Relation between overqualification and job satisfaction during the 2008 Spanish crisis

Abstract

Presently, there is a spiral of growth at the level of studies of the population looking for work, a fact that causes an imbalance in the job market since the increase in the educational needs of the employees grows at a slower rate. Our objective is to know the satisfaction of the overqualified workers in the Spanish job market, which is affected by an economic crisis. The data come from the Ministry of Employment and Social Security. An association between the overqualification and low degrees of satisfaction (in a 0 to 10 scale, associated with scores of 1, 2 and 3) is derived from the correlation analysis. The originality of this work lies in the combination of different methodologies in the study of the concepts of overqualification and satisfaction in the framework of the Spanish economy. We concluded that the degree of satisfaction of the overqualified workers is less than that of workers whose job is commensurate with their training. Therefore, this fact (overqualification -  dissatisfaction) that was our initial starting point, continues to be valid although the economic landscape is unstable. However, it ought to be highlighted that the job satisfaction figures increase in a general manner during the years of economic crisis, and particularly for overqualified workers.