Documents employability 350 results

Objectives This study tested the reliability and validity of industry- and mill-level expert methods for measuring psychosocial work conditions in British Columbia sawmills using the demand-control model.Methods In the industry-level method 4 sawmill job evaluators estimated psychosocial work conditions at a generic sawmill. In the mill-level method panels of experienced sawmill workers estimated psychosocial work conditions at 3 sawmills. Scores for psychosocial work conditions were developed using both expert methods and applied to job titles in a sawmill worker database containing self-reported health status and heart disease. The interrater reliability and the concurrent and predictive validity of the expert rater methods were assessed.Results The interrater reliability and concurrent reliability were higher for the mill-level method than for the industry-level method. For all the psychosocial variables the reliability for the mill-level method was greater than 0.90. The predictive validity results were inconclusive.Conclusions The greater reliability and concurrent validity of the mill-level method indicates that panels of experienced workers should be considered as potential experts in future studies measuring psychosocial work conditions.

"Objectives This study aimed to assess the influence of chronic health problems on work ability and productivity at work among older employees using different methodological approaches in the analysis of longitudinal studies.Methods Data from employees, aged 45–64, of the longitudinal Study on Transitions in Employment, Ability and Motivation was used (N=8411). Using three annual online questionnaires, we assessed the presence of seven chronic health problems, work ability (scale 0–10), and productivity at work (scale 0–10). Three linear regression generalized estimating equations were used. The time-lag model analyzed the relation of health problems with work ability and productivity at work after one year; the autoregressive model adjusted for work ability and productivity in the preceding year; and the third model assessed the relation of incidence and recovery with changes in work ability and productivity at work within the same year.Results Workers with health problems had lower work ability at one-year follow-up than workers without these health problems, varying from a 2.0% reduction with diabetes mellitus to a 9.5% reduction with psychological health problems relative to the overall mean (time-lag). Work ability of persons with health problems decreased slightly more during one-year follow-up than that of persons without these health problems, ranging from 1.4% with circulatory to 5.9% with psychological health problems (autoregressive). Incidence related to larger decreases in work ability, from 0.6% with diabetes mellitus to 19.0% with psychological health problems, than recovery related to changes in work ability, from a 1.8% decrease with circulatory to an 8.5% increase with psychological health problems (incidence-recovery). Only workers with musculoskeletal and psychological health problems had lower productivity at work at one-year follow-up than workers without those health problems (1.2% and 5.6%, respectively, time-lag).Conclusions All methodological approaches indicated that chronic health problems were associated with decreased work ability and, to a much lesser extent, lower productivity at work. The choice for a particular methodological approach considerably influenced the strength of the associations, with the incidence of health problems resulting in the largest decreases in work ability and productivity at work."

"Objective This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of a prevention program on work ability, health, and sick leave targeted at construction worksites. Methods A total of 15 departments (N=297 workers) from 6 construction companies participated in this cluster randomized controlled trial and were randomly allocated to the intervention (8 departments; N=171 workers) or control (7 departments; N=122 workers) group. The intervention consisted of two individual training sessions with a physical therapist aimed at lowering the physical workload, a rest-break tool to improve the balance between work and recovery, and two empowerment training sessions to increase the worker's influence at the worksite. Data on work ability, physical and mental health status, and musculoskeletal symptoms were collected at baseline, and at 3, 6, and 12 months follow-up. Sick leave data were obtained from the companies. Results Overall, no differences in work ability [? 0.02, 95% confidence interval (95% CI) -0.34–0.37] or physical and mental health status (? -0.04, 95% CI -1.43–1.35, and ? 0.80 95% CI -0.51–2.11, respectively) were found between the intervention and control group. The intervention showed an overall decline in musculoskeletal symptoms (ranging from OR 0.68, 95% CI 0.34–1.33, to OR 0.86, 95% CI 0.47–1.57) and long-term sick leave (OR 0.44, 95% CI 0.13–1.26) among construction workers. Both reductions were not statistically significant. Conclusion The prevention program seemed to result in a beneficial but not statistically significant decline in the prevalence of musculoskeletal symptoms and long-term sick leave among construction workers, but showed no effects with regard to work ability, physical health, and mental health."

"In this paper we investigate the existence of negative jobless duration dependence and the impact of jobless spells on future wages. Our findings are somewhat out of line compared with analogous explorations. We find evidence of very long unemployment duration of the young male labor force, higher than reported anywhere else in Western Europe, as well as large negative unemployment duration dependence. On the other hand, young Italian men experiencing jobless periods in their early careers face small re-employment wage losses. Such losses do increase with the duration of joblessness, but they are lower than reported in the USA, Canada, the UK, France, and Spain."

"We investigate the validity of subjective data on expectations of job loss and on the probability of re-employment consequent on job loss, by examining associations between expectations and realisations. We find that subjective expectations data reveal private information about subsequent realisations both of job loss and of subsequent re-employment. We also compare the use of verbal and numerical descriptors for subjective probability scales. As predictors of subsequent job loss, the expectations data perform better with numerical than with ordinal verbal descriptors. On average, employees overestimate the chance of losing their job; while they underestimate the difficulty of job replacement. We recommend that survey items on employment insecurity should be explicit about each risk under investigation, and utilise a cardinal probability scale with discrete numerical descriptors."

"The increasing societal costs of the expanding retired population are forcing industrialized countries to find new ways to extend life-long work careers. Work careers can be extended in the beginning, middle, or end of the traditional working life, utilizing solutions on the borders of main-life transitions between education, labour market, unemployment, disability, private household, and old age pension. While the central political debate focuses on pressures to delay the general retirement age and the development of economic incentives, policymakers are also interested in increasing participation in working life through disability prevention."