifferentlocationsandhelpupdateajobsearcher’sbeliefsaboutthelabormarket(CarranzaandMcKenzie2024).Providingstudentswithbetterinformationaboutthereturnstoschoolingcanincreaseinvestmentsinhumancapitalandadjustthemtoareasmorealignedwithlabormarketdemand,ashasbeenshownintheDominicanRepublic,Mexico,andtheUnitedStates(AvitabileanddeHoyos2018;Jensen2010;WiswallandZafar2015).Providingworkerswithaccesstobetterinformationcanadjustlabormarketexpectations,encouragesearchinnewoccupationsandlocations,andevenimprovelabormarketoutcomesdirectlyinsomeinstances,ashasbeenfoundinIndia,Peru,thePhilippines,andtheUnitedKingdom(Beam,Mckenzie,andYang2016;Beam2016;;Belot,Kircher,andMuller2019;BelotMuller,andKircher2022;Dammert,Galdo,andGaldo2015;Jensen2012).Moreeffectivetrainingprogramsalsotendtobethosethattargetsectorswithgrowingdemand,requiringinputsfromLMISsaboutwhatjobsandskillsareneeded(Katzetal.2022).

LMISsareincreasinglyincorporatingdigitaltoolstoenhancetheeffectivenessandefficiencyofdelivery.Thesetoolsincludebothimprovementsindatacollectionandinhowservicesareprovidedtojobseekersandotherclients.Thereisevidencethatthesetoolsimproveoutcomes.InPeru,animpactevaluationofanautomatedjobrecommendationsystemshowedasignificantincreaseinusageofthelaborintermediationsystemfrom3percentofunemployedpeopleto14percent.Arandomizedcontrolledtrialfoundpositiveimpactsonemploymentfromusingthesystem’sdigital

6

jobmatchingtool(Dammert,Galdo,andGaldo2015).AsimilartooldeployedintheUnitedKingdomthatprovidedlowcost,automatedjobsearchadvicetojobseekersfoundthatthetoolincreasedthenumberofinterviewsby44percent,drivenmostlybyjobseekerswhoweresearchingmorenarrowlypriortotheintervention(Belot,Kircher,andMuller2019;Belot,Muller,andKircher2022).

LMISsarealsoincreasinglyturningtojobpostings,particularlyonlinejobpostings,asasourceoflabormarketinsightsandtranslatingtheseinsightsintopolicy.Jobpostingsdataisnowcommonlyusedforlabormarketanalytics.

9

Frequentusesofthesedataincludelabormarketmonitoringandanalysis,includingovertimeandatthelocallevel(Forsytheetal.2020;ShenandZhu2023;Evansetal.2023);assessingdemandforskills,includingnewlyemergingskillsandincludingpredictiveanalysis(OECD2021,2022;Cunninghametal.2022;Satoetal.2023;Borgonovietal.2023);andimprovingskillsmatching(ApellaandZunino2022b;Samek,Squicciarini,andCammeraat2021).

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Table2

providesexamplesofhowgovernmentsacrossthedevelopmentspectrumareutilizingjobpostingsdata.

Table2:Examplesofusesofjobpostingsdata

Country

Example

Australia

•TheInternetVacancyIndexidentifieschangesindemandinrealtime

EuropeanUnion

•TheEuropeanUnion’sSkills-OVATEtoolprovidesdetailedjobsandskillsdatabasedononlinejobadsfrom28Europeancountries

Indonesia

•TheOnlineVacancyOutlookprovidesdetailedskillsprofilesofoccupations

Malaysia

•OnlinejobpostingsareusedasanindicatorofshortageintheCriticalOccupationsList,whichidentifiesoccupationsinhighdemand

Malawi

•Onlinejobpostingshavebeenusedtoidentifyin-demandjobs

Myanmar

•Onlinejobpostingshavebeenusedtoidentifyin-demandjobs

Netherlands

•PublicemploymentservicesuseonlinejobpostingsandCVsforjobmatching

NewZealand

•TheMinistryofBusiness,Innovation,andEmploymentpackagesinformationfromonlinejobpostingsforanonlineeducationandcareerexplorationtool

Singapore

•SkillsFutureSingaporeincorporatesonlinejobpostingsintoassessmentsofpriorityskillstoinformitslifelonglearninginitiatives

UnitedKingdom

•TheMigrationAdvisoryCommitteeusesonlinepostingsasanindicatorofshortageforitsShortageOccupationList

UnitedStates

•TheoccupationaldatabaseO*NETusesonlinejobpostingstoidentifyquicklyevolvingchangesinskillsandjobtitles

Source:SeeWorldBank(2022c)forIndonesia;UNESCO(2019)forMalawi;CSC(2019)forMalaysia;UNESCO(2019b)forMyanmar;CEDEFOP,EuropeanCommission,ETF,ILO,OECD,andUNESCO(2021)fortheNetherlandsandNewZealand;

SkillsFutureSingapore(2022)forSingapore;MAC(2017)fortheUnitedKingdom;andWorldBank(2019b)fortheUnitedStates.

Jobpostingsdatacomplementssurveyandadministrativedata.Therelativeadvantagesofjobpostingsdataincludegranularityacrossmultipledimensions(jobs,skills,geographies,andemployers);nearreal-timecollection;anddetailedinformationonskillsandqualificationsthatare

9Forrecentpublishedworkusingjobpostings,seeAtalayetal.(2020);Azaretal.(2020);BrownandMatsa

(2020);Conzelmannetal.2023;DemingandKahn(2018);DemingandNoray(2020);Forsytheetal.(2020);Hansenetal.2023;HershbeinandKahn(2018);KuhnandShen(2013,2015);Marinescu(2017);Modestino,Shoag,andBallance(2016);andNapieralaandKvetan(2022),amongothers.ForWorldBankpublications,seeNomuraetal.(2017)forIndia;WorldBank(2022c)forIndonesia;Brancatelli,Marguerie,andBrodmann

(2020)forKosovo;Cunninghametal.(2022)forMalaysia;andDelCarpioetal.(2017)andMullerandSafir

(2019)forUkraine.Foranoverviewofrecentliterature,seeFaboandKureková(2022).

10Beyondpostingsthemselves,metadataonhowjobseekersutilizeportalscanprovideinsightsintojobsearchstrategiesandpreferences(FabermanandKudlyak2019).

7

indemand

(Table3)

.Surveydata,incontrast,tendstobecollectedonlyperiodicallyathighlevelsofaggregation.Forexample,surveydatacannotprovideanyinsightintolabormarketsatthelevelofjobtitleswhilejobpostingsdatacanbeanalyzedfromthelevelofskills,jobtitles,andoccupations.Importantly,thecostofjobpostingsdataistypicallyafractionofthatofsurveydata.Collectingpostingsdatacanbedonedigitallyandundertakenbyspecializedfirmsbenefitingfromeconomiesofscalewhilesurveyoperationsgenerallyrequiregovernmentstohiresubstantialhumanresourcesanddeploythemregularly(ILO2020).However,surveydataaretypicallyrepresentativewhilejobpostingsmayhavelesscoverageofcertainoccupationsandindustries,anissuethatmaybeexacerbatedincontextsofhighlabormarketinformality(CammeraatandSquicciarini2021).Surveydataarealsoabletoprovideinformationaboutsubpopulations(forexample,bygenderoreducation),whichpermitsidentificationofpotentiallydisadvantagedgroups.Jobpostingsandsurveydataalsoofferinsightsintodifferentaspectsoflabormarkets.Jobpostingsdataprovideinsightintolabormarketdemand,whilesurveydatashowslabormarketsupplyaswellastheoutcomesoflabormarketmatches(employment)andnon-matches(unemployment).Administrativedatamayoffersomeoftheadvantagesofjobpostingsdata,buttheirutilityishighlydependentontheprogramtowhichtheyareattachedandthequalityofcollectionefforts.Insum,jobpostingsdatacanmakeupforsomeoftheweaknessesofsurveyandadministrativedataandsurveydatacanmakeupforsomeoftheweaknessesofjobpostingsdata.

Table3:Thestrengthsandweaknessesofjobpostingsandsurveydata

Characteristic

Jobpostings

Surveys

Coverage

Granular,butnotrepresentative

Representative,butnotgranular

Frequency

Nearreal-time

Periodic

Focus

Demand

Supply,matchesofsupplyanddemand

Subpopulationanalysis

No

Yes

Skills

Yes

No,exceptforspecializedsurveys*

Section2:LabormarketinformationsystemsinArgentinaandUruguay

ThegovernmentsofArgentinaandUruguayareundertakingeffortstoimprovetheirlabormarketinformationsystems.Argentina’sFomentarprogramsupportsanecosystemofdemand-driventrainingandemploymentservices.Anoccupationalobservatoryhasbeendevelopedthatcollectsinformationontasksundertakenatworktohelpinformtheseservices.Theemploymentportal(PortalEmpleo)hasbeencreatedasasingleplaceforjobseekerstosearchforjobs,accessworkshopstoimprovejobsearchandreadinessskills,andenr