Assessing the Job-Finding Probability of Older and Prime-Age Unemployed Workers

Abstract

We analyse the extent and determinants of somewhat gloomy employment prospects of older unemployed populations in Austria, the Czech Republic, Poland and Slovakia. For this purpose, we explore the European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions over the period 2004-2014. Survival estimates suggest that older unemployed workers face lower job-finding probabilities compared to prime-age unemployed workers, while this age-based gap increases with longer unemployment spells. The results of estimating the hazard models reveal that the job-finding probability of older unemployed workers is about 20-25% lower than that of the prime-age group, even after controlling for explanatory covariates and unobserved heterogeneity. Unemployment duration appears to be the major determinant of job-finding probability within both age groups. In contrast, the impact of explanatory covariates (gender, education, household characteristics, etc.) is relatively less robust and/or uniform.

Coping with unemployment in COVID-19: The role of employability beliefs in exploration self-efficacy

“…As expected, the importance of some dimensions of dispositional employability for career exploration self-efficacy, differ according to individuals' age and last field of work (e.g., Flek, Hála, & Mysíková, 2020;Kim et al, 2019). For example, in our sample, acceptance of challenges dispositional employability beliefs appeared as a third important factor of variance of confidence on career exploration, in the younger unemployed, while in the older ones it is optimism.…”

“…Although there is little research on the mediating effects of these sociodemographic and job conditions, existing evidence suggests, for example, that younger unemployed people, compared to older ones, have more favorable psychological capital and higher perceptions of control over career exploration than older ones (e.g., Fernandez-Valera et al, 2020). In addition, difficulties related to employment in certain work fields have been observed, especially in times of economic recession and crisis (e.g., labor market polarization as a function of workers's age, gender and level of education and skill; disapearance or lack of jobs in specific work fields; higher unemployment rates in younger, less experienced unemployed individuals) (e.g., Flek et al, 2020). Lenght of unemployment (e.g., over six months, under six months), may be an indicator of slow goal progress in terms of employability and job search, and can negatively influence job search self-efficacy (see Kim et al, 2019).…”

Research Landscape on Hidden Workers in Aging Populations: Bibliometric Review

“…Research in work and employment studies indicate that older unemployed individuals may experience discouragement and stop searching for full-time jobs (Nivorozhkin and Nivorozhkin 2020). This is concerning because the job-finding probability of older unemployed workers is lower than that of prime-age workers (Flek et al 2020). Moreover, an employer's attitude and workplace support toward an 'age-friendly' environment continue to be critical for the recruitment and retention of the older population (Nagarajan and Sixsmith 2023).…”

The Relationship of Education and Unemployment

“…They studied and stated the existence of a relationship between the level of education, gender and age structure on the example of several European countries and Russia. Flek et al (2020) analyzed labor market prospects of unemployed people aged 50-65 in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. In contrast, this paper confirms the effect of the duration of unemployment on job-finding, while the impact of explanatory covariates (like education level, gender or household characteristics) is not significant.…”