TRSM Research Seminar by Dr. Fei Song

Title: Inside Out and Upside Down? Labor Market Signals in the Time of COVID-19 - An Experimental Exploration of Perceptions of Nonstandard Employment Histories Prior to and During the Global Pandemic.

Description: The current COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in widespread unemployment and economic uncertainty. As employers attempt to survive the present recession, nonstandard forms of work are at the fore of the ‘new normal.’ Drawing on Signaling and Social Identity Theories and using a survey experiment, we examine the perceptions of jobseekers with nonstandard employment histories and investigate the extent to which such attitudes may have changed during the COVID-19 crisis.

We find that prior to COVID-19 unemployed candidates as well as those with temporary fixed term contract work were perceived less favourably as compared to applicants employed in a permanent job. In particular, comparably qualified unemployed jobseekers were rated as deficient in human capital as well as lower in terms of future potential and perceived commitment. Jobseekers with temporary work histories were not perceived as less skilled but were deemed less committed. During the COVID-19 pandemic, assessments of jobseekers with nonstandard employment histories were less critical and the previously negative signal associated with job-hopping reversed. We conclude that the pervasive economic insecurity brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic has challenged social identities based on labor market status.

Presenter: Dr. Fei Song is the Chair/Professor of HRM/OB in the Ted Rogers School of Management, Ryerson University. Dr. Fei Song is trained in the field of Organizational Behaviour. She received her PhD from the Schulich School of Business in 2005. Theories and methodologies from social psychology and experimental/behavioural economics have significantly influenced her research. Her research interests include 1) behavioural decision-making, e.g. cooperation and competition, trust and reciprocity, fairness, group decision-making, (un)ethical decision-making and cross-cultural issues, and 2) strategic compensation and productivity. She has been awarded many research grants and awards, and has published widely in top management and social science journals such as the Academy of Management Journal, Academy of Management Discoveries, Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Management and Organization Review, Game and Economic Behavior, Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, International Journal of Conflict Management, Experimental Economics, and Journal of Economic Psychology. She teaches in the areas of organizational behavior, cross-cultural and global management, strategic thinking and negotiation, strategic compensation, and research methods.