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.