Edward Elgar Publishing Global Skill Shortages

As the world entered the twenty-first century, global skill shortages in many occupations were evident throughout the world. While these were mitigated by a global recession, there is no generally agreed upon method for measuring these shortages. This book discusses various theories for measurement. Using data collected from 19 developed countries in North and Latin America, Europe, and the Pacific region, the authors explore various aspects of skilled labor shortages, develop a methodology of measuring shortages by occupation, and provide estimates of the likelihood of the occurrence of such shortages. They develop labor market indicators which measure the degree of shortage or surplus in different occupations. The study covers as many as 49 occupational groups, although the number varies by country. The indicators are compared to anecdotal reports about shortages in the countries studied as well as correlated with various economic, political and institutional indicators. Some occupations such as CEO's, health professionals and computer scientists were common across many countries studied and part of a global shortage. Scholars, government officials, students and corporate and union representatives concerned with employment, labor and training policies and issues will find the data and analysis in this book a valuable addition to their knowledge. Review 'Just before sitting down to write these few words, I happened upon this lead-in to a USA Today article (May 14, 2002), 'Nurse anaesthetists in short supply - Hospitals crank up salaries to attract pivotal employees.' And, as many are aware, this particular shortage has been the case for a period of time measured in decades. Why is it that, for some job classes, supply persists in falling short of demand at the going wage for long periods of time, whether or not the aggregate labor market is tight or slack? What characteristics of labor markets explain this phenomenon? What are the observable indicators that identify a particular job class as being seriously in shortage or as heading into such a condition? Do the same indicators manage to identify most shortage categories? Is the shortage phenomenon local, national, or global? How do economic agents, both on the supply and the demand side, cope with such shortages? These are some of the major issues dealt with by Cohen and Zaidi in their concise and highly readable Global Skill Shortages. Economists, business managers, HR professionals, career counsellors, and educators will all enjoy and get the message in this well-written book. Economists in particular, however, will appreciate the way the authors push the analytics of the problem into suggesting the route to empirical indicators.' About the Author Malcolm S. Cohen, President, Employment Research Corporation, Ann Arbor, Michigan and a former Director, Institute of Labor and Industrial Relations, University of Michigan, US and Mahmood A. Zaidi, Professor of Human Resources and Industrial Relations, and Director, International Program Development, Carlson School of Management, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, US