Beyond the ideal: unravelling the complexities of overqualification, employee volunteering and job satisfaction

Purpose This article examines the relationships between objective overqualification, volunteering as an extra-work activity and job satisfaction. Design/methodology/approach The study draws on a vast secondary sample of 20,686 British employees across four waves covering the period 2009–2017. The bivariate ordered probit estimate was used to test the study hypotheses in the bioprobit procedure in STATA. Findings Our study unravels compelling insights. Overqualified employees experience lower job satisfaction and engage more in volunteering activities. The results emphasised that voluntary work allows the utilisation of skills and fulfils basic psychological needs, leading to enhanced general well-being and higher job satisfaction. Practical implications Overqualified employees, by actively engaging in volunteering, not only make valuable contributions to society but also experience positive spillover effects that significantly influence their workplace attitudes and behaviours. This underscores the potential for promoting volunteering as an effective means to mitigate the private and social overqualification. Originality/value This study provides valuable insights into the role of overqualification as well as resulting job dissatisfaction, in shaping volunteering decisions. This insight contributes to the overqualification literature and strengthens our understanding of volunteering as an important mechanism in the relationship between overqualification and job satisfaction.