Human resources Human resources in Croatian manufacturing: situation, changes, and effects

  structure of the work-force in manufacturing by skill or education: changes ; spec. ref. to the share of the highly educated   effects of high education on earnings in manufacturing   demand for the highly educated in technical fields   effects of the current crisis on demand   issues regarding recent and future supply of, and demand for, the highly educated Overview

  available data refer to registered employment in firms (not including small trades and crafts)   data have been gathered by establishment surveys, describing situation at end of March   classification problems: criteria not clear; a mix-up of various old classifications; difficult to interpret   roughly divided: workers with formal education, and manual workers with mostly on-the-job-training   manual workers mostly trained on the job: highly skilled, skilled, semi-skilled and unskilled   formally educated: with high (4-year tertiary) education, higher (2-year tertiary), medium (secondary), and lower education Skill structure of the work-force in manufacturing

TypeLevel Share in total (%) Change (p. points) Formally educated High education Higher Medium Low On-the-job trained Highly skilled Skilled Semi-skilled Unskilled

Skill structure of the work-force in manufacturing - men TypeLevel Share in total (%) Change (p. points) Formally educated High education Higher Medium Low On-the-job trained Highly skilled Skilled Semi-skilled Unskilled

Skill structure of the work-force in manufacturing - women TypeLevel Share in total (%) Change (p. points) Formally educated High education Higher Medium Low On-the-job trained Highly skilled Skilled Semi-skilled Unskilled

  highest share of workers with high or higher education in 2007 in the following industries: - manufacture of office machinery and computers (35.6%) - manuf. of radio, television and comm. equipment (30.8%) - manuf. of other electrical machinery and apparatus (25.9%)   share of the highly educated increased most strongly in the latter two of the above industries (8.2 and 8.0 p.p) over the period Skill structure of the labour force in manufacturing

  effects of the skill structure on earnings can be investigated using regional data on workers in manufacturing, by gender   very strong correlation between the share of workers with high or higher education in total number of male workers and the average wage of male workers   control variable – average wage of female workers, supposedly “collecting” the impact of all other factors (physical capital, technology, etc.)   partial correlation is also strong for female workers but weaker than for males   findings based on this specification imply that high education strongly affects productivity and earnings Effects of the skill structure

  effects of high education on earnings are stronger among males than among females probably due to different content (field, subject) of education   among workers with high or higher education, males are probably more trained in technical fields   examples: mechanical, electrical and electronic engineering   no systematic data on this, but some evidence shows that persons educated in those fields are in relatively high demand in the labour market   not many engineering graduates register with the employment service, but those that register find a job very soon,and those that don’t have already found it Demand for technical skills

  situation changed already in the second part of 2008: the highly educated in technical fields are no longer at the top of hiring   economic crisis strongly hit manufacturing industries (more on that in other presentations)   all categories of workers have been losing jobs, including the highly educated   first quarter 2009 / first quarter 2008, inflow of the newly unemployed coming directly from manufact.: all workers: +87.2% with higher education: +67.4% with high education: % Effects of the current crisis

  graduates from tertiary schools of mechanical, electrical and electronic engineering – approx.: 2004: 1, : 1, : 2, : 2,412 - clear positive trend, but more accurate data needed   the enrolled in the above schools – approx.: 2004: 16, : 15, : 14, : 14,258 - clear negative trend – a matter of concern Recent and future supply of the highly educated in technical fields

  Croatia becoming a member of the EU – expected effects in the manufacturing sector: - greater competition - stronger integration – deeper specialisation and higher returns to scale - larger investments, particularly in high-tech equipment   above developments will lead to higher demand for the educated in technical fields   some possible supply problems: EU membership can increase the “brain drain” – Croatia could lose some of the highly educated in technical fields Future demand for the highly educated in tech. fields and some supply problems

  share of the highly educated in manufacturing work- force is growing very slowly, esp. among men   share of the highly educated strongly affects productivity and earnings in manufacturing   number of tertiary-level graduates in technical fields is growing, but the number of the enrolled is declining   current crisis has reduced demand for all workers in manufacturing, including the highly educated   EU membership will increase demand for the highly educated workers in manufacturing but it could increase “brain drain” too   recommended: stimulating enrolment in tertiary education in technical fields, and investment in high- tech physical capital that is complementary Summary and recommendations