Job search and matching

Overview

How people search for and match to jobs reflects how well the labor market is functioning for both workers and employers. Frictions that inhibit effective, efficient searches and matches can lead to worse outcomes for both. New search technologies, including online platforms assisted by artificial intelligence, could improve search and matching but raise questions about their equity and effectiveness. And understanding how switching jobs and occupations affects workers’ career paths and economic trajectories is also critical to improving mobility.

Working Knowledge

Employer practices October 20, 2022

Article

A Preview of WorkRise’s 2023 Funding Opportunities: Catalyzing Partnerships for Equity and Impact

In January, WorkRise will launch three new funding opportunities for research to inform solutions that advance economic mobility for workers earning low wages in the US labor market.

Caleb Quakenbush

October 20, 2022

Skills and training April 08, 2022

Article

How Randomized Evaluations Build Evidence to Inform Workforce Program Design, Policy, and Investment

Four takeaways from J-PAL North America and WorkRise joint panel on the power of randomized controlled trials in generating evidence to inform and guide decisionmaking and investment in workforce training.

Sam Haas

April 08, 2022

Job search and matching April 08, 2022

Changemaker Q&A

How “Netflix for Jobs” Is Unlocking Economic Mobility: A Q&A with Scott Jensen

Chief executive officer and vice president of external affairs for Research Improving People's Lives shares insights on how data, science, and technology can identify promising employment and training opportunities for jobseekers looking to earn more or gain new skills.

Andrew Boardman

April 08, 2022

Job search and matching February 22, 2022

Changemaker Q&A

Activating Pathways for Mobility: A Q&A with Opportunity@Work

WorkRise grantee Opportunity@Work is building a movement to dismantle structural inequities in the labor market to expand opportunity to workers without college degrees.

Archana Pyati

February 22, 2022

Research

Job search and matching Brief August 09, 2023

Search and Matching for Jobseekers

Each month, millions of workers in the United States move into or out of jobs. For workers in low-wage employment, transitions to new, higher-paying positions are an important driver of upward economic mobility. For those out of work, regaining…

Joe Peck , William J. Congdon

WorkRise Research

August 09, 2023

Job search and matching Report July 20, 2022

Search and Matching in Modern Labor Markets: A Landscape Report

This landscape report synthesizes research on how job seekers find work and how employers post and fill open positions in the labor market. It also explores frictions experienced by both parties and implications for workers’ economic mobility.

Alexander W. Bartik, Bryan A. Stuart

WorkRise Research

July 20, 2022

Job search and matching Executive Summary January 14, 2022

Rise with the STARs

New research from WorkRise grantee Opportunity@Work demonstrates the harm and exclusion workers without four-year degrees who are “skilled through alternative routes” (STARs) experience in the labor market.

Papia Debroy, Justin Heck

Grantee Research

January 14, 2022