In today's unstable and insecure working environment, developing and maintaining sustainable careers has become a major concern. A study conducted by LIVES researchers contributes to the advancement of research on sustainable careers by applying the career sustainability framework to a seven-year longitudinal study of the occupational trajectories of Swiss workers. 789 careers were analysed and revealed a four-type solution, with traditional full-time and stable career trajectories predominating alongside more transient or discontinuous trajectories. Differences in health, happiness and productivity were found between the four types. In addition, being a women, having not done a higher education and higher neuroticism and agreeableness scores increased the likelihood of experiencing an unsustainable career. The dynamic interrelationship between health, happiness and productivity is at the heart of the definition of (non) sustainable careers.
Demographic growth, population ageing, climate crises, technological innovations, globalisation and migration are all structural factors that could explain why labour markets have become increasingly precarious and flexible. However, stable, full-time career paths have not completely disappeared, and are even still the norm in some countries such as Switzerland. Shagini Udayar, Cecilia Toscanelli and Koorosh Massoudi, from the University of Lausanne, have identified four types of career trajectory:
- stable full-time careers (the most common type)
- stable career with substantial part-time work
- transisitonal career with a short period of unemployment
- fragmented career with a mix of long-lasting unemployment and marginal part-time jobs
On the basis of the average age of their sample, they deduced that most of the participants were in mid-career and less exposed to atypical employment, particularly involuntary employment, which would explain the predominance of the traditional type of career trajectory. The Swiss socio-economic context is also to blame, in particular because the differentiated education system, with strong interconnections between training and the labour market, facilitates the transition between school and work and guarantees stable employment.
Sustainable career paths
People with fragmented careers reported systematically lower levels of self-assessed health and life and career satisfaction than those with stable part-time or full-time careers. They also reported lower levels of household income and had fewer promotions than all other groups.
The period of transitional unemployment faced by people with a transitional career type does not appear to have a significant impact on health, happiness and productivity. In fact, people with this type of trajectory reported a similar level of household income, number of promotions and job satisfaction to people with stable part-time and full-time careers. These results support the idea that only the long-term nature of unemployment is detrimental to well-being and job performance.
Adaptability, a resource to be exploited in times of crisis
Contrary to the researchers' expectations, individuals with higher levels of agreeableness, generally considered to be a prosocial personality trait, were more likely to have vulnerable career trajectories. In addition, people with higher levels of career adaptability were more likely to fall into the transitional career type than into all the other types. This indicates that this personal resource can help individuals to react quickly to unemployment and to deploy proactive and effective job-seeking strategies, providing an avenue of action for career counseling.
Strategies to be developed with the support of career counselling
Given the importance of personal resources in fostering career sustainability, career counsellors can help individuals identify their resources and prepare to activate them when faced with negative events or difficult transitions throughout their career. Developing effective strategies for coping with stress, regulating emotions or accessing an assertiveness training program are all resources that can be explored.
In addition, given that characteristics such as gender and level of education can expose some people to obstacles and inequalities throughout their career path, counselors could also strive to develop their counselees' critical awareness, enabling individuals to become more aware of the factors and social norms that determine their career path.
Full article
Udayar, S., Toscanelli, C., & Massoudi, K. (2024). Sustainable Career Trajectories in Switzerland: The Role of Psychological Resources and Sociodemographic Characteristics. Journal of Career Assessment, 0(0). https://doi.org/10.1177/10690727241234929