Job vacancy statistics (jvs)

National Reference Metadata in ESS Standard for Quality Reports Structure (ESQRS)

Compiling agency: Statistics Sweden


Eurostat metadata
Reference metadata
1. Contact
2. Statistical presentation
3. Statistical processing
4. Quality management
5. Relevance
6. Accuracy and reliability
7. Timeliness and punctuality
8. Coherence and comparability
9. Accessibility and clarity
10. Cost and Burden
11. Confidentiality
12. Comment
Related Metadata
Annexes (including footnotes)
 



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1. Contact Top
1.1. Contact organisation

Statistics Sweden
1.2. Contact organisation unit

Salaries and Employment Statistics

Social Statistics and Analysis - Labourmarket and Education
1.5. Contact mail address

Statistics Sweden

SE-701 89 ÖREBRO, SWEDEN


2. Statistical presentation Top
2.1. Data description

Job vacancy statistics (JVS) provide information on the level and structure of labour demand. The country transmits to Eurostat the quarterly data on the number of job vacancies and the number of occupied posts as well as provides the quality report under the JVS framework regulation and the two implementing regulations: the implementing regulation on the definition of a job vacancy, the reference dates for data collection, data transmission specifications and feasibility studies, as well as the implementing regulation on seasonal adjustment procedures and quality reports.
2.2. Classification system

The quarterly data are broken down by economic activity (at section level) in accordance with NACE Rev. 2 - Statistical classification of economic activities in the European Community.
2.3. Coverage - sector

Private sector: A-S NACE sections; public sector: all Nace sections
2.4. Statistical concepts and definitions

A 'job vacancy' is defined as a paid post that is newly created, unoccupied, or about to become vacant:

(a) for which the employer is taking active steps and is prepared to take further steps to find a suitable candidate from outside the enterprise concerned; and

(b) which the employer intends to fill either immediately or within a specific period of time.

 

‘Active steps to find a suitable candidate’ include:

- notifying the job vacancy to the public employment services,

- contacting a private employment agency/head hunters,

- advertising the vacancy in the media (for example internet, newspapers, magazines),

- advertising the vacancy on a public notice board,

- approaching, interviewing or selecting possible candidates/potential recruits directly,

- approaching employees and/or personal contacts,

- using internships.

 

'Specific period of time’ refers to the maximum time the vacancy is open and intended to be filled. That period shall be unlimited; all vacancies for which active steps are continuing on the reference date shall be reported.

 

An 'occupied post’ means a paid post within the organisation to which an employee has been assigned.
2.5. Statistical unit

Private sector: local unit; public sector: enterprise (legal unit)
2.6. Statistical population

Enterprises with one or more employees
2.7. Reference area

The whole territory of the country
2.8. Coverage - Time

From 2009
2.9. Base period

Not applicable


3. Statistical processing Top
3.1. Source data
Identification of the source of the data An enterprise-based questionnaire survey
Coverage
- Geographical The whole country
- NACE Private sector: A-S Public sector: all
- Enterprise size At least 1 employee
Definition of the statistical unit Private sector: Local units are defined as an active enterprise or a part of an enterprise in a geographically identified place, with at least one employee according to Statistics Sweden’s Business register. Public sector: Legal units are defined as all units belonging to an enterprise with at least one employee.
Remarks  
Sampling design
Base used for the sample Statistics Sweden's business register
Sampling design The frame consists of all active enterprises with at least 1 employee in Statistics Sweden’s business register. Stratified simple random sampling is used. The sample sizes are approximately 15 800 local units in the private sector and 1 500 legal units in the public sector. Private sector: All local units in the population with 100 employees or more are surveyed monthly. Local units with less than 100 employees are randomly sampled and assigned one of the months in the quarter to answer the questionnaire. Public Sector: Sweden have three different levels of government, Central government, county council and municipalities. The number of employees, which determines if the total population will be surveyed, differs between the levels of government. The number of employees also determines if the legal unit should answer the questionnaire one or all months in the quarter. The JVS share sample with the short-term employment statistics survey. The allocation of the sample is designed to optimize the short-term employment statistics. Every month, around 7 500 units are surveyed from the private and the public sector.
Retention/renewal of sampling units Twice a year, second and fourth quarter.
Sample size Private sector: 15 800 local units, Public sector: 1 500 legal units (7 500 every month)
Stratification Stratified by branch of industry and size class. Private sector: 58 NACE Rev 2 groups and 5 size groups. Public sector: County council sector,  1 size group. Municipality sector,  2 size groups. Central government sector, 5 size groups
Other sources
Maintenance agency Not applicable
Updating frequency Not applicable
Rules for clearance (of outdated information) Not applicable
Voluntary/compulsory reporting and sanctions There is an obligation to provide information for this survey according to the Official Statistics Act (SFS 2001:99) and Statistics Sweden's regulations (SCB-FS 2003:15).
Remarks  
3.2. Frequency of data collection
Reference dates
Wednesday’s in the middle of each month.
3.3. Data collection
Brief description of the data collection method(s) Remarks
A questionnaire is sent out one week after the reference day.  The questions asked are as follow:

Private sector:

Question 1:

  • Did the local unit have any job openings on the reference day?
    Instructions: A job opening is the defined as a recruitment that has started, but has not yet been filled. The job must have been made availableto external applicants. Time limited jobs shall also be included.
Question 2:

If the answer to the first question is yes:

  • How many job openings did your local unit have on the reference day?

Question 3:

The total number of job openings shall then be divided into these categories:

  • Number of job openings needed to be filled on the day of reference.
  • Number of job openings that are to be filled after the day of reference.
  • Number of job openings that are occupied by a retiring worker on the reference day
  • Number of job openings that are occupied by substitutes or temporary workers on the reference day
  • Number of job openings that are occupied by consultants or personnel from a temporary staff agency on the reference day.

Public sector:

Only question 1 and 2 are surveyed. All respondents are offered an internet-based version of the questionnaire. Two reminder letters are sent out and CATI and e-mails are used to collect data in follow-up. Participation is mandatory. Fines can be given to those who are refusing to participate.

  
3.4. Data validation

Optional
3.5. Data compilation
Brief description of the weighting method Weighting dimensions
Generalized linear estimator (GREG) is used. Number of employees according to Statistics Sweden’s business register is used as auxiliary information. Geographical and NACE
3.6. Adjustment

Optional


4. Quality management Top
4.1. Quality assurance

Optional
4.2. Quality management - assessment

Optional


5. Relevance Top
5.1. Relevance - User Needs
Description of the national users and their main needs Remarks
Our primary users are the Swedish Public Employment Service, the National Mediation Office, the Ministry of Enterprise, Energy and Communications, the Ministry of Finance and Sweden’s central bank. JVS is also used by universities and independent researchers. We do not have a complete understanding of our users preferences. We provide estimates and annual change on job openings and vacancies, regional data, size of establishments, proportions to total number of jobs and average recruitment time. We also estimate the share of vacancies for which staffing is wanted immediately. This estimate is commonly used as the number of vacancies.  
5.2. Relevance - User Satisfaction
Extent to which the needs of national users are satisfied (voluntary) Remarks
Not available  
5.3. Completeness
Description of missing variables and missing breakdowns of the variables Report progress on the implementation measures regarding quarterly job vacancies statistics of Regulation (EC) No 453/2008, including :

- a detailed plan and timetable for completing implementation

- a summary of the remaining deviations from EU concepts
None The JVS produced by Statistics Sweden complies with all compulsory requirement stated by Regulation (EC) No 453/2008. We do not break-down the vacancies by occupation or by permanent position. Statistics Sweden has no plans in the near future to fulfil these optional requirements.
5.3.1. Data completeness - rate

Optional


6. Accuracy and reliability Top
6.1. Accuracy - overall

Optional
6.2. Sampling error

See below
6.2.1. Sampling error - indicators
Coefficient of variation (taking into account the sampling design) or estimated sampling error for the number of job vacancies (see guidelines).
See annex (coefficient of variation for 2022)
6.3. Non-sampling error
Information on variables with non-negligible measurement and processing errors Information on main sources of (non-negligible) measurement and processing errors and, if available, on methods applied for correction Estimation bias: An assessment of the non-sampling errors, in terms of the absolute number of vacant posts,  for the total number of job vacancies and, where possible, for aggregation level of NACE Rev. 2 specified in Annex 1 to this Regulation and size classes (1-9, 10 + employees). Remarks
Vacancies It is difficult for large units to have complete knowledge of all recruitment processes going on within the enterprise. Various kind of editing is used for detecting processing errors and measurement errors. All surveys are affected by non-sampling errors, due to instrument of measurement and difficulties for respondents to have adequate information. The biggest impact of bias that is believed to be is described in the left-handed column.  
6.3.1. Coverage error
Description of any difference between the reference population and the study population Description of classification errors Description of any difference between the reference dates and the reference quarter Any other relevant information
Public sector: Is very stable and should not cause any problems. Private sector: All local units with at least one employee is surveyed. Local units are very stable and if there is a change of ownership (new corporate registration number) they are still surveyed. It is an advantage for JVS’s sample to be coordinated with the Short term employment statistics. If the activity is moved to another local unit, outside the frame, the number of vacancies is still surveyed. These factors make it difficult to measure the impact of coverage-error. The level that Business register at Statistics Sweden operates on, combined with the techniques described above and that we renew our frame and sample twice a year, should ensure that coverage error is not a big issue. The number of occupied posts transmitted together with the vacancies is estimated from Short term employment statistics, which ensures that both variables suffer equally from coverage error. Is very seldom detected. No techniques to handle these objects are applied. No difference   
6.3.1.1. Over-coverage - rate

Optional
6.3.1.2. Common units - proportion

Optional
6.3.2. Measurement error

[see 6.3. non-sampling error]
6.3.3. Non response error

See 6.3.3.1
6.3.3.1. Unit non-response - rate
Unit response rate
2022 Private sector: Q1: 85.9 Q2: 84.9 Q3: 86.3 Q4: 86.0 Public sector: Q1: 93.9 Q2: 93.1 Q3: 94.0 Q4: 94.2
6.3.3.2. Item non-response - rate

Optional
6.3.4. Processing error

[see 6.3. non-sampling error]
6.3.4.1. Imputation - rate
Item imputation rate and methods and, where possible, the effect of imputation on the estimates for the variables transmitted
Imputation rate private sector 0.4%
6.3.5. Model assumption error
If modelling is used, include a description of the models used. Particular emphasis should be given to models for imputation or grossing-up to correct for unit non-response.
Generalized linear estimator (GREG) is used. Number of employees according to Statistics Sweden’s business register is used as auxiliary information.
6.4. Seasonal adjustment
Brief description of seasonal adjustment procedures, in particular with regard to the European Statistical System guidelines on seasonal adjustment which have been endorsed and supported by the SPC.
The X13 procedure, an adaptation of the U.S. Census Bureau X-13-ARIMA Seasonal Adjustment program, seasonally adjusts monthly and quarterly time series. The procedure makes additive or multiplicative adjustments and creates an output data set containing the adjusted time series and intermediate calculations.


Annexes:
2022 - SE Sweden - JVS seasonal adjustment - Annex (template for SA quality report)
6.5. Data revision - policy

See 6.6
6.6. Data revision - practice
Provide a revision history, including the revisions in the published number of job vacancies and a summary of the reasons for the revisions.
None is applied
6.6.1. Data revision - average size

Optional


7. Timeliness and punctuality Top
7.1. Timeliness

See 7.1.1
7.1.1. Time lag - first result
Information on the time span between the release of data at national level and the reference period of the data.
The results are published about 50 days after the referenced quarter.
7.1.2. Time lag - final result

Optional
7.2. Punctuality

See 7.2.1
7.2.1. Punctuality - delivery and publication
Deadlines for the respondents to reply, also covering recalls and follow-ups Period of the fieldwork Period of data processing Dates of publication of first results Remarks
4 days before our release date. The fieldwork is conducted 20 days after the start of the quarter until 4 days before our release date. The process of compiling data ends the day before the release of data. No release of preliminary data. Data is released 09.30 on the dates announced in our official release calendar. Delays in our releases are rare at Statistics Sweden. JVS have no delays in the last couple of years.


8. Coherence and comparability Top
8.1. Comparability - geographical
Information on differences between national and European concepts, and — to the extent possible — their effects on the estimation.
None
8.1.1. Asymmetry for mirror flow statistics - coefficient

Optional
8.2. Comparability - over time
Information on changes in definitions, coverage and methods in any two consecutive quarters, and their effects on the estimation. Remarks
None   
8.2.1. Length of comparable time series

Optional
8.3. Coherence - cross domain
Comparisons of data on the number of vacant jobs from other relevant sources when available, in total and broken down by NACE at section level when relevant, and reasons if the values differ considerably.
Comments to the attached analysis:

-Beveridge curve

The rates initially indicate a positive move along the curve, followed by an unclear trend in 2012-2013. From 2014 we can see a new positive move along the curve. The job vacancy rate started to decrease between 2018-2019, followed by a large drop due to the pandemic in 2020 (see annex).

-Regarding the comparison of employees from LFS and occupied posts from JVS:

The levels are reasonably well aligned in Sweden, even if especially section O shows a large discrepancy. The reason behind section O's large discrepancy is that we do not present statistics for section O in our national data. Data for section O is only collected to comply with the Eurostat regulation. OBS: Discrepancies between the number of employees and occupied posts should also be affected by the short-term paid layoffs of staff during the pandemic year of 2020 (see annex).


Annexes:
SE Beveridge curve 2022
SE Comparison of JVS with LFS data 2022
8.4. Coherence - sub annual and annual statistics

Optional
8.5. Coherence - National Accounts

Optional
8.6. Coherence - internal

Optional


9. Accessibility and clarity Top
9.1. Dissemination format - News release

Optional
9.2. Dissemination format - Publications
Dissemination scheme, including to whom the results are sent Periodicity of national publication References for publications of core results, including those with commentary in the form of text, graphs, maps, etc. Information on what results, if any, are sent to reporting units included in the sample
Press releases and information on our website. Our main users are sent an Excel file containing all available tables. Quarterly http://www.scb.se/am0701-en An introductory letter is accompanied with the questionnaire, which guides the users to the results.
9.3. Dissemination format - online database

Optional
9.3.1. Data tables - consultations

Optional
9.4. Dissemination format - microdata access

Optional
9.5. Dissemination format - other

Optional
9.6. Documentation on methodology

Optional
9.7. Quality management - documentation
Description of and references for metadata provided References for core methodological documents relating to the statistics provided Description of main actions carried out by the national statistical services to inform users about the data Remarks
https://www.scb.se/en/finding-statistics/statistics-by-subject-area/labour-market/vacancies-and-unemployment/job-openings-and-unmet-labour-demand/pong/publications/job-openings-and-unmet-labour-demand-results-from-the-4th-quarter-of-2018/ https://www.scb.se/en/finding-statistics/statistics-by-subject-area/labour-market/vacancies-and-unemployment/job-openings-and-unmet-labour-demand/pong/publications/job-openings-and-unmet-labour-demand-results-from-the-4th-quarter-of-2018/ Press releases and information on our webpage.  
9.7.1. Metadata completeness - rate

Optional
9.7.2. Metadata - consultations

Optional


10. Cost and Burden Top

Optional


11. Confidentiality Top
11.1. Confidentiality - policy

Optional
11.2. Confidentiality - data treatment
Disclosure rules: Brief description of when data have to be deleted for reasons of confidentiality
Statistics Sweden’s work is regulated by provisions on free access to public records and secrecy in the Public Access to Information and Secrecy Act (SFS 2009:400).  Rules of secrecy in the field of statistics is described in chapter 24, §8. The processing of personal data is regulated by the Personal Data Act (1998:204), the Official Statistics Act (2001:99) and Official Statistics Ordinance (2001:100).


12. Comment Top
Special remarks
None.


Related metadata Top


Annexes Top
JVS CV_2022