This title offers a wide ranging overview of the state of labour market forecasting in selected OECD countries. Besides presenting forecasting models, the contributions provide an introduction to past experiences of forecasting, highlight the requirements for building appropriate data sets and present the most contemporary forecasts available. In most cases the forecasts project mismatches in the labour market as they are likely to occur in the coming years with respect to occupational groups, qualifications and employment in specific sectors. The authors demonstrate how these insights might be used to help reduce employment risks both for the individual worker and the national labour market as a whole. The country examples also show how information on labour market trends is disseminated and used by various actors, such as policymakers, firms and individuals.

Table of Contents:
Contents: Preface 1. Why Forecast and For Whom? Some Introductory Remarks Michael Neugart and Klaus Schömann 2. Occupations and Skills in the United States: Projection Methods and Results through 2008 Burt S. Barnow 3. Forecasting Future Skill Needs in Canada Douglas A. Smith 4. Labour Market Forecasting in Japan: Methodology, Main Results and Implications Fujikazu Suzuki 5. Projections and Institutions: The State of Play in Britain Robert M. Lindley 6. A Review of Occupational Employment Forecasting for Ireland Jerry Sexton 7. Beyond Manpower Planning: A Labour Market Model for the Netherlands and its Forecasts to 2006 Frank Cörvers, Andries de Grip and Hans Heijke 8. French Occupational Outlooks by 2010: A Quantitative Approach Based on the FLIP-FAP Model Agnes Topiol 9. Projections of Qualifications and Occupations in Austria: Short-term Approaches, Macro Perspective and Emphasis on the Supply Side Lorenz Lassnigg 10. Projecting Labour Market Developments in Spain through 2010: From Massive Unemployment to Skill Gaps and Labour Shortages? Ferran Mañé and Josep Oliver-Alonso Index