Timetoemployment

Timetoemployment is a labor market metric that measures the duration between a defined starting point of unemployment (or job search) and the onset of paid employment. In many contexts, it refers to the time from becoming unemployed to finding the first job, though some definitions track time from exit from school or training to first employment.

Measurement and data: TTE is typically calculated from longitudinal labor market data, such as national labor force surveys or administrative employment records. It can be reported as the mean or median duration, and may be analyzed with survival analysis to account for censored observations (people who have not yet found a job by the end of the reference period).

Calculation details: For a cohort of individuals who become unemployed within a reference window, TTE = date of starting first paid job after unemployment onset minus date of unemployment onset. Some studies distinguish between transitions to standard full-time employment, part-time work, or self-employment.

Applications: TTE is used to assess labor market tightness, the effectiveness of reemployment services, and policy interventions. It can track changes over business cycles or in response to training programs, and helps estimate unobtrusive costs of unemployment.

Limitations: Definitions vary across countries and surveys, leading to comparability challenges. Data quality, censoring, and sampling bias can affect TTE estimates. It may ignore voluntary job changes or self-employment and may be sensitive to part-time or underemployment.

See also: Time to hire, unemployment duration, job finding rate, reemployment services, labor market statistics.