Signalling flexibility or demanding it? Asymmetry in recruitment communication

Abstract

This research note examines how flexibility is communicated in LinkedIn job advertisements posted by global hotel organisations. Drawing on signalling theory and psychological contract perspectives, it qualitatively analyses 100 English-language LinkedIn job advertisements from ten global hotel brands to explore how flexibility is positioned within the pre-employment exchange. The findings show that flexibility is communicated asymmetrically. Employer-side flexibility is mainly framed through broad signals of work-life balance, wellbeing, care, and supportive culture, whereas employee-side flexibility is framed through more specific expectations concerning roster availability, weekend and public-holiday work, adaptability to operational needs, and additional duties. The study conceptualises this pattern as flexibility signalling asymmetry: a pre-employment communication imbalance in which flexibility is communicated as a low-specificity organisational inducement but a high-specificity employee contribution. The research extends recruitment signalling and psychological contract perspectives by showing how a single employment attribute can carry different levels of clarity, credibility, and implied commitment depending on its position in the employment exchange. The findings highlight the need for hospitality employers to distinguish more clearly between employee availability requirements and concrete organisational flexibility offerings.