Work Ethic and Employment Status: A Study of Jobseekers

This article reports on a study of work ethic beliefs of unemployed workers in the US. Its purpose is to contribute to the sparse research on work ethic attitudes of the unemployed to inform workforce education professionals about how best to address this issue within their programs. Specifically, the study examined differences in work ethic as measured by the Occupational Work Ethic Inventory (OWEI) for jobseekers grouped by employment status, age, and gender. The research investigated whether there were differences in work ethic attributes of dependability, initiative, and interpersonal skills among jobseekers grouped firstly by employment status, then by age and then by gender. The study was limited to a single employment centre and does not claim to be representative of all jobseekers. The key finding was that jobseekers employed full-time had significantly lower work ethic scores than those who had been unemployed less than three months and those who were unemployed due to layoff. The study also found a lack of significant work ethic differences when jobseekers were grouped by age and gender. The authors suggest that work experiences of individuals strongly influence the development of work ethic and make recommendations for job skills counsellors and career educators.