Occupational Change and Mobility among Employed and Unemployed Jobseekers
| Title | Occupational Change and Mobility among Employed and Unemployed Jobseekers |
| Author(s) | Simonetta Longhi, Mark P Taylor |
| Organisation | ISER at University of Essex |
| Date | November 2011 |
| No. of pages | 26 |
| Key words | Employment; gender and income; labour mobility; labour market; inequality; low incomes; changing jobs; social mobility |
| Description | A study which looks at what happens to employed and unemployed people when they change jobs or seek to change jobs. It is good at showing how these two groups operate within quite different labour markets. |
| Select quotations | “…any loss of occupational experience associated with a change in occupation my result in lower wages, at least initially. This suggests that high levels of occupational mobility can severely inhibit a person’s career wage growth.” “We find that for both employed and unemployed job seekers the probability of finding a new job in the same occupation as the previous job is relatively low (around 30%), while more than one half experience a major occupational change (i.e. across occupations that are very different).” “…for unemployed people a change in occupation is likely to have a negative impact on future wage growth while for employed people an occupational change is more often associated with better prospects for wage growth.” “…employed and unemployed job seekers operate in different labour markets.” “Although it has been suggested that job seekers might be more likely to find a better job if they quit their current job (i.e. become unemployed) and focus their efforts on their search for new employment, our results suggest otherwise.” “While occupational change is more likely to be an opportunity for employed job seekers, it seems to be a constraint for unemployed job seekers. “…one possible implication is that workers should try to avoid unemployment; should try to enter a job quickly if unemployed and then search for better opportunities while employed.” |
| Link | http://www.iser.essex.ac.uk/publications/working-papers/iser/2011-25.pdf |
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