<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

<p>Based on a qualitative study on the employability of workers without vocational qualification in five different industries, this article examines hiring practices in the labour market segment of low-skilled jobs from a sociology of conventions perspective. In the absence of educational signals, employers use personal networks and trial workdays to reduce the uncertainty regarding the quality of job applicants. However, professional and technical intermediaries become more important, thus leading to the formalization of recruitment channels and valorisation.</p>
</abstract>

Based on a qualitative study on the employability of workers without vocational qualification in five different industries, this article examines hiring practices in the labour market segment of low-skilled jobs from a sociology of conventions perspective. In the absence of educational signals, employers use personal networks and trial workdays to reduce the uncertainty regarding the quality of job applicants. However, professional and technical intermediaries become more important, thus leading to the formalization of recruitment channels and valorisation.

“The First One to Pick up the Phone”: Forms of Recruitment for Low-Skilled Jobs

University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland

Swiss Journal of Sociology

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Based on a qualitative study on the employability of workers without vocational qualification in five different industries, this article examines hiring...

“The First One to Pick up the Phone”: Forms of Recruitment for Low-Skilled Jobs

Published Online: Jul 12, 2022

Page range: 335 - 352

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/sjs-2022-0017

Keywords
Recruitment, low-skilled jobs, labour market intermediaries, convention theory, valorization

© 2022 Eva Nadai et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

“The First One to Pick up the Phone”: Forms of Recruitment for Low-Skilled Jobs

Published Online: Jul 12, 2022

Page range: 335 - 352

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/sjs-2022-0017

KeywordsRecruitment, low-skilled jobs, labour market intermediaries, convention theory, valorization

© 2022 Eva Nadai et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Keywords
Recruitment, low-skilled jobs, labour market intermediaries, convention theory, valorization