This study builds on previous work by looking at the impact of being over-skilled or over-educated or both on an individual's wages as well as their level of job satisfaction.

The study distinguishes between ‘genuine’ mismatch (wages and job satisfaction are both low) and ‘apparent’ mismatch—where a job may pay less but has been accepted because it has some other redeeming attribute, such as greater flexibility of work hours. The study finds that mismatch is often characterised by both lower wages and job satisfaction.

Written by Kostas Mavromaras, Seamus McGuinness, Sue Richardson, Peter Sloane and Zhang Wei.