What does underemployment mean?
Underemployment describes a situation in which people have jobs but are not working as much as they could, want to, or are qualified to. A worker may have too few paid hours, inadequate responsibilities, or a position that makes little use of their training and abilities. It is therefore different from unemployment, which means having no job at all. The term is especially common in economics, labor-market studies, education, and discussions of graduate employment. It can also describe workers whose skills are underused, even when their hours are substantial. Underemployment is useful because it identifies a form of labor-market inefficiency that can be hidden by the fact that people are technically employed. It helps analysts and policymakers distinguish the absence of work from the presence of work that does not fully meet workers’ needs or potential.
nounThe condition of being employed for fewer hours or with less work than one could or should have, especially when a person’s skills or availability are not fully used. It may also refer to employment that does not make adequate use of a worker’s abilities.
- The condition of being employed for fewer hours or with less work than a worker wants or is capable of doing.
- Employment in which a worker’s skills, qualifications, or productive capacity are not fully used.
"The study found widespread underemployment among graduates who were working in roles that did not require their qualifications."
"Underemployment among young workers increased when several major employers reduced their hours."
"The report treats the graduate’s administrative job as a form of underemployment because it makes little use of her training."
The plural is uncommon; singular underemployment is normally preferred.
"The researchers documented several underemployments in the service sector."
Underemployment is the quiet opposite of unemployment: the job exists, but there may not be enough hours or meaningful work to go around.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of underemployment
Underemployment is an English compound formed by combining the prefix under- with employment, a word based on the same Latin and French roots as employ, employee, and employer. The prefix under- gives the compound the sense of employment that is insufficient or below full capacity. The expression developed in the modern period, especially as industrialization and labor economics made the relationship between available work, hours, and skills a subject of formal study. Its close semantic relative, unemployment, shares the employ root but uses un- to indicate the absence of work.
Related word forms
How underemployment is actually used
The term is formal and most common in economics, labor-market research, education, and public policy. It is broader than ordinary part-time work and is distinct from unemployment. Usage can vary between regions, but the meaning is broadly established in British and American English.
Easily confused with underemployment
Unemployment means having no paid work, whereas underemployment means having a job but too little work, too few hours, or insufficient use of one’s skills.