Impact of external job mobility and occupational job mobility on earnings

Purpose: The purpose of the study is to examine the relationship between external job mobility and occupational job mobility on earnings among engineers in Malaysia. Design/methodology/approach: Using curricular vitae data from a job agency, this paper tracks job mobility through job histories and examine how it affects earnings. Findings: Results obtained from regression analysis indicate that higher external job mobility will contribute to higher earnings, but occupational mobility will have adverse effect on earnings. Research limitations/implications: Limitation of the study is that the results are extrapolated from a self-report dataset. Practical implications: Nonetheless, the results give important implications to the Malaysian job market on how firm-specific skills and occupational specific skills are rewarded among engineers who actively seek for alternative employment online, and a guide to job applicants in career planning. Originality/value: The findings has also revealed important variables to be included in explaining high skill labor earnings in the context of Malaysian engineers, it serves as an important reference for future in modeling earnings.