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A TALE OF TWO JOB MARKETS: ORGANIZATIONAL SIZE AND ITS EFFECTS ON HIRING PRACTICES AND JOB SEARCH BEHAVIOR
Author(s) -
BARBER ALISON E.,
WESSON MICHAEL J.,
ROBERSON QUINEITA M.,
TAYLOR M. SUSAN
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
personnel psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 6.076
H-Index - 142
eISSN - 1744-6570
pISSN - 0031-5826
DOI - 10.1111/j.1744-6570.1999.tb00182.x
Subject(s) - seekers , context (archaeology) , business , labour economics , matching (statistics) , workforce , job performance , function (biology) , marketing , psychology , economics , social psychology , job satisfaction , political science , paleontology , statistics , mathematics , evolutionary biology , law , biology , economic growth
Small firms employ half the U.S. private sector workforce, yet recruitment research has traditionally focused on large firms. The present study attempts to advance knowledge on how recruitment practices vary with firm size. Results suggest that the recruitment practices of larger firms are generally more formal and bureaucratic than those of smaller firms. In addition, the study demonstrates that many job seekers have distinct preferences regarding firm size, and that preferred firm size is related to job search behavior. Taken together, these findings suggest that firm size is an overlooked and important aspect of the recruitment/job search context. The processes involved in matching employers and applicants differ so much as a function of firm size that one might argue that large and small firms comprise separate labor markets.