Perceived employability and psychological functioning framed by gain and loss cycles

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to test the gain and loss cycle ideas from the Conservation of Resources (COR) theory with regard to perceived employability and psychological functioning among employed workers and unemployed job seekers, respectively. Design/methodology/approach – More specifically, the authors argue that perceived employability may trigger a gain cycle toward well-being among employed workers (H1), while ill-being may trigger a loss cycle toward reduced (perceived) employability among unemployed job seekers (H2). The authors test these ideas with cross-lagged analysis. Findings – Results confirm the hypotheses: perceived employability at Time 1 positively affects well-being at Time 2 among employed workers and ill-being at Time 1 negatively impacts perceived employability at Time 2 among unemployed job seekers. Research limitations/implications – Future research should study the gain and loss cycles with more than two waves of data as this allows for a more adequate test of these ideas. Practical implications – As for practitioners, the results suggest that investing in the worker’s perceived employability by offering training, career counseling, and networking opportunities, pays off as it promotes the employee’s psychological functioning. With regard to unemployed job seekers the authors advise investing in psychological counseling: the unemployed job seeker will be more able to invest in a job search, and hence perceive employability if helped in coping with job loss. Originality/value – This study offers a new perspective on the relationship between perceived employability and psychological functioning by involving the principles of COR theory, in particular the gain and loss cycles.

Perceived employability trajectories: A Swedish cohort study

“…This may imply that actually well-being is a prerequisite (and not a consequence) for perceived employability or that one needs higher well-being to improve perceived employability. This idea is supported by one study that showed that ill-being at the baseline negatively affected perceived employability after a year (and not vice versa) among unemployed job seekers 24) . On the other hand, these might be parallel processes in which a sufficient amount of one resource needs to exist before the other one can begin to grow.…”

Who Gets Stuck in Their Workplaces? The Role of Matching Factors, between Individual and Job, and Demographics in Predicting Being Locked In

“…However, the latter study targeted a specific, female-dominated workplace, and therefore it is uncertain whether this relationship would be reflected in the labor market overall. Regarding studies targeting gender and employability, some studies did not find any gender differences (Berntson, Sverke, and Marklund, 2006;Silla et al, 2009), while the bulk of studies indicate that men, compared to women, generally perceive themselves as having higher employability (see e.g., De Cuyper et al, 2008;Mäkikangas et al, 2013;Vanhercke et al, 2015). Therefore, we pose the following hypothesis:…”

Relationship Between Perceived Organizational Support, Proactive Personality, and Perceived Employability in Workers Over 50

“…Berntson () and De Cuyper and De Witte () emphasized the notion of perceived employability , which they consider a guarantee of job security in a shifting professional environment. Indeed, Vanhercke et al () emphasized that it is perception, rather than reality, that triggers cognitions, behavior, and psychological functioning. Consequently, in the current study, we examined perceived employability, and specifically the extent to which it optimizes the chances of a person to remain employed or to find a new job.…”

“…Berntson (2008) and De Cuyper and De Witte (2010) emphasized the notion of perceived employability, which they consider a guarantee of job security in a shifting professional environment . Indeed, Vanhercke et al . (2015) emphasized that it is perception, rather than reality, that triggers cognitions, behavior, and psychological functioning .…”