Applied Research Bulletin - Volume 5, Number 1 (Summer 1999)

Volunteer Work: A Gateway to the Job Market?

We know that volunteer work has always played an important role in social and cultural activity while contributing to community well-being. What may be less well known is the existence of close connections between volunteer work and the job market. At the request of the Applied Research Branch, Ekos Research Associates reviewed these connections using data from the 1997 National Survey of Giving, Volunteering and Participating (NSGVP).

The initial report on these survey results, Caring Canadians, Involved Canadians: The 1997 National Survey of Giving, Volunteering and Participating, certainly surprised some observers. It shows that the unemployed and people not in the labour market post a lower volunteer participation rate than the employed. (The rates are 27, 29 and 34 percent respectively.) The survey and report are the results of a partnership involving Volunteer Canada, the Canadian Centre for Philanthropy, Human Resources Development Canada, the Kahanoff Foundation's research project on the non-profit sector, Canadian Heritage, Health Canada and Statistics Canada.

Volunteering Can Enhance Job Prospects

The Ekos study looks at the motives prompting individuals to do volunteer work. The results indicate that, of the reasons cited, more than 90 percent of volunteers do this work because they believe in the cause they are supporting, while about 22 percent are trying to enhance their job prospects. Compared with non-participants (20 percent) and the employed (21 percent), almost twice the percentage of unemployed (39 percent) do volunteer work for this last reason.

The results also show that young people wanting to enhance their job prospects (54 percent of all young volunteers) are the ones putting in the most volunteer hours, which is not the case with those aged 25 and over.

On average, one out of ten employed people believes that participating in volunteer activities helps to increase the chance of success at work. About 13 percent of young volunteers share this view, but the percentage drops in the higher age brackets.

The Employed State that They Acquire Skills in Volunteer Work that Are Useful in Their Regular Work

The Ekos study looks at another facet of the linkage between volunteer work and the job market by focusing on skills acquired through volunteer work and that are useful in their paid work. More than a third of paid workers who also do volunteer work state that they acquire skills that are useful for their jobs, and this percentage increases with the individual's level of education. Also, over 50 percent of volunteers who have jobs and study full time state that they acquire such skills. The study also shows that more young people than older adults acquire new skills useful in employment.

Workers Stating That They Acquire Skills Through Their Volunteer Activities That Are Useful in Their Paid Employment 1997

The Ekos researchers also found that about six volunteers in ten doing this work to enhance their job prospects state that volunteer involvement enables them to acquire skills that are useful in their employment.

The results therefore indicate that participation in volunteer activities is perceived as an excellent way to acquire skills by people attempting to enhance their job prospects as well as by young people.

A Majority of Unemployed Volunteers Feel that Volunteering May Help Them To Find Work…

The Ekos study shows that more than half of unemployed volunteers think their volunteer activities may help them to find work. The ones who have been out of paid work for 14 to 26 weeks are the most likely to feel this way (65 percent), while people who have been unemployed for over a year are the least likely.

Unemployed Volunteers Who Believe That Volunteer Activities May Help Them Find Paid Employment 1997

Some 65 percent of young unemployed volunteers believe that volunteering may help them find work. The higher the ages of respondents, the fewer share this opinion.

…And They Seem To Be Right

Since a significant number of unemployed volunteers believe that their volunteer activities may help them find work, the Ekos researchers wanted to know to what extent those finding work attribute this outcome to their volunteer experience. The results indicate that one volunteer in ten states that he/she has already found work through volunteer involvement. This applies to about one-quarter of young volunteers between ages 15 and 24. The statement is inversely linked to age.

Respondents Stating That They Have Already Found Paid Employment Through Volunteer Activities 1997

More than one-quarter of contract or term workers (26 percent), 17 percent of temporary workers, 15 percent of seasonal workers and 13 percent of permanent workers say that they have found jobs through volunteer involvements, though these were not necessarily the jobs they had at the time of the survey.

The percentages of those who found work through their volunteer activities declines inversely with their hourly wages. Thus more wage earners getting less than $12 an hour make this statement (20 percent) than those with wages higher than $24 an hour (9 percent).

Youth, full-time students, contract and term workers and employed persons earning under $12 an hour are the most likely to have already found work through volunteer activities. People starting out on their careers seem to be the ones with the best chances of finding work through volunteer involvements.

Volunteer Work Can Actually Open Doors to the Labour Market

In light of these results, the authors believe that volunteer work may actually open doors to the labour market. Volunteering enables people to enhance their job prospects, acquire skills that are useful in the workplace and, especially among the young, find jobs.

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