The experience of precarious employment is growing across the occupational spectrum and some scholars have predicted that there will be a corresponding rise in anger, anomie, anxiety and alienation amongst those affected. Exploring more intimately how precarity might be differently experienced and confronted, this paper bases itself on a dialogue…

This article is about graduate employment, unemployment and underemployment. It looks at the development of employability skills inuniversity education as a response to evidence of the unemployment and underemployment of new graduates and assesses the impact of that response. The article then offers another approach to graduate employability based…

Increasing numbers of recent college graduates are ending up in relatively low-skilled jobs that, historically, have gone to those with lower levels of educational attainment. This study examines this phenomenon in some detail, concluding: (1) About 48 percent of employed U.S. college graduates are in jobs that the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS)…

The wage and job satisfaction impacts for over-educated workers have been well-documented; yet little attention has been paid to the consequences for firms. In this paper we examine over-education from the perspective of the workplace. Using linked employer-employee data for the United Kingdom, we derive the standard worker-level penalties on…

This article investigates the relationship between the number of informational channels and over-education in the outcome of job search, using the survey data of postgraduates in China. The empirical results show: (1) the more the informational channels of job search are used, the lower the probability and the less the intensity of over-education…

Overskilling is the phenomenon whereby a worker's skills are underutilised in his or her job. Overskilled workers are employed, but they are underutilised and mismatched, in that their skills and abilities are not a good match with the requirements of the job. Overskilling can lead to decreased wages and job satisfaction, which suggests that the…

Analysis of a cross-sectional sample of 11,597 Spanish workers found that overeducated (underemployed) workers have less experience, decreased on-the-job training, and higher turnover. Although job match improved with age and mobility, this effect leveled off after age 35. (SK)

Data from Canada's New Approaches to Lifelong Learning Study confirm the pervasiveness of unpaid work and informal learning. Most employed persons engage in a variety of work-related informal learning activities. However, underemployment in terms of use of acquired skills is widespread. (Contains 29 references.) (SK)

In a Canadian survey of informal learning (n=1,562) and a follow-up (n=328), unpaid work, informal learning, and job-related learning were extensive. Despite considerable underemployment, respondents still pursued learning that prepared them for work. (Contains 29 references.) (SK)

The increasing underutilization of educated workers poses substantial dilemmas for organizational managers and carries profound repercussions for education. (Author)

The globalized economy appears to promote economic insecurity and underemployment. Lifelong learning is increasingly focused on competitive advantage. Adult educators should encourage discussion and debate about the nature of these changes and advocate lifelong learning that benefits the whole person and broader community. (Contains 30…

A recent study of education-job mismatch among 487 Canadian university graduates are analyzed, and the implications in the debate over shortages of skilled employees are considered. It is suggested that the perceived skills shortage is rather a problem of inadequate skill utilization, implying greater employer responsibility. (MSE)

The conventional wisdom today holds that educational upgrading necessarily leads to chronic and mass underemployment. This article provides a more balanced perspective on this issue by pointing out some of the plausible and positive consequences of educational upgrading. (Author)

Argues that matching education to jobs is unrealistic. Offers solutions to mitigate unemployment: forget labor force forecasting, relax minimum wage laws, devocationalize schools, encourage private schools, teach vocational skills in specialized schools or the workplace, and target subsidies to the poor. (SK)

Examines the roles of demographic composition, education, and industrial mix in explaining metro-nonmetropolitan differences in underemployment. Documents higher prevalence of "discouraged workers," unemployment, and underemployment in nonmetropolitan areas. Shows educational composition is single most important component accounting for…