It is therefore difficult to infer whether these upgrades in earnings reflect workers’ gains in productivity, as people initially on temporary contracts who display high ability are later offered permanent positions at a firm, or whether this is due to a (more intensive) job search in the pursuit of a better career match. Similarly, switching from standard employment to a temporary contract (SW-TE) often results in earnings losses (especially in Estonia and Korea). In Hungary, Spain and the Slovak Republic, for instance, nearly one in two workers changed earnings category when moving from a temporary contact to standard employment, about one-half of them experienced upward mobility while the other half ended up with lower earnings.