Many Workers Are Looking for a Better Job

The findings from a survey on job search behavior should worry the nation's employers. Many of their employees are actively looking for a better job.

Using data from a labor market supplement to the New York Fed's Survey of Consumer Expectations, researchers analyzed the job search behavior of 18-to-64-year-olds by employment status. Overall, 23 percent of employed workers had actively looked for another job in the previous four weeks, submitting an average of 4.58 job applications and receiving 0.43 job offers. Not only were a substantial percentage of employed workers actively looking for a better job, but they received more job offers than the unemployed, despite submitting fewer applications. The unemployed submitted an average of 8.08 applications in the previous four weeks and received 0.38 job offers.

Being employed, it seems, is a big advantage in the job hunt. "The job search process is more effective for currently employed workers than for the unemployed," the researchers conclude. Not only are the employed more likely to receive job offers, but they receive better offers: "Offers received by employed workers are better than those received by the unemployed. This is true even after controlling for detailed worker characteristics and prior work history."

Source: Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Liberty Street Economics, How Do People Find Jobs?