Current thinking on contemporary careers: the key roles of sustainable HRM and sustainability of careers

Abstract

This paper approaches the sustainability of careers, departing from contemporary views on sustainable Human Resource Management (HRM) and key concepts in the current career literature. Recently, the notion of sustainable careers has gained attention as a key perspective on contemporary careers and is assumed to be critical for the resilience of individuals in an increasingly complex and unpredictable career environment. Viewing careers as an ecosystem in which several actors (individual, organization, labor market) are involved, this paper reviews current thinking on sustainable HRM to elaborate our thinking on sustainable careers. We highlight pertinent challenges for realizing continuity in careers that are: (1) becoming increasingly longer and less predictable; (2) in general, less bounded to one organizational context and characterized by new ways of working; (3) putting an increased responsibility on the individual career actor; and (4) that have moved from a socially shared view on the meaning of career success as steady progression to a focus on personal meaning. We conclude that further research is important for understanding how different actors within the career ecosystem can help to ensure that the conditions for sustainability are met in view of creating a more resilient career system.

A trip can transform your life: life and career experiences in contemporaneity

“…Outra possibilidade de discussão do caso é a partir do conceito de carreira sustentável VAN DER HEIJDEN, 2017). Van der Heijden e De Vos (2015) propõem um conceito, elaborado a partir das principais concepções contemporâneas de carreira (ARTHUR, 2008;BARUCH, 2006;HALL, 2004;SULLIVAN, 2005;, no qual carreira sustentável é definida como "a sequência de diferentes experiências de carreira de um indivíduo, refletidas por meio de uma variedade de padrões de continuidade ao longo do tempo, atravessando diversos espaços sociais, caracte- O indivíduo assume o papel de "senhor do seu próprio destino" (BARUCH, 2006), sendo responsável pela agência (iii) de sua carreira em consonância com o sentido que atribui ao seu trabalho.…”

How flexperts deal with changing expertise demands: A qualitative study into the processes of expertise renewal

“…However, most empirical research on expertise development has focused on how individuals go through different stages to become an expert (see Ericsson, 2014 for a summary of influential models). In particular, we lack insight into how a professional career unfolds when expertise territories change and experts need to continuously renew their expertise in favor of the sustainability of their career (De Vos & Van der Heijden, 2017). Grenier and Kehrhahn (2008) defined a three-stage process model for "expertise redevelopment."…”

Contemplating the Antecedents of a Sustainable Work Life in an Emerging Economy: Lessons from Early Retirees in the ICT Sector of Pakistan

“…Recent research has called upon the workers and organizations to engage in more open communication about mutual needs and expectations to facilitate the development of sustainable careers. The essence of sustainability lies in matching the individual worker's needs and expectations with an employer's needs and requirements in such a way to attain the best fit, so that present needs are catered for without compromising future needs [1,17].…”

“…Assuming that retirees were all equally capable and knowledgeable, even then the odds of securing another career opportunity would not be equivalent because of the needs and demands of the job market today. Elderly retired people might not hold enough agency to achieve their desired outcomes of another employment opportunity [16,17] because of their higher vulnerability in the job market. In fact, empirical literature has demonstrated a negative association between the age of an individual and the likelihood of re-employment such that this negative relationship strengthens for ages >50 years [32].…”