Over the last decade, the Internet became an important part of people’s lives in many countries. As of November 2007, 71 % of US households and 55.7% of EU households had access to the Internet. It only took a decade to reach such high levels of penetration in the US and EU. Internet penetration rates are rapidly increasing in other parts of the world as well. The Internet undoubtedly affects many sides of our daily lives.
Obviously, there are many avenues through which Internet has also changed the labor markets. Autor (2001) writes that Internet changes (i) how workers and firms search for one another, (ii) how labor services are delivered and (iii) how local markets shape labor demand. In my paper, I am going to discuss some of the issues related to the job search on Internet and the role of Internet in matching workers with employers.
For most of the job seekers, the Internet vastly improved an access to the information about opening, job and company description. Similarly, the Internet enormously increased the pool of potential applicants for positions advertised by firms online. The Internet had also an impact on the job application process. The most prominent tools for job search tools offered by the Internet are online job boards and corporate “careers” web pages. The Internet offers job boards with searchable databases of openings and job seekers. Workers can locate and apply online for the positions listed on the most of the job boards. Firms can also search for applicants who meet pre-specified profiles and contact them directly. Monster.com and Careerbuilder.com are among the largest job boards on Internet. Most of the firms with functioning websites maintain “Careers” webpages. The functionality of corporate “careers” websites is diverse. Some of them are limited to the information about the opening, job description and contact addresses. More sophisticated websites allow for CV composition and online application.
Despite the enormous interest in the topic, we still know very little impact of the Internet job search on job search outcomes because of limited data availability. My paper will attempt to narrow this information gap, by defining the profile of people who use the Internet for job search and assess at the impact of Internet job search tool on some labor market outcomes, namely, the likelihood of reemployment and duration of unemployment.
In my paper I am going to analyze the following research questions:
(i)                Who is looking for jobs online?
(ii)              What is the impact of Internet job search on the likelihood of finding job and duration of unemployment?
The study will use data from the September 2001 and October 2003 CPS Computer and Internet Supplements. These surveys have questions related to use of Internet for the job search activities.