Personal Networks in Job Insertion among Young Adults in Times of Crisis: An Analysis in Barcelona

Abstract

This article presents the results of a study on the association between personal contacts and employment in a sample of 250 young adults between 20 and 34 years of age, in the Barcelona metropolitan area. The analysis, based on data from a survey of personal networks, shows that the weight of personal contacts on young people’s insertion in the labour market may be even more important than previous studies have indicated, and is a structural characteristic of the labour market considered in this research. The use of social networks for finding employment maintained its importance both before and during the period of economic crisis, and among those in both skilled and unskilled jobs, although it was associated with the most unstable forms of employment. The results confirm the impact of social resources on job outcomes: mobillizing “few” but “good” contacts is associated with obtaining better jobs.