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"Too Shocked to Search": The COVID-19 Shutdowns' Impact on the Search for Apprenticeships

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  • Goller, Daniel

    (University of Bern)

  • Wolter, Stefan C.

    (University of Bern)

Abstract

This study is, to the best of our knowledge, the first analysis of apprenticeship supply that allows us to analyse the effects of the shutdowns triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic before, during and after these shutdowns by means of daily searches for vacant apprenticeships. Analysing over 10 million search queries on the national administrative platform for apprenticeship offers from February 2020 until April 2021 we find a sharp reduction of up to 40% in the daily number of search queries associated to the first shutdown in March 2020, followed by some catch-up effect thereafter. Although we find a strong relationship between the intensity of the politically imposed restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic and daily search queries, this relationship weakens over time as the pandemic progresses. Finally, we find a large heterogeneity of effects, but all regions and occupational groups studied show a statistically significant negative effect of the measures on the search intensity for apprenticeships.

Suggested Citation

  • Goller, Daniel & Wolter, Stefan C., 2021. ""Too Shocked to Search": The COVID-19 Shutdowns' Impact on the Search for Apprenticeships," IZA Discussion Papers 14345, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp14345
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    Cited by:

    1. Daniel Goller & Chiara Graf & Stefan C. Wolter, 2024. "The virtues of going virtual," Economics of Education Working Paper Series 0224, University of Zurich, Department of Business Administration (IBW).
    2. Goller, Daniel & Wolter, Stefan C., 2023. "Reaching for Gold! The Impact of a Positive Reputation Shock on Career Choice," IZA Discussion Papers 16607, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    3. Thomas Bolli & Guillaume Morlet, 2023. "Does human capital theory govern the relationship between training provision and the business cycle? Evidence from Switzerland," French Stata Users' Group Meetings 2023 26, Stata Users Group.
    4. Werner, Katharina & Woessmann, Ludger, 2021. "The Legacy of COVID-19 in Education," IZA Discussion Papers 14796, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    5. 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).
    6. Monika Bütler, 2022. "Economics and economists during the COVID-19 pandemic: a personal view," Swiss Journal of Economics and Statistics, Springer;Swiss Society of Economics and Statistics, vol. 158(1), pages 1-15, December.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    stringency index; Switzerland; COVID-19; apprenticeship;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I20 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - General
    • J22 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Time Allocation and Labor Supply

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