People Stick with Internet Job Searches Longer Than Traditional Means

Looking for a job has become less of a hassle because of the internet. Users can job search daily, without leaving the comfort of their own home or head to the local library. According to a new study by the Phoenix Center, internet users are 50 percent less likely to give up on a job search.

“By connecting Americans to jobs and information about job opportunities, Internet usage feeds hope and encourages frustrated workers to keep on looking even when job prospects are dim,” according to Phoenix Center President Lawrence J. Spiwak. “These findings suggest that broadband connectivity can contribute to economic recovery.”

“Our study also shows the enormous potential benefit of community broadband centers for those who are not connected at home,” Spiwak adds. “While broadband use at home delivers significant benefits, shared facilities can be a valuable solution to connectivity gaps in unserved and underserved communities.”

“Some people discount the benefit of public Internet facilities relative to home use. But providing public facilities should be a key part of our public policy,” says Phoenix Center Chief Economist Dr. George S. Ford, one of the study’s co-authors. “It’s more convenient to have broadband in your living room, but computer ownership and broadband subscriptions are not free goods. It appears from this evidence that people will go out of their way to use public broadband when the benefits are clear. They should have the opportunity to do that. A mix of private and public Internet use is bound to be more socially efficient than all of one or the other.”

The Phoenix Center is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization that studies broad public-policy issues related to governance, social and economic conditions, with a particular emphasis on the law and economics of telecommunications and high-tech industries.

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