Unemployed Job Seekers Research Articles

Moderators of Career Calling and Job‐Search Behaviors Among Unemployed Individuals

We examined the relationship between calling, job‐search clarity, and job‐search intensity in a cross‐sectional study of Italian unemployed job seekers (N = 315). Structural equation modeling with observed variables and latent moderated structural equation models were adopted to test whether optimism, self‐esteem, and perseverance moderate the relation between calling, job‐search clarity, and job‐search intensity. Perceiving a calling was positively related with job‐search clarity and intensity, and these relations were stronger in individuals with lower levels of optimism, self‐esteem, and perseverance. This study suggests that perceiving a calling is an important personal resource that is related to a clearer job‐search goal and to more intense job‐search activities and can support job seekers in personal adverse conditions. These results suggest integrating job‐search behaviors in the work‐as‐calling theory and that incorporating the construct of calling into career counselors' practices may increase the efficacy of job‐search activities.

Coverage determinants of breast cancer screening in Flanders: an evaluation of the past decade

BackgroundBreast cancer (BC) is the most common cancer in women in the developed world. In order to find developing cancers in an early stage, BC screening is commonly used. In Flanders, screening is performed in and outside an organized breast cancer screening program (BCSP). However, the determinants of BC screening coverage for both screening strategies are yet unknown.ObjectiveTo assess the determinants of BC screening coverage in Flanders.MethodsReimbursement data were used to attribute a screening status to each woman in the target population for the years 2008–2016. Yearly coverage data were categorized as screening inside or outside BCSP or no screening. Data were clustered by municipality level. A generalized linear equation model was used to assess the determinants of screening type.ResultsOver all years and municipalities, the median screening coverage rate inside and outside BCSP was 48.40% (IQR: 41.50–54.40%) and 14.10% (IQR: 9.80–19.80%) respectively. A higher coverage rate outside BSCP was statistically significantly (P < 0.001) associated with more crowded households (OR: 3.797, 95% CI: 3.199–4.508), younger age, higher population densities (OR: 2.528, 95% CI: 2.455–2.606), a lower proportion of unemployed job seekers (OR: 0.641, 95% CI: 0.624–0.658) and lower use of dental care (OR: 0.969, 95% CI: 0.967–0.972).ConclusionCoverage rate of BC screening is not optimal in Flanders. Women with low SES that are characterized by younger age, living in a high population density area, living in crowded households, or having low dental care are less likely to be screened for BC in Flanders. If screened, they are more likely to be screened outside the BCSP.

Career self-management of unemployed workers: the role of proactive coping in job-to-job transition

PurposeJob search behavior is an important factor of an individual's career. In this study, proactive individuals' search for career opportunities during the transition from unemployment to employment is investigated. This investigation concentrates on the “in-between jobs” phase to better understand career transition. Proactive coping is a particularly important aspect of the transition from unemployment to work.Design/methodology/approachUsing the career self-management model and proactive coping theory, this paper establishes a conceptual model and adopts path analysis to examine the model with a sample of 208 unemployed workers from Poland.FindingsThe results indicate both direct and indirect effects for proactive coping on job-seeking behavior. Unemployed job seekers, with greater proactive coping, intensify their job search behavior and increase their chances for re-employment.Practical implicationsProactive coping is an important factor in career development. The findings of this study are a promising starting point for career self-development training for unemployed workers in transition.Originality/valueMost of the training for the unemployed prepares them to react and adapt to ongoing circumstances. Our findings show the importance of being proactive during active coping with unemployment.

A temporal perspective of job search: The relation between personality attributes, motivation, job search behavior, and outcomes

Job search is a lengthy process in which self-regulation is needed to obtain reemployment. Time and motivation play an important role in how job seekers regulate their search behavior. Building on temporal motivation theory and self-determination theory we examined the relationship of time-related personality attributes, job search motivation, and their interaction with self-regulatory job search behaviors and subsequent outcomes of the job search process. In a three-wave field study among 397 unemployed job seekers, results showed that trait procrastination explained unique variance in job search procrastination and haphazard job search above and beyond future focus and autonomous job search motivation. Trait procrastination was also negatively related to reemployment status via increased job search procrastination and haphazard job search, and a reduced number of job interviews. Finally, the negative indirect relation between trait procrastination and reemployment status through job search procrastination, haphazard job search and job interviews, was less negative for job seekers who were more autonomously motivated to engage in job search. Our findings point to the importance of a temporal perspective of job search and suggest that the role of time-related personality attributes and motivation in the job search process should be considered in future research and practice.

Can health-improving interventions improve outcomes for unemployed job seekers?

Can health-improving interventions improve outcomes for unemployed job seekers?

Occupying multiple stigmatized identities: Smoking and unemployment stigmas among the unemployed.

Stigma – which involves stereotyping, discrimination, and status loss – is a central driver of morbidity and mortality. Given the de-normalization of smoking and the status loss of unemployment, unemployed individuals who smoke may occupy multiple stigmatized identities. As such, this study examined aspects and correlates of smoking and unemployment stigmas among unemployed job-seekers who smoke. Adult job-seekers who smoke tobacco (N = 360) were recruited at government-run employment development departments (EDDs) in the San Francisco Bay Area in 2015–2018. Participants completed measures of smoking and unemployment stigma and self-reported their demographic, tobacco use, and physical and mental health characteristics. Smoking and unemployment stigmas were moderately positively correlated, and the sample reported higher unemployment stigma than smoking stigma. A sample majority endorsed at least one element of smoking and unemployment stigmas; most common for both was self-disappointment. Two sets of linear regression analyses using a general-to-specific modeling procedure were run to identify significant correlates of smoking stigma and unemployment stigma. Both stigmas were significantly associated with depressive symptoms and with preparing to quit smoking. Participants in poorer health and those with stable housing endorsed greater smoking stigma, while unemployment stigma was endorsed more among White individuals and those with past-year e-cigarette use. The findings highlight the need to examine multiply occupied stigmas as a social determinant of population health.

Motivated, resistant, unfortunate and blameworthy – Positions constructed for Finnish long-term unemployed individuals through the employability discourse

ABSTRACT In this study I examined the positions Finnish frontline workers constructed for their long-term unemployed clients through the employability discourse. The data consisted of 34 telephone interviews with rehabilitation counsellors working as part of a multi-sectoral team aiming to enhance the employability of unemployed jobseekers who face multiple barriers to attaining a job. In my analysis I identified four main positions: motivated, resistant, unfortunate and blameworthy. Within all of these positions, the responsibility related to employability enhancement was scrutinized. My analysis revealed that frontline workers position themselves as responsible or not responsible for enhancing their long-term unemployed clients’ employability depending on how employability or lack of it is constructed and a long-term unemployed individual positioned.

Discretionary spending priorities of unemployed, job-seeking adults who smoke cigarettes

ObjectiveTobacco use is detrimental to physical and financial wellbeing. Smoking is associated with unemployment and a harder time finding re-employment. The current study examined job-seekers’ prioritization of smoking over other discretionary items. MethodsAdult, unemployed job-seekers smoking daily ranked items from 1 (highest) to 13 (lowest) for prioritization of their discretionary spending. The online survey randomly ordered the presentation of items. The Heaviness of Smoking Index (HSI, time to first cigarette and cigarettes per day) assessed severity of nicotine addiction. ResultsThe sample (N = 290) was 70% men, 42% African American and 30% non-Hispanic Caucasian, with mean age of 43 (SD = 11), smoking an average of 12 cigarettes per day (SD = 6), and 67% smoking within 30 min of waking. Overall, cigarettes (M = 4.7, SD = 3.1) ranked second in importance behind only food (M = 2.5, SD = 2.7); 45% of the sample ranked tobacco in their top 3 spending priorities, and 26% ranked cigarettes as a higher priority than food. Cellular charges, transportation, grooming, and clothing ranked third through sixth, respectively. Higher HSI scores significantly correlated with greater prioritization of cigarettes (r = −0.25), and lower prioritization of food (r = 0.16) and transportation (r = 0.13), p’s < 0.05. ConclusionsFindings indicate cigarettes were highly prioritized, second only to food among job-seekers who smoke. Cigarettes were prioritized over job-seeking resources and health care, particularly among those who were more heavily addicted. Tobacco addiction can preempt basic life needs and reduce resources for finding re-employment.

Evaluating the Minimum-Wage Exemption of the Long-Term Unemployed in Germany

The authors evaluate the exemption of long-term unemployed job seekers from Germany’s national minimum wage. Using linked survey and administrative micro data, they rely on a regression discontinuity design to identify the effects of the policy by comparing hiring rates, employment stability, and entry wages around the administrative threshold between short-term and long-term unemployment. They find that the exemption is very rarely used and that the minimum wage binds irrespective of past unemployment duration. While the minimum wage led to a relative rise in entry wages for the long-term unemployed compared to the short-term unemployed, the authors do not detect a relative deterioration in their employment prospects.

How strong is my safety net? Perceived unemployment insurance generosity and implications for job search, mental health, and reemployment.

While social science has substantially documented the individual experience of unemployment, less is known about the role of contextual variables. One contextual factor that is important for unemployed job seekers is the unemployment insurance (UI) that they receive. This study examines the relationships between job seeker perceptions of UI generosity and mental health during unemployment, reemployment speed, and reemployment quality. Drawing upon psychological construal theory, we conceptualize UI generosity as creating psychological distance from the reemployment goal, generating consequences for the job search, mental health, and reemployment. We tested our hypotheses with a four-wave survey design of job seekers looking for work in 3 different countries (United States, Germany, and the Netherlands). Perceived UI generosity was associated with slower reemployment speed, via reduced time pressure, job search priority, and job search metacognition. Perceived UI generosity was related to higher mental health, via reduced time pressure and financial strain. Finally, perceived UI generosity was related to increased reemployment quality, both directly as well as indirectly through lower time pressure and financial strain, and subsequent higher mental health. Our findings provide previously unavailable empirical insight into the mechanisms explaining the positive and negative outcomes of UI generosity. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Can job seekers achieve more through networking? The role of networking intensity, self‐efficacy, and proximal benefits

AbstractThe authors develop and evaluate an online networking intervention, Building Relationships and Improving Opportunities (BRIO), built in conjunction with the networking literature and social cognitive theory (Bandura, 1986, 1999). A field experiment using 491 unemployed job seekers shows that the intervention increases networking intensity, networking self‐efficacy, and proximal networking benefits. Further, the intervention generates higher quality reemployment through its positive effects on networking self‐efficacy. Individuals who completed the intervention and were also lower in extraversion showed the most positive improvements in networking self‐efficacy and reemployment quality. The study advances the literature by uncovering the mechanisms through which a networking intervention may result in improved reemployment success, and demonstrating the moderating role of individual differences in affecting intervention outcomes. The study helps practice by providing a publicly available, research‐based training to improve job search networking.

Health-improving interventions for obtaining employment in unemployed job seekers.

Unemployment is associated with decreased health which may be a reason or a consequence of becoming unemployed. Decreased health can inhibit re-employment. To assess the effectiveness of health-improving interventions for obtaining employment in unemployed job seekers. We searched (3 May 2018, updated 13 August 2019) the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, MEDLINE, Scopus, PsycINFO, CINAHL, SocINDEX, OSH Update, ClinicalTrials.gov, the WHO trials portal, and also reference lists of included studies and selected reviews. We included randomised controlled trials (RCTs) of the effectiveness of health-improving interventions for obtaining employment in unemployed job seekers. The primary outcome was re-employment reported as the number or percentage of participants who obtained employment. Our secondary outcomes were health and work ability. Two authors independently screened studies, extracted outcome data, and assessed risk of bias. We pooled study results with random-effect models and reported risk ratios (RRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) and assessed the overall quality of the evidence for each comparison using the GRADE approach. We included 15 randomised controlled trials (16 interventions) with a total of 6397 unemployed participants. Eight studies evaluated therapeutic interventions such as cognitive behavioural therapy, physical exercise, and health-related advice and counselling and, in seven studies, interventions were combined using therapeutic methods and job-search training. Therapeutic interventions Therapeutic interventions compared to no intervention may increase employment at an average of 11 months follow-up but the evidence is very uncertain (RR = 1.41, 95% CI 1.07 to 1.87, n = 1142, 8 studies with 9 interventions, I² = 52%, very low-quality evidence). There is probably no difference in the effects of therapeutic interventions compared to no intervention on mental health (SMD 0.12, 95% CI -0.06 to 0.29, n = 530, 2 studies, low-quality evidence) and on general health (SMD 0.19, 95% CI -0.04 to 0.41, n = 318, 1 study, moderate-quality evidence). Combined interventions Combined interventions probably increase employment slightly compared to no intervention at an average of 10 months follow-up (RR 1.12, 95% CI 1.06 to 1.20, n = 4101, 6 studies, I² = 7%). There were no studies that measured work-ability, adverse events, or cost-effectiveness. Interventions combining therapeutic methods and job-search training probably have a small beneficial effect in increasing employment. Therapeutic interventions may have an effect on re-employment, but we are very uncertain. Therapeutic interventions may not improve health in unemployed job seekers. Large high-quality RCTs targeting short-term or long-term unemployed people are needed to increase the quality of the evidence. A cost-effectiveness assessment is needed of the small beneficial effects.

Employers' perspectives on benefit conditionality in the UK and Denmark

AbstractThis article examines the under‐explored demand‐side of active labour market policies (ALMPs). Based on interview data from a comparative study of the UK and Denmark, the paper analyses employers' perspectives and experiences of ALMPs. In both countries, employers were favourably disposed towards employing unemployed jobseekers but held negative views on conditionality. First, benefit conditionality led to employers receiving large numbers of unsuitable and unfiltered job applications, with associated negative resource impacts. Second, employers perceived this as a product of ‘box ticking' and compliance targets. Finally, employers criticised policy and media rhetoric for focusing solely on the supply‐side and for problematizing unemployed candidates. The paper argues that these crucial, but neglected, employer perspectives demonstrate that the current benefit conditionality regime in the UK risks irrevocably ‘tarnishing' candidates, which undermines, rather than enhances, their chances of securing employment through ALMPs. This unique dataset provides further evidence that the current direction of policy requires urgent and radical re‐thinking.

Qualitative Survey of Graduate Practice — An Intervention for Young Unemployed Jobseekers in Slovakia

Active labour market policy interventions are vide used tool of a government against unemployment. One of the most frequently used intervention for young jobseekers in Slovakia is a Contribution for Graduate practice. This measure is intended for young unemployed jobseekers as a tool of gaining first contact with the open labour market and with potential employer and gaining first work experiences. In this paper we present a qualitative survey of Graduate practice that was made as an ex-post evaluation of this intervention by its participants in Slovakia. This evaluation of the intervention was carried out at the request of the European Commission not only in Slovakia but also in several countries of the European Union. The qualitative evaluation, as a part of this rigorous intervention evaluation, provides feedback from the real intervention participants and brings some suggestions to improve the parameters and conditions of Graduate practice intervention and its realization. These improvements are useful not only for participants themselves, for companies in which young graduates are employed but also for the state budget in the form of returned or saved invested funds because of better functioning of the intervention. Based on the results of this feedback from its real participants, some parameters, conditions and details of the Graduate practice intervention have been changed and added in Slovakia.

Employability and Sustainability of Young Graduates in the Slovak Labour Market: Counterfactual Approach

A necessary condition for economic development and raising living standards in Slovakia is to address employment issues in a way that would inter alia contribute to employment sustainability. This important fact mirrors in the study that directly analyses the employability and sustainability of young unemployed jobseekers, participants of the intervention “Graduate Practice”, in the Slovak labour market in 2014–2017 by applying a counterfactual approach. The intervention is one of the active policy measures in the labour market, and its implementation is subject to the specifics of the excluded group of the unemployed. Its aim is to help the members of the group find a job and gain work experience and habits. The impacts of the intervention on the employability and sustainability of young graduates were evaluated based on real data using the caliper-matching technique, the technique of the propensity score-matching method. The intervention database was relatively robust and included 42,626 participants over a 24-month impact period. In the analysis, we considered both the effectiveness and efficiency of the Graduate Practice. The findings point to no or very weak effects of the intervention, especially to the long-term sustainability of jobs. However, its impact on the state budget we consider as positive due to the intervention’s ability to reduce total costs of unemployed graduates. From the methodology point of view, the use of the method is appropriate in finding possible imbalances in the active and passive policies of the labour market. The results of the study themselves have the explanatory power not only for Slovak policymakers but also for policymakers at the level of the European Union. The results are helpful in creating other interventions and setting their conditions for future periods to bring a desired effect on employability and sustainability of members of excluded groups in general.

Markets for jobs and their task overlap

We show that tightness in markets for jobs for which an unemployed job seeker fully qualifies in terms of her task competencies is predictive of her unemployment duration. This suggests that the labour market is organized along jobs and their task content. We also find that unemployed job seekers do not compete in markets where they possess only part of the required task competencies, suggesting that task overlap across jobs is unimportant for worker mobility between job markets. This implies that adverse task-biased shocks are likely to have pronounced distributional consequences across workers with different task competencies. To illustrate this, we quantify the impact of technological progress that automates routine tasks, showing that this imposes substantial adjustment costs that are highly unevenly distributed across unemployed job seekers with routine versus non-routine task competencies.

Health-improving interventions for obtaining employment in unemployed job seekers

Health-improving interventions for obtaining employment in unemployed job seekers

The impact of driver’s license ownership on unemployed job seekers’ access to job openings: Assessing the driver’s license at School project in Flanders

An inefficient accessibility to the labor market is considered as one of the key threats to a region’s economic wellbeing. However, the high dominance of and independency on travel by private motorized vehicle related to the post-war emergence of the automobile industry has led to various spatial mismatches between living locations and the labor market. Consequently, unemployed job seekers’ inability to find a suitable job is strongly interwoven with transport-related issues, and more specifically, with having a driver’s license. The research aims to examine the impact of the policy decision to discontinue the ‘Driver’s License at School’ project, which currently provides secondary school pupils (aged 17 years or older) with the ability to obtain their theoretical driver’s license at a diminished rate. This is examined through the assessment of job seeker’s accessibility to job vacancies in the region of Flanders (and, in extension, the Brussels Capital Region). Therefore, a spatio-temporal accessibility measure was constructed to identify the number of job opportunities per traffic analysis zone for different transport modes, while considering job competition. The results show that job seekers with a driver’s license have a higher accessibility to job opportunities than those without. Moreover, significant relationships exist between job seekers’ accessibility and their socio-demographic characteristics. The study argues that – although laudable from an environmental perspective – the discontinuation of the project will lead to various inequitable outcomes for certain groups. This has important ramifications for transport policies focusing on equity in job accessibility as well as spatial planning policies that address how the future Flemish urban landscape should ideally evolve. In addition, it fuels the debate on the discrepancy between sustainable transport policies and an equitable distribution of transport benefits.

EEPIC - Enhancing Employability through Positive Interventions for improving Career potential: the impact of a high support career guidance intervention on the wellbeing, hopefulness, self-efficacy and employability of the long-term unemployed - a study protocol for a randomised controlled trial

BackgroundLabour market policy (LMP) and its implementation have undergone rapid change internationally in the last three decades with a continued trend towards active LMP. In Ireland however, this shift has been more recent with ongoing reforms since 2012 and a concomitant move toward active labour market ‘work-first’ policy design (i.e. whereby unemployed people are compulsorily required to work in return for their social welfare benefits). Labour market policies vary from those that require this compulsory approach to those which enable the unemployed to move towards sustainable quality work in the labour market through upskilling (human capital approach). Despite this, however, long-term unemployment—a major cause of poverty and social exclusion—remains high, while current employment support approaches aimed at sustainable re-employment are, arguably, unevaluated and under examined. This study examines the effectiveness of a new high support career guidance intervention in terms of its impact on aspects of wellbeing, perceived employability and enhancing career sustainability.MethodThe study involves a single-centre randomised, controlled, partially blinded trial. A total of 140 long-term unemployed job-seekers from a disadvantaged urban area will be randomly assigned to two groups: (1) an intervention group; and (2) a ‘service as usual’ group. Each group will be followed up immediately post intervention and six months later. The primary outcome is wellbeing at post intervention and at six-month follow-up. The secondary outcome is perceived employability, which includes a number of different facets including self-esteem, hopefulness, resilience and career self-efficacy.DiscussionThe study aims to assess the changes in, for example, psychological wellbeing, career efficacy and hopefulness, that occur as a result of participation in a high support intervention vs routinely available support. The results will help to inform policy and practice by indicating whether a therapeutic approach to job-seeking support is more effective for long-term unemployed job-seekers than routinely available (and less therapeutic) support. The findings will also be important in understanding what works and for whom with regard to potentially undoing the negative psychological impacts of unemployment, building psychological capital and employability within the individual, and developing career trajectories leading to more sustainable employment.Trial registrationISRCTN registry, ISRCTN16801028. Registered on 9 February 2016.

Do Digital Information Technologies Help Unemployed Job Seekers Find a Job? Evidence from the Broadband Internet Expansion in Germany

This paper studies effects of the introduction of a new digital mass medium on reemployment of unemployed job seekers. We combine data on high-speed (broadband) internet availability at the local level with individual register data on the unemployed in Germany. We address endogeneity by exploiting technological peculiarities in the network that affected the roll-out of high-speed internet. The results show that high-speed internet improves reemployment rates after the first months of the unemployment spell. This is confirmed by complementary analysis with individual survey data suggesting that online job search leads to additional formal job interviews after a few months in unemployment.