DOES ECONOMIC HARDSHIP INFLUENCE THE JOB SEARCH QUALITY AND REEMPLOYMENT OUTCOMES?

The objective of this study is to unearth the association among economic hardship, job search quality (i.e. the use of more or less quality job search strategies) and reemployment outcomes (i.e. status and quality). We utilized the conservation of resource (COR) framework and integrated the stress and self-regulation discourse with additional support from the perceived fit literature. In a longitudinal study (four-waves), using self-report measures, we collected data from recently unemployed individuals (N=413) actively looking for a new job. The hypotheses were tested in structural equation modeling (SEM).Our findings revealed that economic hardship is negatively related to focused job search strategy and positively related to haphazard job search strategy. The association between focused strategy and reemployment outcomes was positive whereas the relationship of haphazard strategy and reemployment outcomes was negative. Further, the job strategies mediated the relationship between economic hardship and reemployment outcomes. Theoretical and practical implications were discussed in detail.