Perceived employability of Hong Kong employees: its antecedents, moderator and outcomes

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to develop and test a model that investigates volition and self-efficacy as antecedents, and work engagement and job satisfaction as outcomes of perceived employability. It also evaluates the moderating role of job insecurity on the relationships between perceived employability and the two employee outcomes. Design/methodology/approach The data were collected via a random sampling survey on living conditions of Hong Kong citizens in 2014. The final sample consists of 414 Chinese working adults. The authors employ structural equation modeling and moderated regression analysis to test the hypotheses. Findings Results show that volition and self-efficacy are positively related to perceived employability, and perceived employability in turn positively relates to work engagement and job satisfaction. Besides, perceived employability fully mediates the effect of volition and partially mediates the effect of self-efficacy, on the two outcome variables. The authors also find that job insecurity acts as a significant moderator on the relationships between perceived employability and the outcomes. Research limitations/implications Limitations of this study include self-reported data, cross-sectional research design, and selected respondents with a large proportion of recent immigrants. By delineating the process through which perceived employability affects employees’ work engagement and job satisfaction, this study provides some implications for research and practice. Originality/value This study introduces a conceptual model that includes both antecedents and consequences of perceived employability. It examines the relationships among volition, perceived employability, and work engagement, which has not been studied before. By identifying job insecurity as an important moderator, it reveals a boundary condition of perceived employability on employee outcomes.

La Discriminación Percibida, la Empleabilidad y el Bienestar Psicológico en los Inmigrantes Latinoamericanos en Chile

“…The results showed a significant and positive relationship between employability and well-being, confirming the findings reported by a large number of studies (Berntson & Marklund, 2007;De Cuyper et al, 2008;De Cuyper et al, 2011;De Cuyper et al, 2012;Kirves et al, 2011;Ngo, Liu, & Cheung, 2017). Although these studies have found a positive relationship between employability and well-being, they do not ascribe to theoretical perspectives on which this research is based and also they operationalize the variables in a different way.…”

“…Igualmente, la percepción de discriminación se vinculó negativamente con la empleabilidad, coincidiendo con estudios anteriores que indagan en los posibles efectos de la percepción de trato injusto en el empleo (Noor y Shaker, 2017;Owuamalam y Zagefka, 2014). Los resultados mostraron la existencia de una relación significativa y positiva alta entre la empleabilidad y el bienestar, confirmando los hallazgos reportados por una gran cantidad de estudios (Berntson y Marklund, 2007;De Cuyper et al, 2008;De Cuyper et al, 2011;De Cuyper et al, 2012;Kirves et al, 2011;Ngo et al, 2017) que, si bien han encontrado una relación positiva entre la empleabilidad y el bienestar, no adscriben a las perspectivas teóricas en las que se sustenta esta investigación y han operativizado las variables de diferente manera, por ejemplo, utilizando medidas de empleabilidad percibida, salud mental y satisfacción vital.…”

Insight to Impact: The Effect of Protean Career Attitude on Employability Perceptions of IT Professionals

“…Perceived Employability is considered as an important factor in line with the Job Demands-Resource model (JD-R) (De Cuyper et al, 2011) and Conservation of Resource theory (COR) (Kirves, 2014). Employability perceptions focus on an individual's self-assessment of his/her competency, which is derived from their behavioural competencies skills, knowledge of the labour market, and adaptability (Ngo et al, 2017. Studies indicate that enhanced perceptions of employability could lead to improved job outcomes like improved ability to adapt to changing work environment, job search behaviours, subjective well-being, and health (Berntson, 2008;Chen & Lim, 2012).…”

Perceived Employability and Entrepreneurial Intentions Across University Students and Job Seekers in Togo: The Effect of Career Adaptability and Self-Efficacy

“…In this respect, Kasler et al (2017) reported a significant and positive association between hope, grit and self-perceived employability. Ngo et al (2017) stressed a significant predictive role of general self-efficacy and de Guzman and Choi (2013), the role of career adaptability. Moreover, a longitudinal study conducted by Berntson et al (2008) showed that self-perceived employability and self-efficacy were associated with each another and that self-perceived employability preceded self-efficacy.…”