The Impact of Underemployment on Individual and Organizational Performance

• Main Authors: BASHSHUR, Michael Ramsay, Hernández, Ana, Peiró, José María
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 2011
• Subjects: Underemployment; Time; Teams; Task performance; Extra-task performance; Organizational Behavior and Theory
• Online Access: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/lkcsb_research/4198; https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/context/lkcsb_research/article/5197/viewcontent/BashshurHernandezandPiero2011Underemployment.pdf
• Institution: Singapore Management University

The issue of underemployment is one of increasing concern for countries across the globe. For example, in the USA estimates have put the number of underemployed as high as 20.3%, while in Europe the number of overqualified workers (just one dimension of underemployment) has been estimated at 21.5% (Groot & Maassen van den Brink, 2000). Unfortunately, given the current global economic crisis, this situation can only be expected to worsen in the near future. The international labor pool is becoming more educated and qualified (Peiró, Agut, & Grau, 2010) while organizations worldwide are seeking the minimum effective level of human capital in an effort to cut costs. As such, fewer jobs demanding high levels of qualification are becoming available on the labor market while the supply of employees with just such a profile continues to grow.