HEC Research Papers Series,
HEC Paris

Abstract: This study employs matched employee-employer data from the UK to highlight the importance of social skills, in particular workers’ ability to work well in a team and communicate effectively with co-workers, as a driver of wage growth for workers with lower formal education. Our findings indicate that in tasks emphasizing social skills, such workers not only enjoy greater wage progression with tenure but also accrue higher returns in environments with a higher concentration of more educated colleagues. Additionally, workers’ exit occur sooner from jobs where social skills are more important. We rationalize these dynamics through a model that assesses social skills based on their complementarity with a firm’s assets and where a worker’s social skills, initially opaque to both the employee and employer, become increasingly apparent over time.

Keywords: Team Work; Social Skills; Tenure-Wage Profiles; Individual Wage Growth; Firm Pay Premium

JEL-codes: J24; J31; L25

65 pages, March 29, 2024

Full text files

papers.cfm?abstract_id=4774931 HTML file Full text

Download statistics

• HEC Paris
• Ordering Working Papers
• Home page for this series

Questions (including download problems) about the papers in this series should be directed to Antoine Haldemann ()
Report other problems with accessing this service to Sune Karlsson ().

RePEc:ebg:heccah:1513This page generated on 2024-12-03 15:38:53.