5 Job change and reduced long-term sickness absence: Who benefits? Vilde Hoff Bernstrøm * Work Research Institute, Oslo and Akershus University College of Applied Sciences Abstract e currently available literature indicates that employees experience a boost, in terms of improved well-being and health and reduced absence, aſter a job change. e current study expanded on this evidence by comparing the ef- fect of job change on long-term sickness absence for employees of differ- ent gender, age, and education level. Longitudinal data on 189,983 hospi- tal employees from 2003 to 2008 were collected from Norwegian national registries, and the random effects method was used to analyze the effect of job change on long-term sickness absence and the interaction between job change and demographic variables. e data showed a decreased likelihood of long-term sickness absence aſter a job change. Females, older employees, and employees with more than 4 years of higher education had a lower re- duction in sickness absence aſter a job change. ese differences might have been due to differing job change processes, or differences in how the changes were experienced. For example, if younger employees were more likely to use a job change as a means to evolve in the job market and find new challenges, then they might also have experienced job change more positively. e re- sults showed that job change had a positive effect on all employee groups studied, but showed variations in the magnitude of the effect among different demographic groups. Future studies should evaluate how to best facilitate the positive effects, particularly for more vulnerable groups with higher absence rates, such as employees with limited education. Key words: Job change, sickness absence, demographic differences, health sector. W e live in a time of rapid change, in which the traditional stable career path is be- ing replaced by new types, including multiple, and oſten frequent, job changes (Ash- forth, 2001; Baruch, 2004). Researchers in the field have expressed concern with regard to the health consequences of such changes, and have argued that adapting to new circumstances will always result in strain, and could lead to illness (Adams, 1976; Holmes & Rahe, 1967). How- ever, recent empirical studies have found several positive effects following job change, including improved self-reported health, increased job satisfaction, and reduced long-term sickness ab- sence (Bernstrøm, 2013; Boswell, Boudreau, & Tichy, 2005; Boswell, Shipp, Payne, & Culbert- son, 2009). Although it appears that the majority of employees benefit from the experience of job change, some groups may experience this change differently. e aim of the present study was to investigate whether the benefits of job change are the same for all employee groups, fo- cusing on the relationship between such change and long-term sickness absence for employees of different gender, age, and education. * Email: Vilde.Bernstrom@afi.hioa.no