Abstract
This paper’s purpose is to test the employability paradox by adopting a combined linear and non-linear approach based on the conservation of resource (COR) theory and the prospect theory and further to discuss it in two groups of employees with different seniority following the career timetable perspective. A total of 623 pairs of matched employee and manager surveys was collected from 27 Chinese enterprises in two waves. Hierarchical regression analysis was used to test the hypotheses. The results show no paradox that perceived employability promotes both an employee’s turnover intention and performance. Specifically, perceived employability has a significant inverted U-shaped effect on turnover intention but no direct influence on job performance. Seniority is a moderator, showing the curvilinear relationship only exhibits for employees with shorter work seniority (≤3 years), and a positive linear relationship between perceived employability and job performance only exists for employees with longer seniority (>3 years). This study emphasizes the value of employability for employers and proposes who is more suitable and what timetable should be followed for employability enhancement in practice. In addition, the study provides an enlightening finding of the inverted U-shaped relationship between perceived employability and turnover intention, applies the COR theory and the prospect theory to explain the non-linear relationship, validates the effect of too much of a good thing (TMGT), and negates the paradox from the perspective of the perceived general employability and career timetable.
Highlights
The employability paradox has become a focal issue in recent years because the divergent views on its existence affect employers’ human resource practices (Rodrigues et al, 2020)
The results analyzed by Mplus 7.4 showed the 3-factor model had the best fit, with χ2/df = 1.717, CFI = 0.938, TLI = 0.989, RMSEA = 0.034, and SRMR = 0.027, indicating the three constructs are independent and clear and have good discriminant validity
Following Fornell and Larcker (1981), the variables were examined for convergent validity by estimating whether the scale’s average variance extracted (AVE) is above 0.5 and composite reliability (CR) is above 0.7
Summary
The employability paradox has become a focal issue in recent years because the divergent views on its existence affect employers’ human resource practices (Rodrigues et al, 2020). The paradox refers to the phenomenon that employability has a positive effect on an employee’s performance but at the same time promotes turnover intention, which is considered a negative risk factor for organizations (De Grip et al, 2004; De Cuyper et al, 2011a; Nelissen et al, 2017). Evidence supports the paradox’s existence, because perceived employability can increase both performance and turnover intention (De Cuyper et al, 2011a). Some researchers have claimed that the employability paradox is false by dividing employability into internal and external employability. These researchers argue that internal employability reduces turnover and job searching intensity
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