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Does ICT affect the demand for vocationally educated workers?

Author

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  • Filippo Pusterla

    (Swiss Federal University for Vocational Education and Training SFUVET
    Chair of Education Systems)

  • Ursula Renold

    (Chair of Education Systems)

Abstract

This paper examines the effect of information and communication technologies (ICT) on the demand for workers in Switzerland. We compare the hypotheses that an increase in ICT leads to upskilling or job polarization and investigate their implications for countries where vocational education and training (VET) is the most widespread education program at the upper secondary level. Using data from a large employer–employee survey, we create a novel measure of ICT based on the percentage of ICT workers within firms. This measure allows us to assess the impact of ICT on the educational composition of the workforce by exploiting variation over time. We find that ICT has an upskilling effect from 1996 to 2018: ICT decreases the demand for low-skilled workers while increasing the demand for high-skilled workers, especially those with a tertiary vocational education. These results strongly suggest that VET is a valid alternative to a strictly academic education, because workers with a tertiary VET degree are as good, or better, at adjusting to technological change as workers with a tertiary academic education.

Suggested Citation

  • Filippo Pusterla & Ursula Renold, 2022. "Does ICT affect the demand for vocationally educated workers?," Swiss Journal of Economics and Statistics, Springer;Swiss Society of Economics and Statistics, vol. 158(1), pages 1-22, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:sjecst:v:158:y:2022:i:1:d:10.1186_s41937-022-00101-8
    DOI: 10.1186/s41937-022-00101-8
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    Cited by:

    1. Christian Gschwendt, 2022. "Routine job dynamics in the Swiss labor market," Swiss Journal of Economics and Statistics, Springer;Swiss Society of Economics and Statistics, vol. 158(1), pages 1-21, December.
    2. Daniel Goller & Christian Gschwendt & Stefan C. Wolter, 2023. ""This time it's different" Generative Artificial Intelligence and Occupational Choice," Economics of Education Working Paper Series 0209, University of Zurich, Department of Business Administration (IBW).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Labor demand; Skill-biased technical change; Job polarization; Information and communication technologies; Vocational education and training;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E24 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Employment; Unemployment; Wages; Intergenerational Income Distribution; Aggregate Human Capital; Aggregate Labor Productivity
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • O33 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Technological Change: Choices and Consequences; Diffusion Processes

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