Integrating different notions of employability in a dynamic chain: The relationship between job transitions, movement capital and perceived employability

• Different notions of employability form a dynamic chain.
• Past job transitions affect movement capital.
• Movement capital influences perceived employability.
• Perceived employability relates to future job transitions.
• The internal labor market and external labor market are important foci leading to different results.

This study connects different notions of employability with the ultimate aim to arrive at integration of a research field that has been criticized for being fragmented and fuzzy. We define employability as “an individual's chance of a job in the internal and/or external labor market”. Employability research assesses employability differently, looking at the realization of this chance (i.e., job transitions), personal strengths that increase this chance (i.e., movement capital) and appraisals of this chance (i.e., perceived employability). We hypothesize and establish in a two-wave sample of 643 Belgian (Dutch-speaking) employees that these different notions of employability form a dynamic chain, so that job transitions promote movement capital, which then affects perceived employability and ultimately feeds back to job transitions. Furthermore, we found that the internal labor market versus the external labor market are important foci in employability research since internal and external job transitions were found to relate differently to the other notions of employability.