What General Competencies Are Required from the Czech Labour Force?

Abstract

Knowledge of employers' requirements on competencies of job applicants is highly important in the process of human capital accumulation. This paper focuses on the general competencies since they can be applied in a wide range of jobs or tasks and increase an individual's employability. First, employers' requirements on general competencies are identified and described on the basis of 3,822 job advertisements published online. Second, the econometric analysis is used in order to test hypothesis whether examined demand for general competencies is really general or if it differs significantly with respect to required education and firm characteristics. The results of our probit regressions proved that the requirements on examined general skills significantly differ according to the education required and some categories of NACE and ownership of the firms.

Keywords: General competencies, soft competencies, job advertisements, probit model

JEL Classification: J23, J24