Question

Can frictional unemployment by itself explain the fact that the late 2010s saw more job openings than unemployed workers? Why are there plenty of skilled workers among older job seekers but very few in their twenties, thirties, and forties? What happens to the speed at which positions are filled if employers ask for unnecessary qualifications?

Short answer

No frictional employment cannot alone explain the reason for greater job openings than unemployed workers.

By the end of the 2010s, the pattern of education shifted from vocational skills to college preparation classes which made the young labor force less skilled. Therefore, there were more skilled workers in the old labor force rather than the young ones.

When employers require unnecessary qualifications, the rate of position filling goes down.

Step-by-step solution

Reason for more job openings than unemployed workers in the US in the late 2010s

In the late 2010s, there were 6.2 million unemployed individuals in the US despite 7.2 million employment opportunities. The gap of 1 million between unemployed and available job opportunities is too high to be explained by frictional unemployment alone.Other factors responsible for such a wide gap are skills mismatch, location issues, and the requirement of unnecessary skills.

In the late 2010s, there was less skilled labor among youngsters. They were more trained in academics. Also, the spread of job opportunities was uneven throughout the country, and people were rarely willing to relocate. Therefore, the positions remained vacant due to higher demand for labor than the labor supply in that area.

The third and final factor is the requirement of unnecessary skills. Since all the people did not have so many skills, the positions were left vacant.

Reason for plenty of old skilled workers compared to young generation

By the late 2010s, schools started focusing more on college preparation classes and subject knowledge. The training for vocational jobs was left behind. Therefore, skilled labor was only among the old citizens. As the senior citizens were retiring, the positions for skilled labor were left unfilled due to a mismatch of skills among the young labor force.

Impact of the unnecessary requirement of qualifications on the speed of the employment

Employers generally ask for higher skills and qualifications than what is required to perform the roles. When job applicants do not have these high skills, the job positions go unfilled for a longer duration. Therefore, the speed at which the positions are filled slows down.

For example, the post of junior HR executive requires a degree of MBA and only 40% of the applicants hold the degree. Many times students who have just enrolled for the degree start with the junior HR executive jobs. Therefore, sometimes people lose the chance of getting such jobs due to a lack of unnecessary degrees.