Pretty Vacant: Recruitment in Low-Wage Labour Markets

This paper is a study of the process by which employers in five relatively low-wage British firms fill vacancies. It studies the determinants of the number and quality of applicants, the way in which these applicants are selected for interviews and offered jobs. The main conclusions are that the number of applicants is relatively small, the monetary and non-monetary aspects of jobs are important determinants of the number of applicants for jobs, but that firms do eventually fill virtually all vacancies. Non-employed job applicants have more difficulty in getting a job interview than those who are currently employed but, once interviewed, do not appear to face any further difficulties in getting employment. This paper was produced as part of the Centre’s Industrial Relations Programme Pretty Vacant: Recruitment in Low-Wage Labour Markets