Research led by Professor Paul Osterman in 2013 indicates that policymakers’ focus on the “skills gap” among American workers may be misplaced, writes David Scharfenberg for The Boston Globe. According to the study, “employers, for the most part, are simply not demanding the high-level talents that the skills gap rhetoric would suggest.”
A team of researchers from MIT, Northeastern, and Harvard has found links between cell phone usage and unemployment, reports Janelle Nanos for BetaBoston. The researchers found that “cellphone use and mobility dropped significantly in areas which eventually reported massive unemployment spikes,” Nanos explains.
Wall Street Journal reporter Josh Zumbrun writes about a new study co-authored by MIT researchers that found that cell-phone records can indicate if a person has been laid off. The researchers found that “people’s social lives and mobility contracted following a layoff.”
Richard Eisenberg of Forbes speaks with Professor Ofer Sharone about his research and tips for white-collar job seekers. “Meeting with people face to face who you worked with in the past and can vouch for your abilities can help you overcome some of the barriers built into the hiring process,” says Sharone.
Scott Kirsner of BetaBoston highlights Anne Hunter’s jobs list, which has connected MIT students and alumni to potential employers since the 1990s. “The ‘jobs list’ is an MIT institution, a mailing list that any student can ask to get onto,” says alumni Michael McGraw-Herdeg. “Anne is a saint for having set the list up — I am sure it has changed lives.”
Professor Simon Johnson writes for The Guardian that relaxing some immigration constraints could help to reduce unemployment in the U.S. “[S]ome categories of immigrants tend to create jobs, so letting them in would directly increase employment opportunities for people already in the United States,” explains Johnson.
In a piece for The New York Times about poverty in America, Thomas B. Edsall highlights Professor David Autor’s work examining unemployment rates of American men. Autor and graduate student Melanie Wasserman found that for boys, “growing up in a single-parent home appears to significantly decrease the probability of college attendance.”
Peter Coy reports for Bloomberg Businessweek on a new partnership between Saudi Arabia and edX, the online education platform founded by MIT and Harvard. The venture aims to educate Saudi women, youth, disabled, and rural poor, all of whom suffer from high unemployment in the gulf kingdom.
Benjamin Swasey of WBUR reports on a project led by Professor Ofer Sharone that examines long-term unemployment. The project paired unemployed job seekers with career coaches and counselors. The research, “indicates to me that the damage being done by the unemployment can be mitigated,” explains Sharone.
The Economist looks at the work of Professor David Autor while investigating how technological advances are influencing future employment. Autor’s research indicates that the fact that a job can be automated does not guarantee it will be and other factors, such as the cost of labor, play a role.
The New Yorker’s Joshua Rothman reports on Professor Erik Brynjolfsson’s presentation about how smart machines will soon be able to replace human workers in many fields at a conference hosted by M.I.T.’s Initiative on the Digital Economy.
Thomas Edsall of The New York Times cites research by Professor David Autor that indicates a correlation between a rise in trade with China and a decrease in employment in certain sectors of the U.S. economy.
Debbie Siegelbaum reports for BBC News on how long-term unemployment is impacting Americans. The article cites research by MIT Professor Ofer Sharone, who found that Americans tend to blame themselves for unemployment.
MIT's Jonathan Gruber argues that the Congressional Budget Office's report on the Affordable Care Act is being misrepresented by opponents in a Los Angeles Times op-ed. According to Gruber, the reduction in employment outlined in the report is a function of greater flexibility for workers.