Mapping Skill Requirements in ICT Occupations Using an IRT Modelling Approach

Online Job Advertisements (OJAs) represent a valuable resource for analysing labour market demand in contemporary economies. Using a unique dataset provided by Lightcast for the year 2024, we propose a new approach to classify and map the most relevant skill requirements for ICT occupations focusing on Italian regions. The proposed approach is based on Item Response Theory (IRT) and aims to achieve two main aims. First, it allows to construct an index able to capture, for each job advertisement, the skill requirements. Second, it provides a set of statistical parameters that highlight the most critical skills for specific occupations as well as for the ICT sector as a whole. These results can support the development of targeted economic and social policies, while the skill requirements index can be aggregated and integrated into macroeconomic models to explore its relationship with territorial socio-economic indicators.