The use of the psychological contract to explain self-perceived employability

• The relationship between psychological contract and employability is studied.
• Intra-organizational mobility opportunities influence mobility.
• Development opportunities explain most variance in development.
• Autonomy is most important for perceived labor market opportunities.
• Age and gender are important factors with regard to employability.

This study examines the relationship between the psychological contract and self-perceived employability (intra-organizational mobility intentions, employee development and perceived labor market opportunities). A survey was completed by 247 alumni of the Hotelschool The Hague, a hotel management school in the Netherlands. Hierarchical stepwise regression analyses were used to assess the relative contribution of employer practices to the employability measures. The psychological contract measures were work-home flexibility, job content, autonomy, development opportunities, a clear task description, salary and intra-organizational mobility opportunities, job security, performance-related pay and promotion opportunities. The main predictors for employability were intra-organizational mobility opportunities, development opportunities and autonomy. Age and gender moderated some of the relations between psychological contract and employability. We conclude that the psychological contract can explain a fair amount of variance among hospitality workers’ self-perceived employability.