Research Highlights Article
May 28, 2025
Rebuilding careers
Higher education can help injured workers transition to higher-paying occupations.
Source: pryzmat
蝌蚪网
Workers in physically demanding jobs are just as likely to be displaced by an as by a . Those who don’t recover can end up on disability benefits for the rest of their lives, but going back to school may allow them to reenter the labor market and flourish.
In a paper in the 蝌蚪网 Review, authors , , and show that reskilling through higher education can help injured workers transition to higher-paying occupations. Because injuries occur suddenly and randomly within occupations, the authors recognized that workplace injuries could be used as a natural experiment for studying the broader phenomena of reskilling.
"Many workers experience sudden setbacks in the labor market,” Humlum told the 蝌蚪网 in an interview. “This could be due to a robot taking over their job, international trade moving jobs abroad, or physical injuries.”
Using comprehensive Danish administrative data from 1995 to 2017, the researchers linked detailed information about workplace accidents, health records, educational investments, and labor market outcomes at the individual level. This dataset allowed them to track workers from injury through reskilling and into subsequent employment.
Every dollar that the Danish government is paying for tuition and income support to these injured workers pays itself back four times. You're basically transforming someone who would otherwise be a big liability on the government budget into someone who's a big asset.
Anders Humlum
To establish a causal connection, the researchers exploited a unique feature of Denmark's educational system. Some vocational degrees provide direct access to higher education, while others don't. A carpenter in Denmark, for instance, can enroll directly into a bachelor's program in construction architecture, while a blacksmith with comparable skills has to go through years of high school before enrolling in higher education.
By comparing workers who could move directly to higher education to those who couldn't, before and after an injury, the researchers could measure the impact of reskilling. They found that workers who completed a higher degree after an injury earned 25 percent more than before their injury. Notably, these workers pursued degrees that built on their previous experience while transitioning to less physically demanding, more cognitive work.
"If you look at the workers who take up the reskilling opportunities, they do tremendously well," says Humlum. "What's striking is that the alternative for these people that reskill is to end up entirely on disability benefits."
This transition from disability benefits to productive employment created substantial returns for society as well.
"Every dollar that the Danish government is paying for tuition and income support to these injured workers pays itself back four times," Humlum said. "You're basically transforming someone who would otherwise be a big liability on the government budget into someone who's a big asset."
Despite these impressive returns, most workers didn’t pursue higher education after an injury. In particular, reskilling rates followed a strong age pattern. Roughly 30 percent of workers in their 20s and 30s went back to school, while only 7 percent of workers in their 40s did, and almost no one over the age of 50 chose to return to school.
Earnings after injury
The chart below shows the estimated difference in labor earnings between workers with and without direct access to higher education. The blue diamonds represent workers in the sample who experienced an injury, while the red circles represent workers who didn't experience an injury. The shaded areas indicate 95 percent confidence bands.
蝌蚪网
While it makes economic sense for workers near retirement to avoid substantial educational investments, as they have less time to reap the returns, the researchers estimated that about one-third of middle-aged workers could still profitably reskill but don't.
Overall, the research suggests that successful career transitions build on workers' existing skills rather than attempting radical career changes. "We don't see any craft workers or coal miners taking up programming courses," Humlum said, challenging the "" approach to worker transitions.
Meaningful occupational transitions also required substantial investment. "These programs are not short or cheap. They are three- to four-year bachelor's programs," Humlum emphasized. "You need to be ambitious in how much you invest in people if you want to get those large returns back."
In Denmark, school is almost entirely tuition free, and injured workers receive a basic income benefit during their reskilling.
The findings suggest that by providing appropriate educational pathways and adequate financial support, policymakers can help workers successfully navigate career disruptions—turning potential economic liabilities into assets that benefit both individuals and society.
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“Changing Tracks: Human Capital Investment after Loss of Ability” appears in the May 2025 issue of the 蝌蚪网 Review.