Call for papers: Using data from the web to shape next generation labour market and skills analysis

EU agency Cedefop launched its first call for tender to test the feasibility of developing a pan-European database of online job advertisements (OJA) almost a decade ago. At the time, big data was seen as a promising new opportunity to complement traditional labour market data sources (e.g. job vacancy surveys, labour force surveys). Big data-powered analysis of online job ads is particularly powerful because it sheds light on the skills impacts of rapid change in job markets that accompanies the transition towards greener and more digital economies and societies. Web-driven labour market and skills intelligence offers policy makers (quasi) real-time and detailed picture of labour market trends and imbalances and strengthens their capacity to develop policies aimed at providing the right skills and occupations and to implement them (see e.g. Napierala and Kvetan 2023). In 2020, Cedefop joined forces with Eurostat and their big data work became part of the Eurostat project on building ‘trusted smart statistics’ as part of the Web Intelligence Hub (WIH).

With advances in big data analytics, natural language processing and machine learning algorithms, the methodologies for analysing web-based labour and skills data have significantly evolved. So far, online job advertisements has been used to extract information for various types of analytical work. Key contributions feature work on:

1. occupations: computer scientist (Grüger & Schneider, 2019), various types of analysts' positions (Nasir et al., 2020), and public health jobs (Watts et al., 2019);
2. sectors:  IT (Ternikov & Aleksandrova, 2020), tourism (Marrero-Rodríguez et al., 2020), and manufacturing (Leigh et al., 2020);
3. regions: for example work in the Umbria region comparing skills demanded in online job advertisements with skills contained in training and education programmes (OECD 2023);
4. skill demand and labour market shortages: to understand which professions require Artificial Intelligence (AI) skills or green skills and to forecast skills demand (de Macedo et al. (2022);
5. time series analysis of trends in skills requirements: entrepreneurial skills (Prüfer and Prüfer 2019), foreign languages (Fabo et al. 2017), transversal skills (Pater et al. 2019), and changes in journalists’ skills (Dawson, Molitorisz, et al. 2021);
6. the Covid19 pandemic: because other information sources were no longer available (e.g. Kahn et al., 2020);
7. impact of the green transition: e.g. Saussay et al. 2022;
8. competition among employers e.g. Ascheri A. et al. 2022.

The primary aim of this conference is to showcase innovative methods and approaches for analysing and interpreting web data sources applied in the context of occupational, sectoral or topical labour market and/or skills analysis. The insights and findings shared during the conference will contribute to the understanding of how web data sources can be leveraged in labour market and skills research and will pave the way for future research in this area.

Abstract Submission Topics

Cedefop is inviting researchers and analysts to submit cutting-edge research studies that:

• provide original insights into changing trends and patterns in the labour market and skills; and
• use a) OJA data, b) any other web data source (e.g. online work platforms, corporate websites; websites training providers; online training course repositories or MOOCs, websites of formal education system providers; CV repositories or databases) and/or c) a mix of traditional and web data sources.

Cedefop invites researchers to submit abstracts that demonstrate novel methodologies, offer insightful analyses, or provide case studies on using any of the previously mentioned web data sources in the context of labour market and skills research.

The conference will offer a platform where researchers can exchange ideas and information and showcase their work. Cedefop aims to foster a collaborative environment where researchers and practitioners can share their findings, methodologies, and applications that enhance the understanding and usefulness of web data sources. As the conference is organised as an in-person event, participants will have networking opportunities and possibilities for exploring collaboration with peers.

Practicalities

Cedefop will review all abstracts received and will select abstracts (indicatively 10) that are candidates to be presented at the conference. Participation in the conference is free of charge following registration. As places will be limited, participation will be on a first-come, first-served basis.

The conference will be held at EESC premises in the centre of Brussels. Travel and/or accommodation expenses are to be covered by the participants or the institution or body they work for. Cedefop will publish abstracts and presentations on its web portal and will explore opportunities to use leverage them for drafting a short Cedefop publication.

Abstract guidelines and important dates

• Abstracts should be maximum 500 words and provide a clear description of the topic of your presentation and a brief explanation of the innovative potential of the methodological approach. It should also describe what type of data have been used and include one or more key empirical or illustrative findings.
• Abstract Submission Deadline: 10 February 2025 10:00 CET via email @ rlmi@cedefop.europa.eu
• Revision of abstracts completed and communication of (non) acceptance: 14 February 2025
• Pre-registration open for accepted abstracts:  17 February 2025
• Registration open to broader audience: 28 February 2025