Labour market information that identifies skills needs represents a valuable tool for the reduction of skills gaps. The use of online job portals, which has become increasingly popular with both companies needing to recruit staff and individuals looking for job opportunities, generates a wealth of information whose potential is currently being evaluated.

By studying job vacancies using big data analysis techniques, it is possible to obtain very up-to-date information.

In this videoconference, Sonia Gontero, Economic Affairs Officer of the Employment Studies Unit of the Economic Development Division of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), shared the scope, limitations and recent advances related to the analysis of online job vacancies and emphasized the advantages of using big data and its complementary contribution to other statistical analysis tools to understand what is happening in the labour market.

This online event was organised in the framework of the ILO/Cinterfor course entitled: Big data and skills gaps, where 11 teams from 11 countries will be working for 12 weeks to develop data analysis and data processing skills to support decision-making.