¿Cuáles son las habilidades cognitivas y sociales requeridas por las empresas ecuatorianas para los puestos de trabajo de mediana y baja calificación?

Abstract

This paper examines the cognitive and social skill requirements for middle and low-skilled workers in 3,661 Ecuadorian firms. Results from descriptive statistics and estimation of probit models indicate that half of the firms require basic reading, spelling and grammar, and arithmetic skills from the typical medium or low-skilled worker. The percentage is lower (42%) for complex problem solving skills. The skill of interacting with a work-team is the most required of all. A combination of all cognitive and social skills is required by 25% of companies. There is an inverse relationship between the skills required by firms and their percentage of medium and low-skilled workers. Firms with more skilled workers require more cognitive and soft skills from their unskilled workers, suggesting that lower-skilled workers could be useful for improving the productivity of higher-skilled workers. Positive correlations were found between different cognitive and soft skills indicating complementarity. The findings can guide public policy decisions on skills training in the education system, labour market training policies, as well as business practices in recruitment and training of personnel.