Employability among the long-term unemployed: A futile quest or worth the effort?

Unemployment bears many negative consequences for both individuals and societies. Particularly the long-term unemployed face poor chances of finding reemployment, and many recommendations issued in the regular unemployment literature may not apply to them. Therefore, the current study investigates whether employability (Fugate et al., 2004) may help finding reemployment among those who have been unemployed for years. Specifically, we examine whether employability can foster job search and the chance on finding reemployment above and beyond the barriers that long-term unemployed people so often face. Additionally, we investigate whether reemployment interventions can contribute to long-term unemployed people's employability. The present study assessed long-term unemployed people's employability at two points in time (nT1 = 2541, nT2 = 897). Results show that employability fosters job search and the chance on finding reemployment among long-term unemployed people, although not all employability dimensions contributed equally to job search and reemployment. Moreover, reemployment interventions contributed to people's development of employability, although the effects were relatively small. Taken together, our study demonstrates the significant role of employability in the reemployment process, thereby extending the notion of employability from active members of the workforce to the long-term unemployed. We discuss that reemployment research and practice should focus on longterm unemployed people's employability, and that reemployment services should take a more personcentered approach in helping them to find reemployment.

► Employability is important in long-term unemployed people's reemployment process.
► Employability predicts job-search and reemployment, above and beyond barriers.
► The cognitive dimension of employability (adaptability) mainly fosters job-search.
► The ability dimension of employability (capital) mainly fosters reemployment.
► Investing in long-term unemployed people's employability is worth the effort.