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Based on consecutive labor force surveys, this study examines labor market dynamics during the first decade of the Estonian transition to market. The results show that, similar to other transition economies: Estonia’s employment and labor force was reduced; patterns of mobility profoundly changed – labor market flows intensified and previously nonexistent transitions emerged; and some groups of workers were disproportionally affected, chief among them the less educated and ethnic minorities. But Estonian fundamental free market reforms also produced labor market outcomes that differ significantly from those in other transition economies – above all, the intensity of worker and job flows in Estonia’s transition have surpassed those in most other transition economies. This was achieved by deliberate policies aimed at stimulating job creation and employment, above all by low employment protection and other policies geared toward increasing employability and strengthening the incentives of workers. Moreover, under the dynamic Estonian labor market adjustment, marginal groups have fared better than those in more protective labor markets of other transition economies.

This paper, the first one to use individual-level Turkish panel data, examines the labor market transitions in Turkey along the formal/informal employment divide. The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the limited body of empirical evidence available on mobility and informality in the Turkish labor market.

Toward this end, the authors use Turkish income and Living Conditions Survey panel data for 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009 to compute the Markov transition probabilities of individuals moving across six different labor market states: formal-salaried (FS), informal-salaried, formal self-employed, informal self-employed, unemployed and inactive. In order to examine the nature of mobility patterns in more detail, the authors then estimate six multinomial logit models individually for each transition adopting a number of individual and employment characteristics as explanatory variables.

The authors find evidence that mobility patterns are fairly similar across different time spans, the probability of remaining in initial state is higher than the probability of transition into another state for all the labor market states, except for unemployment, there is only very limited mobility into the FS state. Gender, education and sector of economic activity are observed to display significant effects on mobility patterns. The results reveal several relationships between the covariates and likelihood of variant transitions.

This study provides a comprehensive and detailed diagnosis of the Turkish labor market. The market is observed to display a rather static structure throughout the period considered. The results indicate that a well recognition of underlying dynamics may help policy makers to produce various effective tools for addressing informality.

First study to analyze labor market mobility across formal/informal sectors using newly available panel data.

Compares labour market transitions of young people in Germany and Italy using panel data from the GSOEP and the SHIW. The aim is to investigate whether there are significant cross‐country differences in the patterns of labour market entrance and whether explanatory factors can be identified. The analysis shows that Germans have a significantly higher probability of moving from school to work and from unemployment to employment. They are also more likely to move back to studies if already in the labour force. Further investigation suggests that cross‐country differences in the educational and labour market systems are responsible for the differences found.

The purpose of this paper is to achieve a greater understanding of the transitions young adults experience into and out of the labour market and the influence that gender and married/cohabiting status have on employment careers.

The paper focuses on young adults (25-34 years old) in four European countries – Italy, the Netherlands, the UK and Norway – that are representative of different youth transition regimes. Using longitudinal data from EU-SILC survey (for the years 2006-2012) and event history analysis, the authors investigate the effect of the particular set of institutional features of each country, the effect of the cohort of entry and the effect of gender differences in determining transitions across labour market status.

Findings show that the filter exercised by the national institutions has a selective impact on the careers of young adults, with some institutional contexts more protective than others. In this respect, the condition of inactivity emerges as an interesting finding: on one side, it mainly involves women in a partnership, on the other side it is more common in protective youth regimes, suggesting that it may be a chosen rather than suffered condition.

The paper contributes to existing literature by: focusing on a specific category, young adults from 25 to 34 years old, which is increasingly recognised as a critical stage in the life course though it receives less attention than its younger counterpart (15-24); integrating the importance of family dynamics on work careers by analysing the different effects played by married/cohabiting status for men and women.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the prevalence and drivers of employment vulnerability among youth in Egypt, Jordan and Tunisia, and their propensity to transition to better jobs over time.

The analysis is based on longitudinal data from Labor Market Panel Surveys spanning 6–20 years. The authors use transition matrices to examine the prevalence of transitions between labor market statuses for the same individuals over time, distinguishing between youth and non-youth, and men and women, as well as multinomial logistic regressions that control for individual and family background, including previous labor market status, family wealth and parental education.

The paper finds that youth in all three countries were disadvantaged in terms of labor market outcomes with most young men in particular ending up in vulnerable jobs while women of all ages were most likely to exit the labor market all together, unless they had formal jobs. Moreover, youth who started out in the labor market in a vulnerable job were unlikely to move to a better-quality job over time. Family wealth, parental education and father's occupation were found to be important determinants of labor market outcomes and vulnerability, even after a long period of work experience.

The paper finds that wealth effects, parental education and occupation effects follow workers throughout their careers, implying low equality of opportunity and inter-generational and lifetime mobility.

The findings indicate worsening labor market outcomes over time, heavily influenced by family background. High levels of vulnerable employment persistence, regardless of skill and experience, reinforce the importance of initial labor market outcome on the quality of lifetime employment prospects.

This study addresses the specific topic of transition between higher education and the world of work, taking differences naturally inherent to the individual and to the surrounding micro and macro contexts. With a holistic approach, this paper aimed to provide a deeper understanding about the university-to-work transition process in a period of turbulence and continuous changes in the labour market.

The three research questions that guide this qualitative study are as follows: (1) What are the factors that facilitate the transition to the labour market? (2) What are the factors that constrain the transition to the labour market? (3) What are graduates' perceptions of their employability? To answer these questions, eleven graduates were interviewed about facilitators and barriers of the transition process and perceptions of employability. Data collected from the interviews were then related to categories previously defined from the literature review. Version 12.0 of the NVivo software was used to support the process of data analysis.

Overall, participants' discourse refer to a multidimensional and dynamic perspective of factors related with work transition and employability. The obtained results indicate that the lack of career agency during graduation and professional experiences, together with late career exploration processes, represent possible barriers of transition, especially in study fields with targeted job offers. Likewise, experiences promoting the development of competencies through supportive practice from teachers, mentors and colleagues are referred as facilitators of transition.

One of the most consistent outcomes of the interviews conducted concerns the importance of a stronger focus on developing practical experiences during higher education studies. This empirical study demonstrated how this type of experience can mitigate the impact of the transition from university to the labour market.

This empirical study demonstrated how work being integrated into learning in curricula can mitigate the impact of the transition from university to the labour market. It offers important insights about possible strategies that could be adopted to promote graduates' employability from a perspective of shared responsibility.

This is Part 1 of the two special issues on the topic, “School to work transition around the world – the effect of the pandemic recession.” The first part focuses on the determinants of the school-to-work transition (STWT) and the implications of the COVID-19 pandemic on the young worker and their response to uncertain labor market conditions. The second issue will explore the country-specific experiences around the globe in tackling the problem of a smooth STWT. The purpose of this introductory article is to elaborate on the transition of young workers in the labor market. Discussion on the status of various indicators of the youth labor market (unemployment, underemployment and not in employment, education and training [NEET]) is also integrated. The determining factors of school-to-work transition (STWT) and the role of technical and vocational institutions and universities are analyzed. Moreover, the impact of COVID-19 on the labor market is also evaluated. After the pandemic, there was a dreadful change in the job market; this study dives into those diverse factors and carves out the multiple impacts on youth unemployment.

The study analyses relevant literature on STWT, NEET and COVID-19 implications for the labor market, based on the other papers in this special issue. Using the review method, the authors identified similar research articles and reports which helped in strengthening the study’s argument. The primary focus of the study was on the smooth transition of young workers in the labor market and the impact of the pandemic on youth unemployment. Hence, literature supported the authors in giving the justifications from various economies and societies.

The paper finds that youth worldwide have suffered from the repercussions of COVID-19, especially in their early career (STWT). Skill mismatch, underemployment, job losses, salary cut downs, health issues, vocational education importance, vulnerable employment, etc. were some of the significant impacts the authors identified by analyzing the various reports and papers. Furthermore, this paper also discusses the role of active labor market policies and hiring incentives for promoting youth employment.

The paper finds that the times ahead are challenging ones. There is a dearth of productive job opportunities due to slow economic growth. The unemployment rate among youth and adults is high, and labor markets have become more competitive. The young generation is now left with no choice but to upgrade and improve their skill set or some other expertise. On the one hand, technical and vocational education and training (TVET) and universities need to enhance their marketable knowledge and skills, and on the other hand, there is a need for active labor market policies to encourage their participation in the labor markets.

This paper strongly contributes to highlighting the professional and societal hit backs faced due to the aftermath of COVID-19. The study summarizes the specific details of STWT and employment issues faced by youth in various parts of the world.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the extent and the human‐capital determinants of low‐wage mobility for labour market entrants in the UK and Germany.

Using panel data for the UK (BHPS) and Germany (GSOEP), a competing‐risks duration model is applied that allows the study of transitions from low pay to competing destination states: higher pay, self‐employment, unemployment and inactivity. Unobserved heterogeneity is tackled by a non‐parametric mass‐point approach.

It is found that low pay is only a temporary state for most young job starters. However, there is a small group of job starters that is caught in a trap of low pay, unemployment or inactivity. In the UK, job starters escape from low pay mainly by developing firm‐specific skills. In Germany, involvement in formal vocational training and the attainment of apprenticeship qualifications account for low pay exits.

Over the past decades, unemployment and low‐wage employment have emerged as major challenges facing young labour market entrants. While most empirical studies focus exclusively on the transition from low pay to high pay, the paper shows that a significant percentage of young entrants are caught in a low‐pay‐non‐employment trap. Moreover, it is shown that, depending on the institutional context, different types of human capital investments can account for a successful low‐pay exit.

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the influence of public employment services (PES) on transitions from unemployment.

The likelihood of exit from unemployment is explained by a multinomial logit model which takes into account the target state of the transition (unemployment, employment or inactivity). In order to analyze the unobserved heterogeneity, the model has been estimated using a Generalized Linear Latent and Mixed Models.

The analysis suggests that the contribution of PES to improving labor market outcomes is low in the case of transitions to employment. Nevertheless, PES play an important role in workforce dropout prevention.

The results suggest that redesign and modernization are needed to improve PES performance. More intensive job counselling should be provided so that PES get beyond workforce dropout prevention and start having clear positive effects on placement. Target groups should be defined more clearly so as to ensure sustainable transitions for individuals at risk of exclusion. PES should focus on the most disadvantaged jobseekers and those who need more help to get jobs.

First, the results highlight the role PES play in reducing inactivity rates. Second, this is the first study in Spain that uses Labor Force Survey (LFS) data to evaluate PES in a dynamic framework. The LFS is the only data source which allows us to relate people registered unemployed to people considered unemployed by international standards.

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the labour market exclusion of the groups in Canada that have been defined as vulnerable in that they were persistently in poverty over a defined period of time. The vulnerable groups were: unattached individuals age 45-64, disabled persons, recent immigrants, lone parents, Aboriginal persons and youth not in school.

Five panels of data from the Survey of Labour and Income Dynamics are used over the period from 1993 to 2010 to compare the vulnerable groups with a benchmark non-vulnerable in various dimensions: a descriptive profile of their labour market exclusion and characteristics; a portrayal of their trends in labour market exclusion; an analysis of the persistence of being excluded from the labour force; and an econometric analysis of the determinants of their probability of transitioning into the labour force and out of the labour force.

The vulnerable groups tend to be disproportionately excluded from the labour force and to be persistently excluded for longer periods of time. They are generally more likely to be female, lower educated, in poorer health and to find their life to be stressful and to have recently experienced a negative life event. Exclusion from the labour market tends to trend downward over time for both the non-vulnerable benchmark group and the various vulnerable groups. There is considerable variability in the patterns across the different groups with respect to transitions into and out of the labour market.

The labour market is a first line of defense against social and economic exclusion. While labour market exclusion is trending downward it remains stubbornly high for the vulnerable groups. Their diversity of experiences suggest a one-size-fits all solution to exclusion is not appropriate for the different vulnerable groups. Different policy initiatives are appropriate and they are discussed for each vulnerable group.

The paper is the first to systematically examine a wide range of dimensions of the labour market exclusion of the vulnerable groups in Canada and to highlight their similarities and differences. It also highlights the various policy initiatives that are appropriate for the different groups.