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Productivity, Investment in Human Capital and the Challenge of Youth employment. Comparative

Developments and Global Responses.

Youth employment: Student preferences for Mobiflex work

Dr. Franz Josef GellertProf. Dr. Rene Schalk

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Youth employment: Student preferences for Mobiflex work

What we need is not the will to believe, but the wish to find out.

William Wordsworth, retrieved from Counter Clockwise, E. Langer (2009)

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Youth employment: Student preferences for Mobiflex work

•Financial crises- organizations cut costs and lay-off employees•New employment trends, from fixed to flexible contracts•War of talents•Employers and employees wishes, desires and expectations are changing and must not match any longer•Mobility and flexibility goes hand in hand with changing employment relationships= Mobiflex?

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Youth employment: Student preferences for Mobiflex work

Problem area/Core Research Question

Do students’ job-and firm-related preferences align with the characteristics of

Mobiflex work?

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Youth employment: Student preferences for Mobiflex work

Sample:175 (Northern)

German students at 2 Universities58% male, 42%

female,Mean age 25,

Response rate: 98%

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Youth employment: Student preferences for Mobiflex work

Instrument:Questionnaire with 15 job-related questions and 18

firm-related questions

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Youth employment: Student preferences for Mobiflex work

Analysis

http://www.spss.com/uk/

We first conducted a Principle Axis Factor Analysis (PAF) to examine the number of factors with respect to student preferences related to the job and to the firm.

We tested the answer of our research question with hierarchical multiple regression analyses at an individual level. First, we controlled for gender and age and continued with entering step-by-step job- related preferences testing their influence on firm-related preferences.

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Youth employment: Student preferences for Mobiflex work

Results 1-Correlations• Age is negatively related to Mobiflex work which indicates that with increasing

age, less Mobiflex work is appreciated.

• Mobiflex work correlates strongly with employer provisions and opportunities

for development. Students prefer to work as a Mobiflex worker as long as they

can see that tangible and intangible employer support is given.

• The preference for autonomy is higher than the preference for Mobiflex work.

• With respect to preference for type of employer, the wishes for work life

balance are less relevant than the wishes with respect to opportunities for

development.

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Youth employment: Student preferences for Mobiflex work

Results 2-Regression(s)

• Students’ preference for Mobiflex work is an important predictor for

choosing employers that provide (financial) provisions (R² is .15)

• Opportunities for development (R² is .19).

• A preference for autonomy predicts a choice for employers that provide

opportunities for work-life balance; this relationship is not strong,

however (R² is .03).

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Youth employment: Student preferences for Mobiflex work

Conclusion(s)Research question: “Do students’ job- and firm-related preferences align

with the characteristics of Mobiflex work?”

1. Respondents have a higher preference for autonomy than for

Mobiflex work.

2. The preference for Mobiflex work predicts the choice for employers,

that focus on providing financial benefits and opportunities for

individual development.

3. Individual development has a positive influence on students’ mobility,

flexibility, and the management of work-life balance.

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Youth employment: Student preferences for Mobiflex work

Theoretical and practical impact (s)

For policy: equal treatment of men and women, health promotion scheems, employability security

For companies: recruitment policy, equal treatment of men and women with regard to work conditions and remuneration, balance of work and non-work responsibilities, management style

For workers: employability, work and life balance, motivation, health, career path/plan/development, social networks

For students: education scheems, social skills, choice of business sector, choice of (attractive) employer

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Youth employment: Student preferences for Mobiflex work

Recommendation(s)New employment relationships are developing, therefore……

• Potential labor market entrees are invited to clarify their desires, wishes and needs

during their studies

• Employers are challenged to develop recruitment policies that fit market demands

as well as employee demands

• A flexible work agreement might be good as a starting point at which employers

and employees can agree on reasonable work conditions

• Since we do not know the influence of Mobiflex work on occupational health,

further research is needed.

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For your attention !Thank you

Questions????????