Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between an employer’s brand image (i.e. symbolic and functional attributes) and job seekers’ attraction to the firm among a sample of young workers. Design/methodology/approach – Job seekers completed a questionnaire regarding their knowledge of a particular firm, their perceived image of that firm, and their attraction toward that firm in terms of future employment. Moderated regression analyses were used to test the hypotheses of interest. Findings – Consistent with previous findings, both functional and symbolic attributes of the brand image were related to job seekers’ attraction to the firm. In contrast to previous research, work experience moderated the effect of symbolic, but not functional, attributes such that these effects became stronger with more experience. Symbolic and functional attributes also interacted to predict job seekers’ attraction to the firm. Research limitations/implications – The study is based on cross-sectional self-report data, which limits causal inference. Practical implications – Results suggest that young workers are particularly influenced by symbolic attributes of the organizations’ brand image. Originality/value – This paper compares the role of symbolic and functional attributes in predicting young workers’ attraction to the firm. Young workers are more influenced by symbolic attributes and these influences are stronger when individuals gain in work experience and when they perceive higher functional attributes.

Sick Building Syndrome (SBS) involves seemingly healthy individuals experiencing long-lasting symptoms of physical distress in their work settings and is estimated to exist in 20 to 30 % of all work settings in the USA. We examined diŠ erences in stress, social support and both physical and psychological symptoms reported by hospital personnel working in known SBS sites in Halifax, Nova Scotia (n¯297) with control employees working in relatively SBS-free settings (n¯228). We found that employees reporting that their health had been aŠ ected by the building in which they worked and those complaining of poor air quality were more likely to be found in SBS locations. In addition, those people with higher levels of organizational support and marginally higher levels of union support were also more likely to be found in SBS locations. Further analyses revealed that employees with higher role overload and greater family support, but lower levels of organizational support were more likely to report that their own health had been adversely aŠ ected by their place of work. Perceptions of poor air quality were predicted by higher levels of role con‚ ict, role overload, and organizational stress and lower levels of organizational support. These results suggest that SBS may not be solely dependent on environmental factors.

No abstract

No abstract

No abstract