Recruiters' valuation of young people's employment insecurities in Bulgaria and Switzerland: making sense of job-hopping and unemployment in the hiring process

The rise of employment insecurities has led to concerns about its impact on young workers in Europe. This chapter examines how recruiters in Bulgaria and Switzerland interpret employment insecurities in young job-seekers’ applications. Drawing from the societal analysis framework, the authors argue that the coordination of education and employment in both countries affects the way employment insecurities are assessed by recruiters when hiring for skilled jobs. Using qualitative content analysis of open-ended questions from the NEGOTIATE Employer Survey, the authors investigate how recruiters perceive job-hopping and unemployment as labour market signals. The results suggest that in both countries unemployment is mainly seen as a problem of the person. However, in Switzerland, recruiters more frequently attribute problems with job-hopping to the company, whereas in Bulgaria they more often refer to the person. Thus, job-hopping seems to be a more legitimate career strategy for young workers in the Swiss labour market.