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The Mismatched Worker: When People Don't Fit Their Jobs (Types of…
The Mismatched Worker: When People Don't Fit Their Jobs
mismatches have become
more common
stems primarily from changes (or lack of
changes) in the institutional structure and the workplace
that have not kept pace with some of the main
trends in work and the labor force:
globalization
(which leads to pressure on businesses to become
more competitive)
growth of information technology
and technological innovation (which increases skill
requirements)
geographic dispersion of workers
and the growing diversity of the labor force
Creating Mismatches
result from the interplay between
some combination of people’s needs, interests,
values, and expectations on the one
hand and the characteristics and rewards associated
with their jobs and organizations on the
other
Jobs and people differ in many ways, so
many kinds of mismatches may occur in an industrial
society
people
and jobs may have poor fits with regard to:
Skills and qualifications (overqualification and
underqualification)
Geographical or spatial location.
Temporality and time preferences (overworking
and underworking)
Inadequate earnings
Conflicts between work and family lives.
These types of mismatches are based on several
criteria
The psychology (and organizational behavior)
literature emphasizes ability and preferences
as the basic dimensions of fit, suggesting
mismatches such as over- or underqualification
(based on proxies for ability) and over- and underworking
(which may reflect preferences).
Economists (and industrial relations researchers)
have focused on conflicts between workers and
their employers with regard to such things as
money, and have been concerned with mismatches
that might be called “inadequate earnings.”
Sociologists have concentrated on jobs that
make it difficult for people to take care of their
family obligations.
geographers and sociologists
have studied mismatches between workers’
home and work locations.
In all these mismatches,
persons are unable to satisfy their needs or preferences
through their jobs.
MIsmatches Are Contextual
In order to conclude that a worker and job are
mismatched, we must evaluate the person’s skills,
needs, and preferences in relation to the requirements
or benefits available from the job
also shaped by
cultural understandings of what is considered
“normal” and the conditions under which a job
might reasonably be expected to be a “good fit.”
cultural norms. In USA people work more hours
people increasingly
expect their jobs to provide challenging
work and meaningful social relationships, in addition
to economic success
Interrelations Among Mismatches
These mismatches do not occur independently
one mismatch may cause others
work-family conflicts may be both a
cause and a consequence of other mismatches
some kinds of mismatches may coexist because they result from similar processes, such as
from a disharmony between labor supply and employment
demand. Thus, a labor shortage can
coexist with high underemployment
some kinds of mismatches may be mutually
exclusive and negatively related to each
other. Obtaining a job that avoids one type of
mismatch may thus lead to another type, and it
may be difficult if not impossible to achieve good
fits on all dimensions
Types of Mismatches
Skills
overqualification
growing prob
underqualification
old people
Geographical
Temporal
overworking
underworking
Earnings
the working poor
"income squeeze"
benefits
work-family
time-based conflict
Strain-based conflict
Behavior-based conflict
COnsequences of Mismatch
individual
likely to produce
stress and other negative psychological and
physical outcomes that may often spill over to
non-work situations.
Overworking, work-family
conflict, and working in low-wage jobs have been
shown repeatedly to lead to high stress.
produces dissatisfaction with the job and is
apt to encourage individuals to change the work
situation to improve the match or, if possible, to
leave the job
organization
underutilization of our workforce is
a serious issue that costs billions of dollars in lost
productivity
consequences of mismatches
cost the nation billions of dollars each year for
social services such as hospitals and family support
to help people cope with the undesirable consequences
of earnings mismatches and the stress
produced by overwork and related mismatches
Reducing Mismatches
structural in nature, alleviating them requires institutional
and structural solutions
Mismatches related to skills and
abilities (overqualification and underqualification),
for example, and to some extent to preferences
(overwork and underwork) are likely to
require a person to change jobs to improve fit
could be reduced by better
sorting of workers to jobs
overwork or underwork
might be alleviated by the person changing his or
her expectations or referents—without necessarily
changing jobs
other types of mismatches—such
as inadequate earnings—are more
about conflicts of interest than about poor sorting
in that employees want or need higher earnings
than employers are willing to pay.
y cannot be solved by joint gain interventions;
power needs to be shifted to employees
in order to lessen these conflicts of interest
Better SOrting Workers to Jobs
enhancements in information technology
specify in
great detail the requirements of their job vacancies,
and workers can get a better sense of whether
these jobs meet the needs and preferences they
seek to satisfy through paid work.
databases on the careers of executives around
the world maintained by the larger executive
recruiting companies (Cappelli, 1999) or social
networks that transmit information about job
seekers and employers to each other
Social Policies
notably those in Europe,
have done better than the United States in
avoiding certain kinds of mismatches
made overworking less likely and
provided workers with attractive part-time work
options.
Parental leave and child care policies
adopted by a number of European countries
Vocational
training regimes in countries such as Germany
have helped workers avoid being underqualified.
Governmental social and economic
policies—along with private business strategies—
need to accomplish two main goals to alleviate
mismatches and their consequences
First, we must create better jobs
Second, it is necessary to build a “safety net”
to protect people from the negative consequences
of mismatches