I feel like unemployment has been talked about, employment has been emphasized but underemployment has not received sufficient attention. What surprises me is recruitment statistics showing the higher rate of ‘currently employed’ people to ‘unemployed’ people who apply for a vacant job. It makes sense to wonder why currently employed people would desire to work somewhere else.
One of the reasons people leave their jobs is UNDEREMPLOYMENT. This is when an employee feels over-qualified for the work or role occupied. If attrition does not disturb you, then you are not quality-centered. For each good employee you lose, a huge investment is lost (or rather stolen by another company????). The next logical question is “Why would a person be too competent for a role?” Well, part of job creation is organizational and job design. Systems are created to reward people at the level of their experience and expertise, thus there is likely to be a sense of inequity between employees’ input and employer’s output.
I like the definition by the Corporate Finance Institute that “Underemployment occurs when a person does not work full time or takes a job that does not reflect their actual training and financial needs. That is, their job does not use all their skills and education or provides less than full-time work. This is not the same as unemployment.” Well, that is all. Major new reads last week on The Business Times had the title ‘Underemployment a bigger issue than unemployment: economists.’ InDaily News had one like this “Underemployment ‘dampening’ SA economy as JobKeeper nears end”.
Every employee is the first human. Just as you want your company to grow, your employees want to grow. Yes, financially, academically, relationally, in terms of competencies (skill, ability, and knowledge). Not every job needs a new hire, some need a developed, a promoted employee or a more satisfied employee. Welcome GROWING people!