Employment

The OECD Employment Module, published in July 2000, highlights the importance of employment and human resource issues for tourism-related industries and, therefore, the need for comprehensive and reliable employment data for both public and private users. Its guidelines are consistent with definitions used in other areas of socio-economic and tourism statistics, notably the System of National Account 1993, the ILO standards, the 1994 UN/WTO definitions for tourism statistics and the OECD Guidelines for a Tourism Satellite Account. The methodology it presents is intended to be easy to use and flexible.

Main objectives

The OECD Employment Module provides a statistical framework and methodological guidelines for establishing the level and certain characteristics of employment in the tourism industry. It mainly takes a supply-side perspective, i.e. it only takes into account employment in a set of characteristic tourism industries. Although it is closely linked to the Tourism Satellite Account (TSA), employment should be viewed not only as a factor in the production process, but also as a social phenomenon.

Its introduction should eventually lead to the generation of internationally comparable statistics on employment in the tourism industry. This will not be an easy task, because data comparability for employment in general is already hampered by differences in methods and definitions between countries. Even at national level, employment statistics and data sources often provide different and fragmented results.

The conceptual framework

Basic employment data are linked to the Tourism Satellite Account by using the Employment Module as an integration framework (micro-macro linkage). Indicators of the general level of tourism-related employment are used -- jobs, persons employed or full-time equivalents, with a further distinction for seasonal employment and extra jobs -- along with key employment variables -- gender, age, educational level, nationality, status in employment, working scheme, average seniority, average hours of work, average gross earnings, job permanency, irregular working hours. By analysing the input-output accounts of the Tourism Satellite Account, tourism demand and supply are linked. As a result, tourism-related industries are seen from the supply side. The framework provides possibilities for statistical integration and co-ordination.

The way forward

The Employment Module can substantially improve national and international comparability of tourism-related employment data. It can function as a benchmark for other employment data and thus lead to a better overall picture and increased comparability. However, the connection between the Employment Module and the TSA is not the only road. The OECD Employment Module also highlights areas needing further research. Countries' experience in implementing the Employment Module and the co-operative work currently being developed between various international organisations should help clarify some of these issues.