Explaining differences in job search outcomes between employed and unemployed job seekers

a research paper by Simonetta Longhi and Mark Taylor (Institute for Social and Economic Research, University of Essex)

Abstract


We use individual data for Great Britain over the period 1992-2009 to compare the probability that employed and unemployed job seekers find a job, and the quality of the job they find. The job finding rate of unemployed job seekers is 50 percent higher than that of employed job seekers, and this difference seems to be due to behavioural differences between employed and unemployed job seekers rather than differences in characteristics. Consistent with search theory, we find that employed job seekers are more selective in evaluating job offers; for example, they are less likely to accept low-wage and temporary jobs, or jobs that do not meet their working hour requirements.

Full document (PDF 33pp)

Hazel’s comment:
That final sentence of the abstract might seem to be stating the obvious. Of course, if you’ve currently got a job you can afford to pick and choose more than if you haven’t. What I found interesting was not that obvious conclusion but the steps that both employed and unemployed job-seekers take along the way to a new job. The research shows where those steps are similar and where they differ.
The findings bear out what those of us working in employment advice in the 70s and 80s “knew” but only anecdotally.

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