The Role of Occupational Switching on Retirement of American Midlife Workers

An increasing number of midlife Americans are financially unprepared for retirement. This is a problem because of the increasing life expectancy that prolongs the need for financial resources. One way to resolve this problem is to postpone full retirement by having bridge jobs that provide more time to work and accumulate retirement savings. While having a bridge job means numerous labor market behavior such as working for different employers and reducing work hours and intensity, there is a limited number of studies focused specifically on how switching occupations can contribute to retirement decisions with a longer time frame. This study investigated the association between occupational switching and retirement patterns of American midlife workers aged between 50 to 59 years using the Health and Retirement Study longitudinal data from 2004 to 2016, Occupational Information Network data, and American Community Survey from 2003 to 2016. The changes in occupational demandingness before and after switching occupations were reflected by using mover design event study regression with fixed effects. In general, occupational switching is associated with later retirement until two to three years after switching occupations for both genders, yet this association varies by the directions of the change in occupational demandingness.

Association of mental demands in the workplace with cognitive function in older adults at increased risk for dementia

Objectives Growing evidence suggests a protective effect of high mental demands at work on cognitive function in later life. However, evidence on corresponding associations in older adults at increased risk for dementia is currently lacking. This study investigates the association between mental demands at work and cognitive functioning in the population of the AgeWell.de-trial. Methods Cross-sectional investigation of the association between global cognitive functioning (Montreal Cognitive Assessment) and mental demands at work in older individuals at increased risk for dementia (Cardiovascular Risk Factors, Aging, and Incidence of Dementia (CAIDE)score ≥ 9; n = 941, age: 60–77 years). Occupational information was matched to Occupational Information Network (O*NET)-descriptors. Associations between cognitive function and O*NET-indices executive, verbal and novelty were investigated using generalized linear models. Results Higher values of index verbal (b = .69, p = .002) were associated with better cognitive function when adjusting for covariates. No association was observed for indices executive (b = .37, p = .062) and novelty (b = .45, p = .119). Higher education, younger age, and employment were linked to better cognitive function, while preexisting medical conditions did not change the associations. Higher levels of depressive symptomatology were associated with worse cognitive function. Conclusions Higher levels of verbal demands at work were associated with better cognitive function for older adults with increased dementia risk. This suggests an advantage for older persons in jobs with high mental demands even after retirement and despite prevalent risk factors. Longitudinal studies are warranted to confirm these results and evaluate the potential of workplaces to prevent cognitive decline through increased mental demands.

Automation in Colombia: assessing skills needed for the future of work

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to identify workforce skills that protect an occupation from elimination due to automation technology.Design/methodology/approachThe authors apply a Gaussian process (GP) classifier, based on the level of non-automatable work activities in an occupation, to USA and Colombian occupational datasets.FindingsThe authors find that communication, interpersonal relationship management and decision-making skills are most important in occupations that are resistant to automation.Research limitations/implicationsThe results are based on work activities data from the Occupational Information Network (O*NET) database developed for the USA labor market. This dataset does not capture significant differences in work activities, where they exist, for the same occupation between the two countries. The findings are also limited to Colombia. Readers should be careful to extrapolate the findings outside of this geography.Originality/valueThe authors discover that automation is likely to be a global phenomenon that can only be slightly mitigated by cultural and political factors.

Which Workers are Most Exposed to covid-19 and Social Distancing Effects in a Dual Labour Market?

This paper provides evidence for the different potential effects of covid-19 on formal and informal employment, using the work-from-home (Dingel & Neiman, 2020; Saltiel, 2020) and the proximity occupation approaches (Mongey et al., 2020) in Colombia. We found that only 13 % of informal employment positions can be performed from home (remotely) and that the figure for formal employment is twice as large (20 %). We recoded the raw occupational responses of the Colombian Household Survey to a granular level to directlycombine occupational information from two sources: O*net and step. We then calculated work-from-home estimates, extracting cohesive results from both sources. We investigated how personal and household characteristics relate to work-from-home and proximity and provide sound evidence for a larger effect on the informal population and its association with vulnerability (lower income and education levels, no internet access, poorworking conditions). Standard employment policies will not impact directly on the most vulnerable populations in developing countries where informal employment is the norm.

Connecting O*Net® Database to Cybersecurity Workforce Professional Certifications

The Occupational Information Network O*NET is considered the primary source of occupational information in the U.S. I explore here possible uses of O*NET data to inform cybersecurity workforce readiness certification programs. The O*NET database is used to map out education requirements and how they relate to professional certifications as required by employers and job designers in accordance with the National Initiative for Cybersecurity Careers and Studies (NICCS). The search focuses on the “Information Security Analysts” occupation as listed on O*NET, Careeronestop, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), and finally tied back to NICCS source work role to identify certifications requirements. I found that no site has listed any certification as required, desirable or mandatory. NICCS offered general guidance to potential topics and areas of certification. Careeronestop site provided the ultimate guidance for this role certification. Professional certifications are still not integrated in the Cybersecurity Workforce Framework official guidance.

Occupational profiling driven by online job advertisements: Taking the data analysis and processing engineering technicians as an example

The occupational profiling system driven by the traditional survey method has some shortcomings such as lag in updating, time consumption and laborious revision. It is necessary to refine and improve the traditional occupational portrait system through dynamic occupational information. Under the circumstances of big data, this paper showed the feasibility of vocational portraits driven by job advertisements with data analysis and processing engineering technicians (DAPET) as an example. First, according to the description of occupation in the Chinese Occupation Classification Grand Dictionary, a text similarity algorithm was used to preliminarily choose recruitment data with high similarity. Second, Convolutional Neural Networks for Sentence Classification (TextCNN) was used to further classify the preliminary corpus to obtain a precise occupational dataset. Third, the specialty and skill were taken as named entities that were automatically extracted by the named entity recognition technology. Finally, putting the extracted entities into the occupational dataset, the occupation characteristics of multiple dimensions were depicted to form a profile of the vocation.

UJI VALIDITAS ISI TARUMANAGARA CAREER DECISION SELF-EFFICACY SCALE

In the process of career decision making, being confidence in the chosen career (career decision making self-efficacy [CDMSE]) is the final stage also an important construct to be success in career. Since adolescents, especially in high school, students is required to choose a field of specialization which is the beginning of their future career decision. It is important for teenagers to have confidence in their chosen career so that they’re motivated to explore further their choice and success in it. The aim of this research is to provide recommended scale that can be used in career decision making self-efficacy’s research. The test development is carried out through content validation study by referring to the selected scale from systematic review method. Content validation study is done through expert judgment. Some of the modifications include the adjustment to language/grammar, culture, meaning, type of scaling method, and dimensions also items based on the career decision making self-efficacy’s case/problem in Indonesia, especially for adolescence in high school. The result of this study recommended measuring instrument named Tarumanagara Career Decision Self-Efficacy Scale (Tarumanagara CDSES). This scale consists of 30 items, includes five items of Occupational Information dimension, five items of Goal Selection dimension, four items of Self-Appraisal dimension, three items of School Achievement dimension, four items of Problem-Solving dimension, five items of Social Support dimension, and four items of Planning dimension. Dalam proses keputusan karir, keyakinan terhadap karir yang akan dipilih (career decision making self-efficacy [CDMSE]) adalah tahap akhir dan merupakan konstruk yang penting dalam kesuksesan karir. Remaja, dalam hal ini sejak jenjang pendidikan SMA telah dituntut untuk memilih bidang peminatan yang merupakan awal proses keputusan karir di masa depan. Penting bagi remaja untuk memiliki keyakinan terhadap karir yang hendak dipilih guna memiliki motivasi untuk mengeksplorasi lebih jauh pilihannya sehingga dapat sukses dalam karir yang dijalani. Tujuan penelitian ini adalah untuk menghasilkan alat ukur yang dapat direkomendasikan untuk digunakan dalam penelitian mengenai konstruk keyakinan terhadap keputusan karir. Pengembangan alat ukur dilakukan melalui studi validitas isi dengan mengacu pada alat ukur terpilih dari hasil tinjauan sistematis. Metode uji validitas isi dilakukan melalui penilaian pakar/ahli. Beberapa modifikasi yang dilakukan adalah penyesuaian tata bahasa, budaya, makna, jenis skala pengukuran, dan butir serta dimensi berdasarkan latar permasalahan keyakinan terhadap keputusan karir di Indonesia, khususnya pada siswa SMA usia remaja. Hasil penelitian merekomendasikan alat ukur Tarumanagara CDSES yang terdiri atas 30 butir dengan rincian lima butir dalam dimensi Occupational Information, lima butir dalam dimensi Goal Selection, empat butir dalam dimensi Self-Appraisal, tiga butir dalam dimensi School Achievement, empat butir dalam dimensi Problem Solving, lima butir dalam dimensi Social Support, dan empat butir dalam dimensi Planning.

Examining changes in sleep duration associated with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic: Who is sleeping and who is not?

Introduction The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in social isolation and reports of insomnia. However, reports of changes in sleep duration and associated factors are few. Methods Data were from an online survey of adults recruited via social media that included a question asking whether the respondent slept less or more after the onset of the pandemic. Analyses determined the association between changes in sleep duration and self reported sociodemographic and occupational information; beliefs about COVID-19; changes in sleep patterns; and responses pertaining to loneliness, anxiety, and depression. Results There were 5,175 respondents; 53.9% had a change in sleep duration. 17.1% slept less and 36.7% slept more. Sleeping more was related to greater education, being single/divorced/separated, unemployed or a student. Being retired, divorced/separated or a homemaker, and living in the Mountain or Central time zones were associated with less sleep. Beliefs that COVID-19 would result in personal adverse consequences was associated with both more and less sleep. However, the strongest associations with both more and less sleep were seen with depression, anxiety, and loneliness with adjusted odds ratios ranging from 1.92 (95% CI 1.67-2.21) for sleeping more and loneliness to 5.29 (95% CI 4.1-6.7) for sleeping less and anxiety. Conclusions Changes in sleep duration since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic were highly prevalent among social media users and were associated with several sociodemographic factors and beliefs that COVID-19 would have adverse personal impacts. However, the strongest associations occurred with worse mental health suggesting that improvements may occur with better sleep.

Aggression in the Workplace Makes Social Distancing Difficult

Background: The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is still spreading. While social distancing has attracted attention as a measure to prevent the spread of infection, some occupations find it difficult to practice it. Therefore, we decided to investigate the differences in the ease of practicing social distancing depending on the occupation using the data on O*NET, an occupational information site.Methodology: Eight factors were extracted by performing exploratory factor analysis based on certain rules while eliminating arbitrariness as much as possible: adverse conditions, leadership, information processing, response to aggression, mechanical movement, autonomy, communication with the outside, and horizontal teamwork.Results: Adverse conditions, response to aggression, and horizontal teamwork had a positive correlation with physical proximity, while information processing, mechanical movement, autonomy, and communication with the outside had a negative correlation with it. Furthermore, multiple regression analysis showed that response to aggression, not just teamwork, as assumed in previous studies, had the greatest influence on physical proximity.Conclusion: To maintain social distancing, it is necessary to constrain aggression in the workplace.