Soft Skills in the Youth Labor Market

Sara B. Heller and Judd B. Kessler

AEA Papers and Proceedings, 2022, vol. 112, 121-25

Abstract: This paper provides new descriptive evidence about which soft skills employers value in young, entry-level workers. We ran employer surveys as part of an experiment to generate letters of recommendation for New York City's Summer Youth Employment Program participants. Supervisors rated over 9,200 of their summer employees on overall quality and 10 separate soft skills. Better ratings correspond to better outside employment and earnings. We find that communication skills and dependability most impress employers. Young women's advantage in soft skills explains their entire advantage in overall ratings, as well as 14 percent of their advantage in outside earnings.

JEL-codes: H75 J13 J16 J24 J31 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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DOI: 10.1257/pandp.20221034

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