Labor Market Insecurity and Perceived Employability

University Of North Carolina At Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill NC

Investigators

Abstract

SES-1626886 Arne Kalleberg Lindsey King University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill As employment becomes more precarious and uncertain, workers are consistently advised to keep themselves sought-after in the labor market. Hence, perceived employability, or workers' beliefs in their ability to find an acceptable job, emerges as a fundamental issue for contemporary labor market research. Employed workers experience less stress when they are confident they can find a new, comparable job if they lose their present one. Unemployed workers who feel they are employable are more motivated to keep searching for jobs. While perceived employability is influenced by individuals' attributes, societal contexts also affect it. This project examines how country differences in labor market institutions and public policies are related to employed and unemployed workers' perceptions of their employability. The investigators hypothesize that perceived employability is bolstered by policies that promote labor market flexibility or help workers gain marketable skills, net of economic conditions. Understanding how these institutions and policies affect individuals' perceptions helps to comprehend better how social contexts matter for people's psychological well-being and career outcomes. This knowledge is essential for designing effective social and economic policies intended to help individuals manage the risks associated with the increasing uncertainty characterizing labor markets; it is also crucial for informing individuals' decisions about educational and training alternatives that are likely to help them to secure meaningful and rewarding jobs. Thus, the researchers will share the results of the project with policy-makers as well as both employed and unemployed individuals, in addition to scholars studying labor markets, work, and inequality. How do workers perceive their ability to find work, and how do labor market policies shape this evaluation? Existing research suggests that both economic and regulatory conditions shape workers' evaluations of their employment prospects. Workers in market-oriented economies tend to be more confident in their employability than those in rigid labor markets, where labor market transitions from job to job or unemployment to employment are more difficult. This pilot study examines the relationship between labor market policies that facilitate transitions into new jobs and workers' perceptions of their employability. The research has two main objectives. First, the investigators use international survey data from Europe, East Asia, North America, and Oceania to examine the links between policy and perceived employability among both employed and unemployed workers. They hypothesize that perceived employability will be greater when unemployment is low, labor markets are flexible, and when countries provide support that helps workers become re-employed. Second, the researchers use longitudinal panel data from the United Kingdom to assess how employability perceptions impact the likelihood of future employment among unemployed workers.