Result of Service

The objective of this consultancy is to conduct Economic and Machine learning research in areas related to labor market policies for one of the GCC countries .

Work Location

UN-House ESCWA

Expected duration

12 Months

Duties and Responsibilities

Background: The world is currently experiencing the Fourth Industrial Revolution. With this transition, the velocity of change and the sheer number of innovations are unprecedented. This revolution will inevitably eliminate many current lines of work yet has the capacity to bring in new lines of employment. The agility of this revolution makes the jobs of the future difficult to predict using traditional techniques. Given this background, this project will tackle three main issues: o The lack of timely information to monitor the dynamism of the labor market needs; o The mismatch between human capital accumulation and labor market demand; o Labor market policies and regulations are mostly outdated and unprepared for the impact of automation on jobs in most ESCWA countries. Almost all countries in the region are still heavily reliant on costly household/establishment survey data which is not carried out periodically. To assess job market policies, skill sets for newly created job categories that are and will continue to come about from the Fourth Industrial Revolution must be surveyed in a more innovative way. Without a new monitoring technique, information on the impact of technological change on available skill sets cannot be properly assessed. One finding that we can build on conventional survey (household establishment) results is that workers with higher educational attainment are expected to benefit the most from jobs in the formal sector if high-quality education is made available and better job market matching schemes are put in place. Looking at the ESCWA region, educational attainment over the past three decades, during which the region excelled in primary and secondary education (mid-skills), suggests that the population does not necessarily have adequate skills for newly created jobs. All these issue resulted in a vulnerable middle class. By leveraging the ESCWA Skills Monitor, the consultant will: • Analyze innovative big data and official statistics data and use econometric techniques to provide timely labor market information. • Facilitate the development of targeted labor market analytics. • Assist in formulating and updating labor market policies to address the challenges posed by the Fourth Industrial Revolution. The Consultant shall carry the following duties: Under the supervision of the Team Leader of Future of Work Project and the overall guidance of the cluster lead, the Consultant will assist in assessing the labor force surveys and matching them with the enterprise survey and the Future of work Skills Monitor. The Consultant will particularly help in country requests for features of the Skills monitor, assess the job mismatch, help in country profiling for a selection of countries in the Arab region. The Consultant will mainly contribute to the following areas: 1- Substantive research in areas related to the ‘Future of Work’ Project. This includes reviewing existing literature as a background analysis for ESCWA’s Future of work report. 2- Update economic analysis on the skills Monitor results on a monthly basis, including analysis of the results. 3- Conduct data analysis using (i) data from the ESCWA Skills monitor and (i) data from different government hubs, including unemployment registries and statistics offices and other big data sources for at least 4 countries around the region (Country Profiles). 4- Train a Machine Learning models for labor market forecasting. 5- Assist in technical assistance to Arab countries including in developing concept notes, training material, and country tailored policy research.

Qualifications/special skills

A Master’s degree in economics, data science, statistics or related area is required. A Ph.D. in economics or related field is desirable. All candidates must submit a copy of the required educational degree. Incomplete applications will not be reviewed. A minimum of 5 years of professional work experience in conducting economic research including labor market analysis using econometrics is required. Knowledge of machine learning is required. Knowledge in Python or R is required. Proven experience in economic data analysis, drafting, visualization and presentation of data and concepts is required. Knowledge in Economic Modelling is required.

Languages

English and French are the working languages of the United Nations Secretariat; and Arabic is a working language of ESCWA. For this position, fluency in English is required. Knowledge of Arabic is desirable. Note: “Fluency” equals a rating of ‘fluent’ in all four areas (speak, read, write, and understand) and “Knowledge of” equals a rating of ‘confident’ in two of the four areas.

Additional Information

Not available.

No Fee

THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CHARGE A FEE AT ANY STAGE OF THE RECRUITMENT PROCESS (APPLICATION, INTERVIEW MEETING, PROCESSING, OR TRAINING). THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CONCERN ITSELF WITH INFORMATION ON APPLICANTS’ BANK ACCOUNTS.