WHAT DO EMPLOYERS SEEK? DETERMINANTS OF LABOUR DEMAND FOR PROFESSIONAL JOB VACANCIES IN SRI LANKA (WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO LINKEDIN NETWORK)

Abstract

This study seeks the factors associated with the demand for professional occupations made by different employers through their vacancies published in the LinkedIn professional network for recruiting professionals. Primary data of 1,000 professional job vacancies selected through the systematic random sampling method was used by this study. Multinomial logistic regression model was used for the study. The study found that education, training, both soft and hard skills as the key variable demanded by the labour market. The skills and requirements needed for different occupation segments are different while most of the education qualifications are needed for Accountancy/Audit/Analysts/Research and manufacturing sector professionals. Soft skills are mainly required by marketing and HR professionals. The importance of education reforms, and the ways of bridging the mismatches of vacancies and the potential labour force were highlighted in the policy aspects as the final contribution of the study.