ONLINE JOB PORTALS AS A TOOL FOR REDUCING INFORMATION ASYMMETRY IN THE LABOUR MARKET

Abstract

Motivation: Information asymmetry remains a key cause of labour market inefficiency, raising search costs and degrading match quality. Online job portals have emerged as dominant intermediaries; yet platform proliferation and uneven data quality may simultaneously reduce asymmetry and generate new forms of it. In Belarus, this is compounded by 2025 regulatory changes requiring employers to prioritize the State Employment Service portal (gsz.gov.by), reshaping information flows.
Aim: This study assesses the role of online job portals in creating informational conditions conducive to reducing information asymmetry in Belarus by examining the trade-off between market coverage and data quality. It also evaluates the impact of 2025 legislative changes on vacancy content across portals and aggregators.
Results: Analysis of 2018–2025 data reveals a trend toward centralisation: vacancies on gsz.gov.by grew 2.5-fold, while the CV database expanded 6.5-fold. Content analysis of 300 vacancies shows substantial differences in skills data quality: rabota.by leads with 61% structured skills fields; gsz.gov.by records 8% with 100% classifier compliance; belmeta.com shows 0% structured fields. The 2025 reforms have driven retransmission of vacancies from the state portal to commercial platforms – 65% of rabota.by vacancies now link to gsz.gov.by– broadening coverage but risking the propagation of low-information descriptions. The study concludes that an integrated model is needed, combining the state portal's breadth with the higher data structuring standards of commercial platforms.