Job Search Effort Research Articles

Re-examining ‘personalised conditionality’: full-time obligations, partial adjustments and power asymmetries in the UK’s approach to work-related conditionality

Abstract Work-related conditionality policy in the UK is built around the problematic assumption that people should commit to ‘full-time’ work and job search efforts as a condition of receiving benefits. This is potentially in conflict with the idea that what is required of people should be tailored to their circumstances in some way – ‘personalised conditionality’ – and implies a failure to recognise that conditionality is being applied to a diverse group of people and in a context where the paid work that is available is often temporary and insecure. Drawing on thirty-three qualitative interviews with people subject to intensive work-related conditionality whilst receiving Universal Credit or Jobseeker’s Allowance in Manchester, the paper explores the work-related time demands that people were facing and argues that these provide a lens for examining the rigidities and contradictions of conditionality policy. The findings indicate that expectations are often set in relation to an ideal of full-time hours and in a highly asymmetric context that is far from conducive to being able to negotiate a reasonable set of work-related expectations. Work search requirements affect people differently depending on their personal circumstances and demand-side factors, and can act to weaken the position of people entering, or already in, work.

The search for greener pastures: a qualitative analysis of employee job search dynamics

PurposeThis study explores job search dynamics among employed individuals. We focus on factors related to employees initiating their job searches and changing its intensity.Design/methodology/approachWe conducted a qualitative study with 41 employed job seekers using semi-structured interviews.FindingsOur analysis reveals six catalysts that initiate employee job searches and nine modulators that influence fluctuations in job search effort. We highlight the significant roles of social actors, resource dynamics, and personal, professional, and environmental factors in shaping employees’ job searches.Research limitations/implicationsThe diverse sample strengthens theory building but may not represent all employed job seekers. Future research would benefit from longitudinal designs.Practical implicationsThis study underscores the influence of social actors on employee job search processes. Our findings offer valuable insights for policymakers and employers seeking to support employed job seekers and proactively manage voluntary turnover.Originality/valueThis research advances our understanding of employee job search beyond its traditional role in voluntary turnover. By integrating Conservation of Resources (COR) theory, we provide a framework for understanding employee job search initiation and modulation.

The role of noncognitive skills in educational mismatch: evidence from China

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of noncognitive skills on educational mismatch in the context of China and to further explore the potential mechanisms concerning how noncognitive skills determine mismatch outcomes.Design/methodology/approachThis paper uses the Chinese Family Panel Survey of 2018, which provides the Big Five Personality Inventory to assess respondents' noncognitive skills and contains information on educational mismatch. The authors estimate the effects of noncognitive skills on educational mismatch by means of a probit model. Additionally, the correlated random effects (CRE) model and instrumental variable (IV) approach have also been exploited in the robust checks.FindingsThe findings show that the composite score of noncognitive skills reduces the probability of being overeducated and, conversely, increases the likelihood of being undereducated. When distinguishing the effects of different personality traits, the authors find significantly negative effects of agreeableness and openness on overeducation and a positive effect of openness on undereducation. With regard to heterogeneous analysis, the effects of noncognitive skills on educational mismatch exist mostly among white-collar employees and employees with fewer than 5 years of work experience. Finally, the authors provide two likely mechanisms related to job search effort and social capital, followed by the presentation of supporting evidence.Practical implicationsThe results of this paper underline the importance of noncognitive skills in raising the quality of jobs that individuals can obtain. This suggests that the development of noncognitive skills should be encouraged to be integrated into formal education systems and social job training programs in China.Originality/valueDespite a growing interest in its consequences in the labor market, the role of noncognitive skills in determining educational mismatch has rarely been discussed in developing countries. This study provides the first evidence regarding the effects of noncognitive skills on education mismatch in China. It contributes to the research on noncognitive skills' labor market outcomes and enhances the understanding of the factors driving educational mismatch.

Unveiling the power of word-of-mouth in pre-recruitment employer branding strategy during COVID-19

PurposeThis study, based on signaling theory, examines the pre-recruitment employer branding strategy during the COVID-19 pandemic. It investigates the relationship between spontaneous word-of-mouth (WOM) recommendations for companies and prospective candidates' job application intentions. Specifically, the study explores serial mechanisms mediating the characteristics of company online career pages, including the perceived informativeness of online job advertisements (ads), candidates' preferences for its web approach to them and the company’s reputation.Design/methodology/approachReflecting prospective candidates from students and young alumni of universities, partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) was employed on a sample of 737 individuals representing various fields of study from Greek universities.FindingsThe findings highlight the effectiveness of positive WOM recommendations during the initial stages of recruitment, particularly amidst COVID-19 challenges in the labor market, notably impacting young candidates. The study suggests that spontaneous WOM, originating from trustful sources, motivates job seekers to actively engage with the company’s web career channels, seeking information and favorable indications of the company’s approach toward its candidates. Positive WOM, combined with informative content and a friendly communication style, plays a critical role in shaping the company’s reputation. Consequently, this encouragement motivates individuals to start their job search efforts and consider applying for positions within the specific organization.Practical implicationsThis research provides valuable empirical evidence in the pre-recruitment field, particularly in unforeseen crisis circumstances such as the COVID-19 pandemic. It examines how spontaneous, positive WOM from sources, like peers and alumni, significantly influences young job seekers' perceptions and preferences regarding the company’s career web channels as sources of information and signals about working conditions. The combination of positive WOM with informative content and a friendly communication style in the web approach plays a crucial role in shaping a positive company reputation. Consequently, this encourages candidates to consider applying for positions within the company.Originality/valueThis research contributes to pre-recruitment studies, especially amidst crises like COVID-19. It examines how positive WOM from trusted sources like peers and alma mater alumni influences young job seekers' views on the company’s career web channels. By emphasizing the importance of combining positive WOM with informative web content and a friendly communication style, the study offers insights into effective recruitment strategies. It highlights the significance of positive and spontaneous WOM in attracting young talent and its impact on job seekers' decision-making, even in uncertain conditions. Overall, it advances recruitment practices for attracting candidates.

The Effects of Unemployment Insurance Caseworkers on Job Search Effort

We combine a high-frequency survey on job search effort with administrative data on caseworker interactions from the German unemployment insurance system to estimate how the dynamics of search effort respond to caseworker meetings and vacancy referrals. Meetings alone do not increase individuals' search time beyond a mechanical meeting-day effect; however, we find suggestive evidence that they do when combined with a formal contract on job search obligations. Referrals lead to a modest increase in effort over the three weeks following the event. Our findings leave room for caseworkers affecting employment outcomes through other channels, for example, by altering search effectiveness.

Optimal unemployment insurance with behavioral agents

Abstract This paper studies how behavioral biases affect the optimal unemployment insurance. I revisit the optimal UI of Landais et al. (2018) and show how the optimal UI formula is modified and leads to novel economic insights. The optimal UI replacement rate is the conventional Baily-Chetty replacement rate, which solves the trade-off between liquidity and job-search incentives, plus a market tightness correction term which shows how welfare is affected by UI through tightness, and plus a behavioral bias correction term, which shows how welfare is affected by UI through job search effort.

How do COVID-19 re-hiring subsidies affect unemployment duration and incomes in Morocco? An instrumental variable approach

This paper attempts to estimate the impact of a rehiring subsidy implemented as part of the COVID-19 crisis impact response in Morocco. Using administrative data from the National Social Security Fund, it develops the instrumental variable method to estimate the causal effect of this scheme on unemployment duration and on beneficiaries’ wages. Intended for employees who have previously received unemployment benefits, this subsidy seems to have produced contrasting effects on the beneficiaries. On one hand, it had a “disincentive” effect on their job search efforts, increasing their unemployment duration, compared to non-beneficiaries. On the other hand, it strengthened their power of bargaining and selection, leading them to choose higher paying jobs, compared to those of non-beneficiaries.

Transition from work integration social enterprises to ordinary employment in situations of low employability: results of an intervention programme

Purpose The transition of people to the ordinary market after completing the due process of a work integration social enterprise is a critical moment that exposes their vulnerability. This paper aims to present the results of an intervention programme designed to support job search efforts and identify the main factors that contribute to this transition. Design/methodology/approach This study used a mixed-methods approach. Quantitative data on the programme results were collected through administrative documentation and the Employability Factors Scale. Qualitative data were gathered using focus groups and questionnaires to understand participants’ perspectives. Findings The levels of employment achieved, improvement in employability and participants’ assessment provided evidence of the programme’s effectiveness. Likewise, having an individual’s support, systematisation of the program and intermediation with ordinary companies were the factors that most influenced the programme results. Therefore, this study confirms the need for personal, systematic, personalised and sustained support over time to facilitate the transition from work integrated social enterprises to ordinary markets. Originality/value There are few studies on transitioning from work integration social enterprises to ordinary companies. This study offers a unique view of implementing an employment support programme and its impact on people.

From crude jokes to diminutive terms: Exploring experiences of hostile and benevolent sexism during job search

AbstractDespite the growing attention devoted to women's experiences of sexism within organizational contexts, there is comparatively less work elucidating the affective and behavioral self‐regulatory processes that unfold following sexist incidents that happen before organizational entry—that is, during the job search process. In this study, we integrate ambivalent sexism theory with self‐regulation theory to explore the differential impact of experiences of hostile (i.e., overt, derogatory, expressions of female inferiority) and benevolent sexism (i.e., subtle, seemingly positive, expressions of female incompetence) during the job search. Further, drawing from research on discrimination, we also consider whether reactions to sexism are shaped by the extent to which women identify with their gender. We tested our conceptual model through a weekly study of 103 female new labor market entrants. Findings indicated that while weekly experiences of hostile sexism related to heightened anger, experiences of benevolent sexism elicited anxiety; these effects were exacerbated for highly gender‐identified female job seekers. Anxiety—but not anger—prompted next‐week job search effort and intensity, which yielded distinct effects on search success and well‐being. Notably, exploratory analyses demonstrated that these affective responses to weekly experiences of hostile and benevolent sexism did not emerge for male job seekers, suggesting that such experiences of sexism can be more impactful for women on the job market. Thus, our work highlights the critical self‐regulatory processes that unfold weekly following female job seekers’ exposure to sexism.

Examining the contribution of motivation in the job search of youth with developmental language disorder.

Youth with developmental language disorder (DLD) are at risk of experiencing challenges during their job search. It is thus crucial to promote efficient job search behaviors in terms of effort, intensity, and self-regulation. Based on self-determination theory (SDT), we verified the role of autonomous and controlled motivations in enhancing these behaviors. Study 1 included 37 young adults with DLD who have finished school, and Study 2 included 52 youth with DLD transitioning from school to work. They completed a questionnaire examining their job search behaviors and their motivation toward their job search. Autonomous motivation positively predicted job search effort, intensity, and self-regulation. Small to moderate relations were observed in Study 1, and moderate to strong ones in Study 2. Controlled motivation was unrelated to the three behaviors. In line with SDT, autonomous motivation is an important foundation for positive job search behaviors among youth with DLD. Supporting the development of autonomous motivation is thus encouraged in transition services for this population.

Does psychological detachment benefit job seekers? A two study weekly investigation.

On a weekly basis, job seekers need to exert effort to successfully navigate their search. Yet, despite the notion that job seeking is likely depleting, there has been little research and discussion to date surrounding whether taking time to recover from job seeking can be restorative and helpful for job seekers. Applying theory from the effort-recovery model (Meijman & Mulder, 1998) and the stressor-detachment model (Sonnentag & Fritz, 2015) to the job search context, we highlight the self-regulatory and job search-related benefits associated with psychologically detaching from the job search each week. Specifically, we theorize that weekly psychological detachment from the job search (at t) helps job seekers feel recovered (at t) and, in turn, more vigorous (at t + 1), prompting subsequent job search effort (at t + 1); further, weekly job search effort is expected to engender an increase in subsequent interviews (at t + 2). We also explore the cross-level moderating effect of implicit theories of depletion, considering whether the beneficial impact of weekly psychological detachment is contingent on how depleting job seekers perceive the search process to be. We tested our model with two weekly experience sampling studies of over 200 new labor market entrants. Across both studies, we found considerable support for our model, suggesting that taking time to psychologically detach from the job search can help job seekers maintain their well-being and obtain job search success. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Perceived returns to job search

This paper provides new evidence on workers’ perceptions of the returns to job search effort using hypothetical vignettes. This allows us to overcome limitations with survey data on realized behavior in which search effort and reservation wages may be endogenous to perceived job finding rates. The perceived job finding probability is nearly linear in hours searched and only slightly concave for most respondents. While workers are over-optimistic about the probability of receiving a job offer conditional on any search, they perceive the marginal return to additional search hours as positive but comparably low. Job seekers receiving an offer, update their perceived returns upwards, while the beliefs of unsuccessful searchers regress towards the direction of the mean. We find little evidence that novel aspects of the pandemic recession have fundamentally changed workers’ motivations for job search: that an existing job is expected to end or has unsatisfactory pay are the primary motives for on-the-job search. On the contrary, workers’ ability to do their tasks from home is not a strong predictor of job search nor a significant motive for switching occupations.

Understanding Job Search Processes for a Better Job Search Experience

Job search scholarship has established the job search as a self-regulatory, within-individual process that individuals engage in as they pursue new employment opportunities. Traditional scholarship has focused on job search quantity –the degree of effort exerted–and offers received as a result of job search efforts potentially at the neglect of understanding factors that impact job search quality. Therefore, recent job search scholarship has begun to shift away from this conventional paradigm to instead focus on the quality of job seekers job search experiences and different factors that impact job seeker well-being and perceptions. This symposium includes four papers that address job seeker well-being (e.g., psychological resources) and job search quality (e.g., types of search effort) as well as investigating psychosocial aspects of job seekers search experiences (e.g., degree of network centrality, volunteer work while unemployed). These papers are indicative of current trends in the job search literature and represent promising new streams for future research areas. The symposium also platforms preeminent job search scholar, Dr. Connie Wanberg, as the discussant of these works in progress. THE ROLE OF JOB SEARCH EXPERIENCE IN THE EMERGENCE OF ANTI-IMMIGRANT ATTITUDES Presenter: Serge P. Da Motta Veiga; EDHEC Business School Presenter: Shuhua Sun; Tulane U. Presenter: Ray Fang; Boise State U. VOLUNTEER WORK DURING UNEMPLOYMENT: DOES IT PAY OFF? A 5-WAVE LONGITUDINAL STUDY Presenter: Sarah Van Den Hee; U. of Amsterdam Presenter: Edwin A.J. Van Hooft; U. of Amsterdam OPPOSING EFFECTS OF HUMAN CAPITAL AND SOCIAL CAPITAL ON JOB SEARCH SELF-REGULATION Presenter: Jomel Wei Xuan Ng; National U. of Singapore THE INFLUENCE OF CHALLENGE AND HINDRANCE APPRAISALS ON SEARCH BEHAVIOR AND IMPRESSION MANAGEMENT Presenter: Rebecca MacGowan; U. of Arkansas Presenter: Mahira Ganster; U. of Arizona Presenter: Nitya Chawla; Texas A&M U. Presenter: Jerel Slaughter; U. of Arizona

Unemployment insurance, mobile capital, output, and distributive effects

Scholars and policymakers have focused on the effects of unemployment insurance on job search effort. However, output is an important measure of economic performance, and this paper studies the effects of unemployment insurance on output in a model with capital and labor market frictions. The question concerns whether unemployment insurance is needed to maximize output and whether unemployment should be subsidized or taxed if needed. The answer hinges on the relationship between the elasticity of the marginal product of capital and the elasticity of vacancy-filling rate. Workers’ risk aversion, the known reason in the literature, is neither necessary nor sufficient for unemployment insurance to increase output. In addition, unemployment insurance tends to redistribute from capitalists to workers even if unemployment insurance is financed by taxes on the employed. The paper thus provides new insights into unemployment insurance by focusing on output and distributive consequences.

Job search during a pandemic recession: Survey evidence from the Netherlands

This paper studies job search behavior in the midst of a pandemic recession. We use long-running panel data from the Netherlands (LISS) and complement the core survey with our own COVID-specific module, conducted in June 2020. The survey provides data on the job search effort in terms of the number of applications of employed as well as unemployed respondents. We estimate an empirical model of job search over the business cycle over the period 2008–2019 to explore the gap between predicted and actual job search behavior in 2020. We find that job search during the pandemic recession differs strongly from previous downturns. The unemployed search significantly less than what we would normally observe during a recession of this size. For the employed, the propensity to search is even greater than what we would expect, but those who do search make significantly fewer job applications. Expectations about the duration of the pandemic seem to play a key role in explaining job search effort for the unemployed in 2020. Furthermore, employed individuals whose work situation has been affected by COVID-19 are searching more actively for a new job.

The cyclicality of job search effort in matching models

Abstract The canonical matching model is the workhorse model of the labour market but lacks a proper amplification mechanism for productivity shocks. One way to amplify the effects of shocks is to allow workers to endogenously adjust their job search effort: as search effort is procyclical in the canonical model, volatilities increase. Yet, the empirical literature points against procyclical search effort, raising doubts of how acyclical (or countercyclical) search effort can coincide with volatile labour market variables in matching models. We show that they can coincide in a model with procyclical value of leisure and alternating-offer wage bargaining.

Investigating electronic word‐of‐mouth on social media: An eye‐tracking approach

AbstractWe investigate how individuals process electronic word‐of‐mouth (eWOM) about jobs and employers on social media. Employing eye‐tracking methodology, our study investigated: (1) the cognitive processing of positive and negative eWOM hosted on social media; (2) the factors influencing job seekers' cognitive processing of eWOM; and (3) the factors influencing perceptions of the credibility of eWOM as a source of employer information. Our results suggest the following. First, job seekers devote more attention to negative compared with positive eWOM. Second, existing employer knowledge in terms of familiarity and reputation influences how positive and negative eWOM are processed. Lastly, employer reputation and job search effort enhance one's perceptions of the credibility of eWOM. Overall, this research provides insights into the cognitive processing of online employer information and its implications for job search, recruitment, and employer branding.

Feeling Positive, Negative, or Both? Examining the Self-Regulatory Benefits of Emotional Ambivalence

According to self-regulation theories, affect plays a crucial role in driving goal-directed behaviors throughout employees’ work lives. Yet past work presents inconsistent results regarding the effects of positive and negative affect with theory heavily relying on understanding the separate, unique effects of each affective experience. In the current research, we integrate tenets of emotional ambivalence with self-regulation theories to examine how the conjoint experience of positive and negative affect yields benefits for behavioral regulation. We test these ideas within a self-regulatory context that has frequently studied the benefits of affect and has implications for all employees at one point in their careers: the job search. Adopting a person-centered (i.e., profile-based) perspective across two within-person investigations, we explore how emotional ambivalence relates to job search success (i.e., interview invitations, job offers) via job search self-regulatory processes (i.e., metacognitive strategies, effort). Results illustrate that the subsequent week (i.e., at time t + 1; Study 1) and month (Study 2) after job seekers experience emotional ambivalence (i.e., positive and negative affect experienced jointly at similar levels at time t), they receive more job offers via increased job search effort and interview invitations. Theoretical and practical implications for studying emotional ambivalence in organizational scholarship are discussed. Supplemental Material: The online appendix is available at https://doi.org/10.1287/orsc.2021.1553 .

Evidence on Job Search Models from a Survey of Unemployed Workers in Germany

Abstract The job-finding rate of unemployment insurance (UI) recipients declines in the initial months of unemployment and then exhibits a spike at the benefit exhaustion point. A range of theoretical explanations have been proposed, but those are hard to disentangle using data on job finding alone. To better understand the underlying mechanisms, we conducted a large text-message-based survey of unemployed workers in Germany. We surveyed 6,349 UI recipients twice a week for four months about their job search effort. The panel structure allows us to observe how search effort evolves in individuals over the unemployment spell. We provide three key facts: (i) search effort is flat early on in the UI spell, (ii) search effort exhibits an increase up to UI exhaustion and a decrease thereafter, (iii) UI recipients do not appear to time job start dates to coincide with the UI exhaustion point. A standard search model with unobserved heterogeneity struggles to explain the second fact, and a model of storable offers is not consistent with the third fact. The patterns are well captured by a model of reference-dependent job search or by a model with duration dependence in search cost.

Unemployment insurance and labour productivity over the business cycle

This paper quantifies the effects of the increasing maximum unemployment insurance (UI) duration during recessions on the drop in the correlation between output and labour productivity in the U.S. since the early 1980s – the so-called productivity puzzle. Using a general equilibrium search and matching model with stochastic UI duration, heterogeneous match quality, variable search intensity and on-the-job search, I demonstrate that the model can explain over 40 percent of the drop in this correlation (28 percent when the Great Moderation is taken into account). More generous UI extensions during recent recessions cause workers to be more selective with job offers and lower job search effort. The former channel raises the overall productivity in bad times. The latter prolongs UI extensions since in the U.S. they are triggered by high unemployment.