Job Displacement And Labor Market Mobility

A study examined the labor market mobility of displaced workers, using a new data file that matches the January 1984, 1986, and 1988 Displaced Worker Surveys (DWS) to the March Current Population Surveys in the same years. This large database provides information on displaced workers and their families and permits comparison of the geographic migration rates of displaced and nondisplaced workers. Findings were reported in terms of industrial, occupational, and geographic mobility. Major findings included the following: (1) about one-half of displaced workers change industry and occupation following displacement, with most workers who change changing both; (2) reemployment earnings as a percent of predisplacement earnings are substantially lower for workers reemployed in new industries or occupations; (3) skilled craft workers and semiskilled operators have a stronger attachment to industry and occupation than do less skilled laborers; (4) increased job tenure and higher wages on the prior job discourage mobility; (5) male displaced workers have significantly higher rates of geographic mobility than do similar nondisplaced workers; (6) family variables, such as whether a male worker's wife was also displaced, play an important role in family migration decisions; and (7) although the reemployment rate for some displaced workers who move tends to be higher in the short run than for those who do not, there are no significant long-term differences in reemployment rate. (38 references).