The transition from university to work: a multilevel approach to the analysis of the time to obtain the first job

The aim of the paper is to characterize the factors that determine the transition from university to work as well as to evaluate the effectiveness of universities and course programmes with respect to the labour market outcomes of their graduates. The study is focused on the analysis of the time to obtain the first job, taking into account the graduates' characteristics and the effects pertaining to course programmes and universities. For this a three-level discrete time survival model is used, where the logit of the hazard—conditionally on the random effects at course programme and university level—is a linear function of the covariates. The analysis is accomplished by using a large data set from a survey on job opportunities for the 1992 Italian graduates.     

Job relocation,sources of stress,and sense of home

The social impact of job relocation on families is explored in this research. Based on interviews with 60 persons, who also share the experiences of spouses and children, this study suggests that job relocation is potentially harmful to families. Those who relocate initially experience two varieties of stress: operational stress, resulting from the new job and setting-up activities in the new community, and emotional stress resulting from family-related activities. It was found that those who relocate for work often face forced self-reliance, a lack of family support, and an increase in family demands, although the overall stress was reduced for persons taking white-collar or professional positions because of employer assistance. It was found that much of the initial stress dissipated with time, and when asked to reflect on their experiences most recast the initially difficult time as an endured challenge or learning experience. A vibrant 'sense of home', based on fond memories and people who care about them, served as an anchor for many of those studied. Strong evidence was found of a continued search for one's roots among many of the persons studied, especially those who were older who spoke of being adrift and of pursuing things at the expense of home and family while away. Many persons chose to return to their 'home' area, to work or retire, seeking to be near what was important in their lives. Cette recherche traite de l'impact social sur les familles du déménagement nécessité par un nouveau travail. Basée sur des entretiens avec soixante personnes qui partagent aussi les expériences des conjoints et des enfants, cette étude suggère qu'un tel déménagement est potentiellement nuisible aux familles. Ceux qui déménagent éprouvent tout d'abord deux sortes de stress: le stress operationnel resultant du nouveau travail et des efforts pour s'installer dans la nouvelle communauté, et le stress émotionnel dÛ aux activités familiales. Nous avons constaté que ceux qui déménagent à cause du travail doivent souvent faire face à une nouvelle autonomie inattendue, une absence du soutien familial habituel et une augmentation des exigences de la famille nucléaire, mais il faut noter que le stress total à été reduit pour les professionnels grâce à l'aide des employeurs. Nous avons constaté aussi que la plupart du stress initial se dissipe à la longue et que presque tous les sujets revoient cette période difficile comme un défi subi ou une expérience éducative. Ce qui a servi comme facteur stabilisant pour bien des sujets c'était leur très fort sentiment d'appartenir à un groupe familial, sentiment basésur les chers souvenirs de la famille. Nous avons également découvert l'évidence que beaucoup de sujets eétudieés continuent à reéchercher leurs racines familiales, surtout ceux qui eétaient plus âgés et qui disaient que pendant leur absence il ressentaient mal leur isolation ainsi que la recherche futile des choses. Beaucoup parmi eux ont choisi de rentrer dans leur région pour travailler ou prendre leur retraite, voulant être proches de ce qui fut important dans leur vie.     

基于杂合遗传算法的工艺路线可变Job Shop调度研究

提出一种将遗传算法与启发式规则、模拟退火法等搜索方法结合在一起的杂合遗传算法,用于求解工艺路线可变的JobShop调度问题。通过对某双极型集成电路封装企业的JobShop调度仿真,结果表明算法是有效和可行的。     

组织职业生涯管理与工作卷入关系的研究

本研究以龙立荣开发的组织职业生涯管理问卷的简缩版和修订过的Kanungo的工作卷入问卷为测量工具,对多家企业的员工进行了调查。统计分析结果显示:组织职业生涯管理与员工的工作卷入之间存在显著的正相关关系,组织职业生涯管理中的各个维度与员工工作卷入的相关关系均达到了显著性水平,其中与员工工作卷入相关性最大的是“晋升公平”,相关性最小的是“注重培训”。此研究证明了组织职业生涯管理的必要性。     

Engaging leader – Engaged employees? A cross-lagged study on employee engagement

The goal of this study is to provide a cross-lagged examination of the relationships between engaging leadership, job resources and employee work engagement. We propose a mediation model and we postulate that engaging leadership can increase perceptions of three specific job resources (i.e. autonomy, support from colleagues and opportunities for learning and development) which theoretically correspond to the three facets of engaging leadership (i.e., inspiring, connecting and strengthening, respectively). Subsequently, in keeping with the extant body of Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) research, we link job resources to employee work engagement. Our hypotheses were tested on data collected at two time-points – T1 (N = 759) and T2 (N = 273) –from employees working for a hotel chain in the Netherlands. In line with our expectations, engaging leadership showed a significant cross-lagged relationship with autonomy and support from colleagues, but did not predict learning opportunities and work engagement across time. While we formulated specific hypotheses, we also tested reversed causation relationships. We found no direct effect from engaging leadership on employee work engagement, however, the reversed effect was significant; employee perceptions of engaging leadership were shaped by their own engagement experiences. Importantly, engaged employees at T1 reported more job resources at T2. By providing a cross-lagged examination of our model, we showed that engaging leaders as well as employees’ positive affective state of being engaged, are essential to shaping a resourceful work context. A comprehensive view on the triggers and outcomes of work engagement and engaging leadership is needed, as the traditional unidirectional cause-effect rationale fails to explain how these concepts relate to one another and to employee experiences of job resources.     

Complementary person-supervisor fit: An investigation of supplies-values (S-V) fit,leader-member exchange (LMX) and work outcomes

By applying the supplies-values (S-V) fit approach from the complementary person-environment (P-E) fit literature to the leader-employee perspective, and drawing upon social exchange theory, we examine how fulfillment of different work values is related to Leader-Member Exchange (LMX) and work outcomes. First, polynomial regression analyses combined with response surface analysis of data collected at two time points (N = 316) showed that LMX (Time 2) was higher the more the leader fulfills the employee's work values (Time 1). Second, LMX (Time 2) was higher when leader supplies (Time 1) and employee work values (Time 1) were both high than when both were low. Third, analyses of data from a sub-sample of matched leader-employee dyads (N = 140), showed that LMX (Time 2) played a mediating role on the relation between S-V fit (Time 1) and work outcomes (Time 2). Specifically, we found eight out of 10 relationships between S-V fit (Time 1) and leader-rated task performance and OCB (Time 2) to be fully mediated by LMX (Time 2). LMX (Time 2) partially mediated the relation between S-V fit (Time 1) and job satisfaction (Time 2) as only two out of five relationships were fully mediated.     

Did small and medium enterprises maintain better jobs during the early years of the recession? Job quality multidimensional evidence from Spain

While the literature has indeed confirmed a general tendency linking small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to a dynamic of greater job creation, there is little available evidence on what has happened to job quality since the financial crisis. Through a representative sample of 5311 employees in 2008 (first year of job destruction) and 4925 employees in 2010 (last year for which data were available), and using a two-stage structural equation model, this article empirically analyses the multidimensional determinants of job quality, by enterprise-size class, in Spain. The research has revealed three main results. First, job quality in Spain improved in all enterprises, regardless of their size, during the early years of the recession. Second, the greatest improvements were found in SMEs. Although job quality was already better in SMEs than in large enterprises in 2008, the differences between them subsequently widened. Third, this accelerated divergence was explained by the following dimensions: working conditions, work intensity, health and safety at work, and work–life balance. These dimensions were much more positive in SMEs. Employment-related public policy should therefore focus more specifically on SMEs. There are two reasons for this. First, despite the recession, SMEs have shown themselves to be key factors in the explanation of job quality. Second, by making changes to their value generation model, they could continue to drive the creation of better quality jobs.     

Individual differences in the perception of occupational stress and their association with blood pressure status

Casual blood pressure (BP) was recorded in a sample of 217 working adults. A questionnaire was used to obtain subjective reports of job stress. comparisons were made between a group with elevated BP and a normotensive group. The high BP group appeared to perceive more stress. In particular, scores on the role conflict, job versus non-job conflict and type A scales reliably differentiated the groups. In contrast, for the job satisfaction items, no difference between the groups was observed. There appeared to be some association between reported occupational stress and BP level.     

Healthy lower backs in the construction industry in Sweden

This corss-sectional study exmaines the relationship between healthy lower and psychosocial and physical factors in a random sample of 1773 male construction workers. Infoamtion on lower back status, lifestyle habits, stress, psychosomatic and psychological symptoms, psychosocizal demands and resoruces and physical workload were collected by means of a postal questionnaire. Measures of psycholocial and physical factors were based on factor analysis of the data. The criterion variable 'healthy lower back' (HLB)—no lifetime history of low back pain—proved to be valid compared with an interview and a physical examination. A total of 216 workers (12%) reported HLB. The prevalance rate decreased significantly with increasing age. The prevalence rate of HLB was 6% among workers reporting high stress levels. It was postively influenced when there was a balance between demands and resoruces. A low level of physical workload also increased the prevalence rate of HLB. When age, lifestyle and physical factors were kept constant in a multivariate analysis high scores on the discretions index and low scores on eh psychosomatic, psychological and stress indices cosntributed significantly to an increase prevalence rate of HLB.     

Chronic strain,daily work stress and pain among workers with rheumatoid arthritis: Does job stress make a bad day worse?

The structure of the job and the daily experience of work are challenges for workers with rheumatoid arthritis. Yet little is known about how these two factors interact to put workers with chronic pain at risk for worse pain on a given day. This exploratory 20 workday diary study of 27 workers with rheumatoid arthritis used hierarchical linear modelling to examine how the structure of the job and neuroticism moderate the relationship between daily undesirable work events (daily stressors), and pain reports within a day. On days with more undesirable work events compared to days with fewer events, individuals with jobs associated with job ‘strain’ (high demand/low control) reported greater midday pain, irrespective of neuroticism and negative mood, than workers with other combinations of demand and control. These findings demonstrate the utility of analysing fluctuating within-person relationships among pain, mood and daily work stressors within the context of the structure of the job, and helps to explain why daily work stressors result in worse health outcomes for some but not all workers with RA.