Underemployment in America

Report Outline
Relationship to Unemployment
Role of Education and Government
Proposals to Relieve Underemployment
Special Focus

Relationship to Unemployment

Inability of Job Seekers to Find Suitable Work

Unemployment has captured the national spotlight in recent months but, with a new crop of graduates in the labor force, a related problem is now receiving attention. This is the problem of underemployment—working at a job that does not make good use of one's ability, training or experience. Unlike unemployment, whose figures are compiled nationally each month by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (Bls), there is no official or objective measurement of underemployment. But its prevalence is well known. A study of working conditions conducted for the Department of Labor in 1974 found that 35 per cent of all American workers believed they were overqualified for their jobs. Myron Clark, former president of the Society for the Advancement of Management, puts the figure at about 80 per cent.

As the demand for jobs, particularly professional jobs, continues to exceed the supply, the number of highly qualified persons working part-time at low wages continues to increase. According to BLS figures, the number of “subemployed” workers who wanted full-time jobs rose from 2.5 million in late 1973 to about 4 million in the spring of 1975. Employees at several companies are accepting pay cuts and reductions in the number of working hours to prevent large-scale layoffs.

Instead of moving on to better jobs, as they might have expected to do a few years ago, many workers are being forced to remain where they are. U.S. News & World Report has noted that “alongside millions of jobless workers, a new category of recession victims is appearing—men and women locked into jobs they would rather forsake for something better. Their career goals temporarily flattened under the weight of spreading unemployment, these ‘immobilized workers’ are holding onto whatever jobs they have until the unemployment climate brightens.”