The Democratic Republic of Congo experienced a merciless war from 1998 to 2002 that seriously affected its labour market, as it did all other aspects of society. The effects on the labour market have aroused various debates. This thesis offers a first analysis of the reconstruction process of the labour market in post-war Congo, and of the roles that key actors involved played in it. It asks the following fundamental question: what are the processes involved in the reconstruction of the post-war Congolese labour market, and how did the main actors affect these processes? The research used a constructivist methodological approach and the extended case method to collect detailed data through field interviews conducted with 109 people in Kinshasa. The data suggest that the past of the Congolese labour market is clearly visible in its post-war recovery processes (2003–2018). While the past weighed heavily on the present, from 2003 to 2011 the Congolese government nevertheless delayed the implementation of reform policies aimed at achieving a functioning labour market. Reforms introduced since then have been blunted by poor implementation processes. Moreover, the inherent weakness of Congo’s labour market institutions deepened the lack of impact of the reconstruction attempts. Likewise, the private sector did not contribute substantially to efforts at creating an effective labour market. Entering this landscape, many Congolese employees struggled to achieve integration into the formal labour market. The main argument of this thesis is that the post-war Congolese labour market has experienced an extended reconstruction due to delayed and poorly implemented labour market policies. On a more positive note, this study demonstrates the usefulness of Peck’s theory of labour market social regulation as an efficient theoretical tool in evaluating a problematic transition such as that experienced in the Democratic Republic of Congo. / Thesis (PhD (Sociology))--University of Pretoria, 2020. / the Andrew J. Mellon Foundation / The University of Pretoria, the Faculty of Humanities / Sociology / PhD (Sociology) / Unrestricted

Modern day chemical engineers are largely responsible for the design, improvement and maintenance of processes that transform raw materials to products in an economical and sustainable manner. These individuals are highly paid and, due to the diversity of the field, the demand for individuals with the right level of training and experience is high. Despite the high demand and the attractiveness associated with an illustrious career however, the pulp and paper industry experiences a 15 to 20% labour turnover rate. This research sets out to explore the influences of, and the responses to, the labour market for chemical engineering skills in the South African pulp and paper industry. An understanding of the labour markets would afford stakeholders the opportunity to curb the high turnover rates and allow for the ability to respond to changes in the labour market. The research adopted a qualitative study which involved in-depth interviews with the stakeholders of the pulp and paper industry. A total of 18 stakeholders were interviewed. Due to distance and logistical constraints, some interviews were conducted telephonically. A semi structured interview guide line was used. Fine grained content analysis and descriptive statistics were used to extract key constructs from the data analysis obtained during the interview process. The outcome of the research has resulted in a better understanding of the labour markets for chemical engineers in the industry. The findings provide key insights to factors that stakeholders consider as crucial in enhancing the effective use and retention of chemical engineers in the pulp and paper industry. Copyright / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted

The Swedish integration policy has for a considerable time focused on the labour market integration in which different actors such as the Swedish Public Employment Service, Migration Agency, Municipalities, counties as well as non-governmental organisations and the churches come to play different roles in refugee integration. Refugees are introduced to the Swedish labour market and have their skills and educational qualifications validated by the Swedish Public Employment Service in preparation for the labour market. However, amidst this welcoming gesture towards refugees by the Swedish government, there is a growth in the anti-immigrant movements in Sweden posing a threat to refugee employability. The aim of this thesis, therefore, was to examine the major successes and challenges of the refugee integration policy in the Swedish labour market in relation to refugee employability. This was a qualitative study in which both primary and secondary data sources were used. A snowball strategy was used in identifying 8 respondents. The data was collected using an open ended survey and thematic analysis was eventually conducted. The study has revealed that the Swedish Integration Policy to a lesser extent helps refugees in finding employment in the Swedish labour market despite addressing language challenges and validation of skills and educational qualifications of the refugees. Based on secondary and primary data, many respondents found their employment through their social networks. It can therefore be concluded that social networks play the main role in refugee employability in the Swedish labour market which is often against policy and formal expectations. Refugees’ labour market integration opportunities are also determined by non -policy factors including stereotypes and prejudice.

The first chapter examines the causal effect of education on individuals' retirement decisions and changes in quality of life after retirement. When estimating the return to education, much of the existing literature assumes implicitly that individuals optimize over their career with a fixed year of retirement ("fixed-retirement-age" assumption). Using the provincial compulsory schooling laws as instruments to estimate the causal effects of educational attainment on individuals' retirement decisions and change in the quality of life after retirement, I find that years of schooling have no significant impact on retirement decisions. Furthermore, among those who are already retired, years of schooling do not have any impact on their age at retirement and the change in the quality of life after retirement. Results in this paper support the "fixed-retirement-age" assumption used in empirical studies based on the classical return to education model where the exogenous assumption on retirement age might not be a bad approximation. The second chapter relates to labour market flows and worker trajectories in Canada during COVID-19. We use the confidential-use files of the Labour Force Survey (LFS) to study the employment dynamics in Canada from the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic through to mid-summer. Using the longitudinal dimension of this dataset, we measure the size of worker reallocation and document the presence of high labour market churning that persists even after the easing of social-distancing restrictions. As of July of 2020, many of the recent job losers -- especially those who had been temporarily laid-off between February and April -- have regained employment. However, this apparent strong recovery dynamics hides important heterogeneity, and large groups of workers, such as those who were not employed prior to the pandemic, face important difficulties with finding a job. Our results further suggest that gross job losses were higher among women and young workers during the shutdown and that older workers were more likely to leave the labour force when the economy reopened. The third chapter analyzes the gender differences in early career labour market trajectories and wage growth in Canada. Using the Longitudinal Workers File (LWF) linked to the 2006 and 2016 Census, I find that, although some progress has been made on the gender gap on labour market trajectories for young workers in their earlier careers, women faced higher penalties for taking time out of the labour market compared with men. More specifically, regardless of the type of job separation, changed employer or occupation, and reason for separation, women's weekly wage annual growth rate was lower compared with their male counterparts. The results from regression analysis suggest that labour market trajectories affect women's and men's weekly wage annual growth rates differently. Women's weekly wage annual growth rate was more sensitive to temporary job separation compared with men, whereas men's weekly wage annual growth rate was more sensitive to permanent job separation. The Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition shows that the total number of permanent separations and the total number of permanent separations due to parental/maternity leave each explains about one-third of the cross-sectional gender differences in weekly wage annual growth rate observed for young workers in Canada.

As the title of my diploma thesis already suggests, the thesis deals with the analysis of the labour market in the largest of all Czech regions. The situation in the Central-Bohemian labour market may be considered stable and the unemployment rate in this region has ranked among the lowest in the whole country for a long period of time, but due to the size of the region broad district differences may be observed. This thesis seeks to evaluate and summarise the evolution of the Central-Bohemian labour market (mainly in the past decade) and to highlight the main factors causing the differences mentioned above. The thesis also deals with the impact of economic recession on the labour market in the Central Bohemia and on the number of employees of major employers in the region. Last but not least I try to suggest several ways to reduce unemployment and evaluate the measures that have already been taken by the government organizations in my thesis. The first part of the document discusses theoretical aspects of the labour market functioning, measuring of unemployment and explains related terms.

Šiame darbe analizuojama Lietuvos darbo rinkos politika. Darbo rinka yra viena pagrindinių ekonominės sistemos rinkų. Tuo pačiu ji yra ir socialinis reiškinys įtakojantis pagrindinius socialinės raidos veiksnius – gyvenimo lygį, užimtumą, išsilavinimą, įsidarbinimo galimybes, darbo užmokestį. 2004 metai Lietuvai ir jos įgyvendinamai darbo rinkos politikai buvo labai svarbūs ir reikšmingi. Lietuva įstojusi į Europos Sąjungą tapo realiu Europos užimtumo strategijos įgyvendinimo ir atviro jos koordinavimo proceso dalyviu. Darbo tikslas - įvertinti pastarųjų metų Lietuvos darbo rinkos situaciją ir valstybės politiką šioje srityje, išsiaiškinti Lietuvos pastangas siekiant prisitaikyti prie Europos Sąjungos keliamų reikalavimų, identifikuoti kliūtis, trukdančias plėtrai. / Policy of Lithuanian labour market is analysed in the present work. Labour market is one of the main markets of the economic system. It is also a social phenomenon influencing the main factors of social development - the standard of life, employment, education, employment possibilities, and wages. 2004 was very important and significant for Lithuania and the policy of the labour market realised by it. Upon entering of the European Union we became actual participators of the European employment strategy realisation and its open coordination process. The purpose of this work is to sum up the Lithuanian labour market situation of the recent years and country policy in this direction, to ascertain endeavour made by Lithuania seeking to adapt to the requirements raised by the European Union as well as to identify obstacles that keep down the development. In this work is reviewed labour market and labour market policy by theoretical aspects. That become the basis upon analysing the labour market management system in the case of Lithuania. The main country labour institutions are singled out in the research as well as active and passive measures of the labour market policy prepared and realised by these institutions together with their efficiency. Evaluation of legitimate basis regulating Lithuanian labour market and the strategy of the European Union is performed. Lithuanian labour market, its development tendencies and influencing factors are analysed. Situation of individual... [to full text]

Disertaciją sudaro įvadas, trys darbo skyriai bei svarbiausios darbo išvados ir pasiūlymai. Darbas remiasi sektorinės sisteminės analizės logika, pagal kurią nagrinėjama depresinių šalies regionų darbo rinkos plėtros problema suprantama kaip visos ūkinės sistemos regioninis ir darbo rinkos problemų pjūvis. Nuo bendriausiųjų temos klausimų aptarimo pirmajame darbo skyriuje – sampratos, klasifikavimo sistemos, konkrečių kriterijų, regionų ir darbo rinkos bei socialinės apsaugos sistemų plėtojimo patirties apibendrinimo – antrajame disertacijos skyriuje pereinama prie nagrinėjamos problemos ypatumus atspindinčių elementų analizės: remiantis statistiniais matematiniais metodais, atmetimo principu atrenkami patikimai, operatyviai probleminę ir depresinę padėtį charakterizuojantys rodikliai. Preliminariai išskirti probleminiai šalies regionai tiriami siekiant identifikuoti veiksnius, turinčius didžiausią įtaką depresinių šalies regionų darbo rinkos raidai. Problemos kompleksinės analizės finalas – trečiajame darbo skyriuje. Čia pagrindžiami depresinių šalies regionų darbo rinkos plėtros sprendimai, kurių kompleksinio taikymo sinergetinis efektas užtikrintų geresnius depresinių šalies regionų, o tuo pačiu ir visos šalies, socialinės ekonominės raidos rezultatus. / The scientific work consists of introduction, three working sections, conclusive findings. This dissertation work is based on the logics of sectoral analysis in accordance with which the analysed problem of labour market development in depressed regions of the country is understood as a regional cross-section of the entire economic system and of labour market problems. Starting with a discussion of the most general issues of the topic in the first working section – concept, classification system, generalisation of particular criteria, experience in the development of regions, labour market and social security systems, the author comes to the analysis of elements reflecting the peculiarities of the problem at issue, i.e., based on statistic mathematical methods and elimination principle, indicators are selected for reliable and operative characterisation of problematic and depressed situations. Pre-identified problematic regions of the country are further analysed in order to identify factors that have the biggest influence on the labour market development in depressed regions of the country. The complex analysis of the problem is finalised in the third working section of the dissertation which contains justification of the solutions for the labour market development in the depressed regions. Synergy effects of complex application of such solutions would ensure better results of the socio-economic development in the depressed regions and, at the same time, in the whole country... [to full text]

Systematic analysis of the labour market in depressed regions of the country and justification of complex measures for the development thereof. / Remiantis sistemine depresinių šalies regionų analize, pagrįstas šių regionų darbo rinkos plėtojimo priemonių kompleksas.

The thesis is split into five parts. The part one familiarizes readers with theoretic findings relating to wages and labour-markets scope. Second part of thesis involves definitions of the wage and concerns the wage from the personnel manager's point of view. Next part pays attention to particular labour-market deformations. Part number four creates the earnings trend scope in the Czech Republic after the year 1990. The last part analyses selected labour-market deformations.

This thesis tries to find out factors limiting Immigrants to the secondary Labour Market in Sweden, with focus on the Hotel and Restaurant employment sector. I analyze the possible limitations of immigrants working in the secondary job category within the hotel and restaurant sector of the Swedish Labour market by applying theories of Segmented Labour Market, Human Capital, Signal Theory, Social Capital and possibly Discrimination. The study was carried out using a semi-structured interview method with individuals who were employed in the hotel and restaurant sector in Malmo city, Sweden. The result obtained in this research shows that Immigrants with a foreign educational qualification in the Swedish labour market would not find jobs beyond the secondary labour market. The study also gives an indication that the low educational level of the immigrants in the host country also limits immigrants to the Secondary labour market. This paper also shows that, regardless of factors such as the type of educational qualification and where it was concluded, type of work experiences, lack of relevant work experience, and high level of unemployment, which limits immigrants’ possibility for occupational/professional mobility in the Swedish labour market, preferential discrimination is also suspected to play a significant role with respect to employment.