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Employers' Demand for Personality Traits

Author

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  • Brenčič, Vera

    (University of Alberta)

  • McGee, Andrew

    (University of Alberta)

Abstract

We measure firms' demand for workers' personality traits expressed in job ads and find that firms primarily demand workers who are extroverted, conscientious, and open-to-experience. The personality demand measures are correlated with the soft skills required on the job and produce intuitively plausible rankings of occupations in terms of personality requirements. Consistent with firms needing more time to fill vacancies with more requirements, ads requiring extroversion and conscientiousness remain posted online longer. Using the personality demand measures and wage information in the ads, we show theoretically and empirically that firms seeking conscientious workers are less likely to offer incentive pay.

Suggested Citation

  • Brenčič, Vera & McGee, Andrew, 2023. "Employers' Demand for Personality Traits," IZA Discussion Papers 16083, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp16083
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. McGee, Andrew & McGee, Peter, 2020. "Whoever You Want Me to Be: Personality and Incentives," IZA Discussion Papers 13809, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    personality; job ads; method of pay;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D22 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Firm Behavior: Empirical Analysis
    • J23 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Demand
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • J33 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Compensation Packages; Payment Methods
    • M51 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Personnel Economics - - - Firm Employment Decisions; Promotions

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