Perceived and Objective Employability Among Young Unemployed

Employability has become a buzzword in active labor market policies, with education and training programs aiming at enhancing the employment prospects of unemployed – especially of the young. The academic literature distinguishes between perceived and objective employability. While objective employability is defined as an individual’s ability to gain initial employment, maintain employment or obtain new employment, measured for example by the time it takes to find lasting (re-)employment, perceived employability pertains to an individual’s subjective assessment of his or her own objective employability. Hence, the two concepts are related, but not equal. Still, most studies concentrate either on objective or on perceived employability, depending on the research question and the available data. In this paper, we explicitly compare the concepts, asking to which extent indicators of perceived and objective employability of young unemployed correlate. Furthermore, we assess inter-individual differences in the ability to predict one’s own employability. We draw on data from a panel study we recently conducted among unemployed young adults (aged 18-28) in Austria. We find correlations between perceived and objective employability to be rather weak among young unemployed. Furthermore, we observe differences between individuals concerning the accuracy of their assessments. For example, women are significantly more likely to correctly predict their employability than men. In addition, several personal characteristics moderate the relationship between perceived and objective employability.