An assessment of the impact of COVID-19 on job and skills demand using online job
vacancy data
This policy brief uses online job vacancy postings as a partial indicator of the impact
of COVID-19 on skills demand in five OECD countries (Australia, Canada, New Zealand,
the United Kingdom and the United States) between January and November 2020. The pandemic,
as well as containment and mitigation measures designed to halt its spread, had a
large but heterogeneous impact on the demand for skills. By early May, the total volume
of online job vacancies had fallen by over 50% in all the countries analysed with
respect to the beginning of the year, with even larger declines in some sectors. However,
the demand for specific skills in the healthcare sector and in logistics increased.
There is also evidence of an increase in vacancies involving remote-working arrangements.
The brief also shows that the crisis affected differently individuals with different
levels of educational qualifications and that such effect differed across the countries
analysed.
Published on April 09, 2021Also available in: Spanish
In series:OECD Policy Responses to Coronavirus (COVID-19)view more titles