Suchergebnisse

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to consider the impact of the shift to a service‐based economy on the employability of unemployed job seekers, specifically focussing on skill acquisition and utilisation. The article considers the provision of training opportunities for unemployed people who are seeking to re‐enter the workplace, and whether such training is taking into account the skills demanded in interactive service work. The article also considers the views of unemployed people towards interactive service work.Design/methodology/approachThe study employs a qualitative approach drawing on interview and focus group data gathered from policymakers, training providers and unemployed job seekers.FindingsThe data suggests there is little existing training provision for interactive service work for unemployed job seekers and that where it does exist it is not geared towards the skills demands of employers. It is also apparent from the research that unemployed job seekers hold a negative view of employment in the interactive service sector, due to both objective and subjective factors.Research limitations/implicationsThe research is limited to one geographical region and research in other regenerating cities could offer potentially different insights.Practical implicationsThe article enjoins with policy debates which are focussing on skills training to enhance employability, considering the importance of apposite skills training. The article also examines the practical and attitudinal barriers to employment that prevent many unemployed jobseekers from gaining access to service sector employment.Originality/valueThe article offers a valuable contribution to ongoing debates surrounding access to employment in the service sector for unemployed job seekers.

This report addresses a core issue facing Congress during the 112th Congress: what, if any, additional action should the federal government take to enhance small business access to capital? After briefly discussing the role of small business in job creation and retention, this report provides an assessment of the supply and demand for small business loans. It also examines selected laws enacted during the 110th and 111th Congresses that were designed to enhance small business access to capital by increasing the supply of small business loans and/or the demand for small business loans. This report also includes empirical evidence concerning small business lending and borrowing, including the number and amount of small business loans guaranteed by the SBA.

The Small Business Administration's (SBA) authorization is due to expire on September 30, 2010. The SBA administers several programs to support small businesses, including loan guarantees to help small businesses gain access to capital. This report addresses a core issue facing Congress during the SBA's reauthorization process: what, if any, additional action should the federal government take to enhance small business access to capital?

Jobs are vital for individuals to work their way out of poverty and for promoting shared prosperity. Somalia has few formal social safety nets, and the country is steadily consolidating peace and rebuilding state institutions following decades of conflict. Putting in place a jobs strategy as well as adaptive social protection systems are key to strengthening citizen confidence in state institutions. The Federal Government of Somalia (FGS) seeks to generate economic growth to create jobs and promote economic inclusion, including opportunities for youth, the most excluded and vulnerable group in Somalia. Decent jobs are central to poverty reduction, and have far reaching implications for stability and security, empowerment, and household resilience. Central to any efforts to curb poverty is the creation of enough decent jobs to absorb workers, especially youth. Youth represent an integral part of the economically productive population, possessing many years of productive life before them. The youth bulge and demographic expansion in Somalia suggest a pressing need to create jobs for its youth while equipping future workers with the right set of skills. This report examines the profile of Somali household workers, and identify job characteristics and constraints for creating more and inclusive jobs. The study also evaluates youth employment, patterns of school-to-work transitions, and how well the Somali educational system prepares young people for the job market.

This survey is part of the LIVES-programme and analyzes how networks help the unemployed to find a job. It is based on a large inflow-sample of unemployed workers in Switzerland who had newly registered with the public employment services between February and April 2012 in the canton of Vaud. The unemployed workers filled in two questionnaires on their social contacts and their job search strategy at the very beginning and the end of their unemployment spell during an observation window of 17 months. The first survey, a paper-and-pencil questionnaire, was administered during the compulsory information session organized by the public employment service. The second survey was sent by e-mail and postal mail to those jobseekers who had left the employment service. An additional survey was sent to the long-term unemployed, 12 to 15 months after entry into unemployment. For over 75% of the original sample, survey data could be matched with data from the unemployment register, providing some information on earlier unemployment spells, pre-unemployment wages and occupations. This dataset thus contains detailed information on jobseekers' education, class, nationality, social network, job search method, unemployment duration, and characteristics of the old and new job.

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a legislative requirement, GAO provided information on the Access to Jobs and Reverse Commute program, which provides grants to improve transportation to employment for welfare recipients, focusing on the: (1) Department of Transportation's (DOT) implementation of the Job Access program, particularly its approach for selecting awards in fiscal year (FY) 1999; (2) FY 1999 grantees and their planned approaches for providing transportation services to low-income workers; and (3) changes DOT is making to the program in response to GAO's prior recommendations, including the establishment of specific objectives, performance criteria, and measurable goals for evaluating the program's success."

Survey of women's access to on-the-job training and women's employment problems in China. Analysis of women's participation in the labour market based on literature and on a survey conducted in three factories in Beijing by means of interviews and questionnaires. Examination of: women's position and distribution in the labour market; sex differences in educational attainment; women's access to on-the-job training; impacts of technical and vocational training on women's jobs. (Centre for the Study of Education in Developing Countries)

The Arab Spring in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region has brought to the forefront key challenges: the need to create job opportunities, equal access, a level playing field, transparency and accountability, and a fair and competitive environment. Crony capitalism, the privileged access of certain elites to favorable legal and regulatory treatment, access to markets, and the coincidence of political and economic power, was a major concern contributing to the uprising. Many saw privilege and corruption as the source of unemployment and inequality, effectively raising barriers to entry and growth for the majority of entrepreneurs. At the same time, practices such as connected lending and preferential land allocations, contributed to poor performance of key institutions, underpinning the market economy. It is critical for the MENA countries to achieve the aspirations of their people and attain sustainable and inclusive development by expanding private-led employment and creating entrepreneurship opportunities. This report assesses the supply and demand of financial services to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the MENA region, as well as the regulatory, institutional and policy environment that determines the cost, risk, and scale of SME finance. Emerging and promising SME finance models for banks, investors, government and regulators are outlined. These could significantly improve the outreach, viability, risk management, and development impacts of SME finance in the MENA region. SMEs need access to longer term credit products and equity, in addition to working capital loans and trade finance. They also need payment and card services, deposit facilities, liquidity management, risk management tools and insurance. The principal role of the state is as an enabler and regulator, providing the financial infrastructure, and legal and policy frameworks that financial institutions need to be able to meet the range of SME financial needs profitably. All this will contribute to attaining a more sustainable and inclusive system that can play a more important role in economic growth, and the regions prosperity.

This paper investigates the effect of access to finance on job growth in 50,000 firms across 70 developing countries. Using the introduction of credit bureaus as an exogenous shock to the supply of credit, the paper finds that increased access to finance results in higher employment growth, especially among micro, small, and medium enterprises. The results are robust to using firm fixed effects, industry measures of external finance dependence, and propensity score matching in a complementary panel data set of more than four million firms in 29 developing countries. The findings have implications for policy interventions targeted to produce job growth in micro, small, and medium enterprises.