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The explicit assumption in most literature on educational and skill mismatches is that these mismatches are inherently costly for workers. However, the results in the literature on the effects of underqualification or underskilling on wages and job satisfaction only partly support this hypothesis. Rather than assuming that both skill surpluses and skill deficits are inherently costly for workers, we interpret these mixed findings by taking a learning perspective on skill mismatches. Following the theory of Vygotski on the so-called “zone of proximal development,” we expect that workers who start their job with a small skill deficit, show more skill growth than workers who start in a matching job or workers with a more severe skill deficit. We test this hypothesis using the Cedefop European skills and jobs survey (ESJS) and the results confirm these expectations. Workers learn more from job tasks that are more demanding than if they would work in a job that perfectly matches their initial skill level and this skill growth is largest for those who start with a small skill deficit. The learning opportunities are worst when workers start in a job for which they have a skill surplus. This is reflected in the type of learning activities that workers take up. Workers with a small skill deficit are more often engaged in informal learning activities. Finally, workers who started with a small skill deficit are no less satisfied with their job than workers who started in a well-matched job. We conclude that a skill match is good for workers, but a small skill deficit is even better. This puts some responsibility on employers to keep job tasks and responsibilities at a challenging level for their employees.

The purpose of this study is to assess the training needs on emotional intelligence (EI) of librarians serving in the university libraries of Pakistan.

A structured questionnaire was used to gather data from a randomly selected sample of Pakistani university librarians. A paired sample t-test was used to examine the significance of difference between the four indicators of EI. Further, descriptive statistics were used to assess the training needs on EI.

The difference between all indicators of EI was found to be significant. The results showed less than 50 per cent of deficit, more than 50 per cent of surplus and 20 per cent of job best fit in terms of EI of university librarians. Further, results illustrated that librarians require training to cover the skill deficiencies. Similarly, top-down allocation of tasks is required to produce more person-job fit and control surplus or over utilisation of the skills.

Findings of this study have several implications for university librarians, such as designing of training programs, incorporation of EI in the performance evaluation to investigate the causes of deficit and surplus in EI, etc.

This study is a first attempt that extended the scope of EI towards librarianship in Pakistan. The findings probably motivate university librarians to improve the current level of their EI.

By supplying the skilled workers needed, occupational training plays a fundamental role in the maintenance of a healthy economy. Although planners are not accountable for ensuring a perfect fit between training offerings and employment opportunities, they should anticipate shortages and surpluses of skilled workers. Decision makers can then take corrective action to expand, improve, curtail, or discontinue existing training or add new offerings. In order to discern skilled worker shortages/surpluses, the labour market demand must be determined. Workforce projection and forecasting approaches and labour market signalling approaches are used to make these determinations. The strengths and weaknesses of each approach must be considered when selecting the ones to use. Discusses a number of viable approaches and lists their strengths and weaknesses in tables to facilitate comparisons. Also includes supplemental instruments as examples and to provide guidance in determining workforce requirements. An appendix defines the terminology used.

This paper seeks to develop a framework for Indian labour reforms that lay emphasis on economic growth and social development by balancing growth needs of firms and socio‐economic imperatives of a developing nation. It proposes four management systems and details their interactional dynamics at three levels, namely, at the level of economic security, employment regulation and system flexibility.

This paper provides a literature review of current developments in India with respect to employment, and an analysis of existing labour relations frameworks for similar country contexts.

Labour relations in developing countries is characterised by recent shift to market driven external environment, economically vulnerable surplus labour, low skills, inflexible employment laws, politicised unions with low labour representation, and low corporate involvement in governance. There is a need for policy changes that incorporate economic stability for labour, employment regulation for organisational flexibility, union management for true representation and corporate contribution in labour security and governance.

While market driven, privatization policy regime, are being adopted as a strategy by developing economies to promote economic growth, the resultant need for constant innovation faced by the organisations demand a new policy system for effective labour regulation. Governments are unable to define an effective labour relations policy, constrained and discouraged by the difficulty in balancing the socio‐economic complexity of a developing country. The framework proposed in this paper is a multilevel model, which allows for more efficient and socially effective balance between needs of the firm and the labour.

This chapter analyses the recovery of the Danish economy from the crisis of the 1980s, its elevation to a bit of an ‘economic miracle’ or at least an ‘employment miracle’ from 1995 to 2005 and its subsequent decline during the financial crisis, which revealed more long-standing problems that precluded a quick recovery. The solution of Denmark's structural balance of payment problems in the early 1990s paved the way for long-term prosperity, and Denmark managed the challenges of globalisation and deindustrialisation almost without social costs. However, an accumulation of short-term policy failures and credit liberalisation facilitated a credit and housing bubble, a consumption-driven boom and declining competitiveness. In broad terms, the explanation is political; this includes not only vote- and office-seeking strategies of the incumbent government but also ideational factors such as agenda setting of economic policy. Somewhat unnoticed – partly because of preoccupation with long-term challenges of ageing and shortage of labour – productivity and economic growth rates had slowed down over several years. The Danish decline in GDP 2008–2009 was larger than in the 1930s, and after the bubble burst, there were few drivers of economic growth. Households consolidated and were reluctant to consume; public consumption had to be cut as well; exports increased rather slowly; and in this climate, there was little room for private investments. Financially, the Danish economy remained healthy, though. Current accounts revealed record-high surpluses after the financial crisis; state debt remained moderate, and if one were to include the enormous retained taxes in private pension funds, net state debt would de facto be positive. Still, around 2010–2011 there were few short-term drivers of economic growth, and rather unexpectedly, it turned out that unemployment problems were likely to prevail for several years.

The study aims to provide a critical review of the extent to which digital technologies are likely to replace human labour, the exponential rise in the amount of work to be done and how far distinctively human skills are future-proofed and therefore likely to be in short supply. It reviews the evidence for a permanent switch to home and remote working enabled by emerging technologies. It assesses the business, digital and labour strategies of work organisations and the promise and challenges from a dominant trend towards a digitally enabled flexible labour model.

A critical review of 1020 plus case studies and the extant literature was carried out.

The relationship between emerging technologies and work is widely misunderstood, and there are major qualifiers to the idea of an overwhelming tsunami of technology drastically reducing headcounts globally. Distinctive human skills remain valuable, the amount of work to be done is increasing exponentially and automation is becoming more a coping than a labour replacement mechanism. Moves to a hybrid digitalised flexible labour model are promising but not if short-term, and if the challenges they represent are not managed well.

The main limitation is that we are making projections into the future, though we are drawing on a lot of different sources and evidence and past data projected into the future.

The problem is not labour displacement but large skills shortages that will slow down the speed of technology adoption. Skills development is vital, as is the taking of long-term perspectives towards the management of hybrid, flexible working based on human-machine interactions.

Organisations need to revitalise their training and development and labour management models. Governments and intermediary institutions need to manage transition states if the skills required to gain economic growth are to be available, and to ensure that large labour pools do not get bypassed from not having requisite skills.

The study offers a more subtle and complex perspective on the emerging evidence about the future of technology and work.

This paper discusses the redevelopment of MSc Civil Engineering and Construction Management of a modern university in the Midlands of the UK in recent years, with the aim to offer flexible future learning opportunities for built environment professionals and address the sector's skill shortage concerns (Augar Review, 2019 and 2021; Department for Education (DfE), 2020 and 2021; Foresight Review, 2017).

The research method is insider action research and a case study approach. It involves interviews with external and internal stakeholders who contributed to this redevelopment and review of relevant documents related to the development.

The research finding showed that both the internal and external stakeholders welcome the proposed redevelopment of postgraduate courses in Civil Engineering and Construction Management. They found the course offers opportunities for civil engineering and construction professionals to further develop their skills and to address government initiatives on flexible and future learning. The online offer of the course is attractive to potential students. It has brought a substantial financial return to the university and created a new international presence of the course and the university.

It has been argued that an insider research approach may have an advantage in accessing information compared to other research methods. The case study approach may have limitations on generalisability.

This research can be used as an example for other universities that aim to enhance their existing offers to address government initiatives and enhance financial viability.

This paper is a pilot study examining a university's response to skill shortage and government proposal on flexible learning for adults through redevelopment and enhancement of the offer of the existing postgraduate courses.

Aims to consider scenarios created by work‐based learning (WBL) providers in the Tees Valley in the UK

The context of WBL is examined in relation to the notion of the skills gap. The method of scenario development is described

A key task of WBL is to raise the skills levels of young people. WBL providers who deliver over 80 per cent of work‐based, vocational learning across the UK. However, the future of such providers is becoming very uncertain and already their numbers are declining as funding cuts and quality inspections begin to bite. The context of WBL is examined in relation to the notion of the skills gap. Four scenarios are presented of the future of WBL with implications for the present.

Of major concern is the persistence of the low skills equilibrium in UK which will continue to affect the attitudes of learner and the decisions of employers. It becomes necessary to work with employers to consider how skill formation can be deepened.

This paper provides an insight into the views of WBL providers, caught between government requirements to tackle the UK skills problem and employers who define the skills required.