Alessandro Corvasce (University of Milan)
Massimiliano Bratti, Agata Maida and Filippo Passerini
Online job vacancies (OJVs) are widely used to proxy firms labor demand, yet their relation- ship with realized hirings remains unclear. We construct a novel plant-level panel by matching the universe of Italian online postings (Lightcast) with mandatory administrative records for firms in Piedmont and Veneto (20142019). We document strong selection into online posting: larger, younger, and more productive firms are significantly more likely to advertise. While aggregate postings and hires are positively correlated, this relationship weakens sharply across education and occupation groups. The distribution of the demand gap (postings minus hires) is highly dispersed, and posting durations are often exceptionally long, consistent with signaling and talent-pooling practices. Overall, OJVs capture a mix of labor demand and recruitment strategies rather than direct vacancy creation.