Job characteristics and employee outcomes: criterion validity of the U.S. Occupational Information Network (O*NET) job analysis database in the Australian context

ABSTRACT

Occupational Information Network (O*NET) is a comprehensive job analysis repository, developed and periodically updated in the U.S. The study aims to validate O*NET in the Australian context and illustrate the potential to use O*NET as a source of robust occupational research data internationally. We first link O*NET data at the occupational level with individual-level data in the Australian Workplace Barometer (AWB) database containing a sample of 3,829 individuals working in 209 occupations. We then conceptually replicate the primary hypothesized relationships from nine published studies that used O*NET ratings of four job characteristics (job hazards, emotional labour requirements, job autonomy, and task significance) to predict work-related outcomes. Specifically, we selected the same O*NET job descriptors used in the nine studies and linked them to similar but not identical employee outcomes obtained from the AWB database. Multi-level analyses showed that the hypothesized relationships were predominantly supported at the occupational level, demonstrating the criterion validity of the O*NET job characteristic profiles in the Australian context. Overall, our research highlights the potential to use O*NET in research and policy applications on a broader international scale, predicated on obtaining solid validation evidence.

KEYWORDS:

• Occupational Information Network (O*NET)
• job analysis
• validation
• conceptual replication
• criterion validity

Disclosure statement

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Data availability statement

The data supporting the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

Notes

1. National Skills Commission, Australian Skills Classification 1.0: 3.6 Validation exercises, accessed via https://www.nationalskillscommission.gov.au/reports/australian-skills-classification-10/part-3-methodology/36-validation-exercises

2. O*NET 17.0 was the most recent version available when authors conducted data matching for this study.

3. More detailed information on industry classifications, main duty groupings, and other aspects of the matching process is available from the authors upon request.

4. More detailed information on how these perceived job characteristics are measured is available from the authors upon request.

Additional information

Funding

The work was supported by the the Australian Research Council Discovery Grant [DP087900]; SafeWork SA; and Australian Research Council Linkage Grant [LP100100449].