Recruitment-21

The concept of employability has been in the literature for many years. Current interest has been driven by: * the changing nature of public employment policy, with increasing emphasis being given to skills-based solutions to economic competition and work-based solutions to social deprivation. * the supposed end of ‘careers’ and lifetime job security, which have, of course, only ever applied to a minority of the workforce, the greater uncertainty among employers as to the levels and types of jobs they may have in the future, and the need to build new relationships with employees.

Employability: towards a definition

While there is no singular definition of employability, a review of the literature suggests that employability is about work and the ability to be employed; ie

• the ability to gain initial employment; hence the interest in ensuring that ‘key skills’, careers advice and an understanding about the world of work are embedded in the education system
• the ability to maintain employment and make ‘transitions’ between jobs and roles within the same organisation to meet new job requirements, and
• the ability to obtain new employment if required, ie to be independent in the labour market by being willing and able to manage their own employment transitions between and within organisations.
  

It is also, ideally, about:

• the quality of such work or employment. People may be able to obtain work but it may be below their level of skill, or in low paid, undesirable or unsustainable jobs, and so forth.

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Text_of_the_GNU_Free_Documentation_License

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