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offices, which required the same level of skills. 12 The high numbers of both the unemployed and job postings for the same skill group may reflect a regional disparity in labor supply and demand. Alternatively, there may be mismatch in the supply of and demand for specific skills for particular industries or occupations. While we documented the regional variation in the share of the low-skilled unemployed as well as their distribution across different industries and occupations, the vacancy data posted by the Czech Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs are currently not available by region, industry or occupation for the specific skill groups. As a result, the supply-demand mismatch cannot be analyzed. There are additional data issues that make the mismatch analysis problematic. First, vacancy data from the Czech labor offices are not directly comparable to the unemployment data from the Labor Force Survey. Second, there is some evidence that vacancy data and vacancy advertising may not be representative of the actual labor demand.13 Finally, the coexistence of numerous low-skilled individuals and numerous low-skill vacancies may also be driven by the fact that the level of skills demanded by employers may not be fully captured by the skill level acquired in formal education, such that the low- skilled unemployed can only be matched to jobs after upgrading their skills. Without additional data, it cannot be determined to what extent it is the skill mismatch or the need for upskilling that prevents low-skilled job seekers from obtaining advertised low-skill jobs. 7. Alternative Definition of the Low-skilled The standard definition of the low-skilled considers only the skills acquired in formal education. It classifies individuals with low education as low-skilled even if they have acquired additional skills out of school. Similarly, it classifies those with higher 12 Source: Monthly vacancy data from the Czech Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs reporting the average number of vacancies that required at most ISCED 2 level of education in 2016: http://portal.mpsv.cz/sz/stat/nz/qrt. 13 There is anecdotal evidence that vacancies reported at Czech labor offices often offer unreasonably low wages for very demanding work, because the only reason employers post such vacancies is to comply with the legislative requirement of 30 days during which the vacancy must be advertised on the notice board of the labor office before it can be offered to an employee from outside the EU.   33 


































































































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