Frick, Kevin Michael, Hazard, Yagan, Mayaux, Damien and Zuber, Thomas (2025) Skill Distance Between Occupations and Post‑Training Professional Transitions of Jobseekers. Économie et Statistique (n° 547). pp. 49-67.

Abstract

Does vocational training help correct structural imbalances in the labour market?
We propose a new measure of the skills distance between occupations, obtained by fine‑tuning a large language model on a sample of job offers. Using this method, we demonstrate that the “return to employment” differential between jobseekers with and without training is driven by a reallocation of workers towards occupations that are very different from their previous posts in terms of the skills required. From a purely reallocative perspective, however, the return to employment differential associated with vocational training does not appear to be driven by more jobseekers moving to occupations where employers are struggling to recruit.