Kirpal S.R. Labour-Market Flexibility and Individual Careers: A Comparative Study

Bonn, UNEVOC; Dordrecht, Springer, 2011. - 286 pages.
ISBN: 9400702337.
UNESCO-UNEVOC Book Series.
With labour markets across the world and even in social democratic Europe in a state of unprecedented flux, this exhaustive study addresses the problem of how to balance job market demands, personal career interests and private life becomes a central issue for millions of employees. So how do modern work and employment arrangements restructure individual careers and what is required of individuals in order to manage career transitions successfully over time? This is one of very few in-depth empirical studies to analyze how labour market trends, organisational change and the subjective work orientations of individuals interact. The author’s detailed assessment is based on a comparison of the structural contexts, work orientations and employment histories of nurses and ICT technicians in Germany and the UK. These two core service occupations, as well as the national contexts of the two European nations, have quite different working environments and vocational traditions. Nursing is an institutionalized semi-profession with clear criteria of qualification and career continuity, while information and communication technology (ICT) is a new, evolving field with varied skill backgrounds and high job mobility. To arrive at an understanding of how individual career trajectories are changing, this book closely examines the interplay of labour market demands, employees’ work and career orientations and the development of their skills. It records the ways in which employees adapt to increased labour market flexibility, which, on the one hand, induces discontinuities of careers, employment and work, and on the other, generates new skill requirements and learning expectations, as well as unforeseen opportunities.Research Context.
Research Questions.
Methodological Approach.
Frameworks of Reference.
Research Steps and Selection of Participants.
Interview Method and Data Analysis.
Skills and Labour Markets in Germany and the UK.Skills and Labour Markets in Germany.
Skills and Labour Markets in the UK.
Flexibility, Mobility and Employability.
Flexibility.
Mobility and Commitment.
Employability.
From ‘Skills’ to ‘Competences’.
Reflections.
Work and Career Orientations of Nurses.Description of the Nursing Sample.
Background and Sectoral Context.
Structural Changes in Germany.
The Professionalization of Nursing in Germany and the UK.
Structural Changes in the UK.
Basic Training Requirements in Germany and the UK.
Modes of Flexibility and Learning Demands.
Organizational Restructuring Geared Towards.
More Flexible Allocation of Staff and Skills.
Increasing Complexity at Work and Extended.
Role Performance.
Changing Professional Profiles and Learning.Work and Career Orientations of Nurses.
Work Orientations.
Career Orientations.
Status and External Recognition.
The Role of Learning, Skills and Professional Development.
Skills and Core Competences.
Learning and Professional Development.
The Role of Peers and Practice Communities.
Conclusions.
Work and Career Orientations of IT Technicians.
Description of the IT Sample.
Background and Sectoral Context.
Skill Shortages as a Dominant Feature.
Modes of Flexibility and Learning Demands.
UK: Moving Staff Around.
Germany: Work Organization Along Project-Based Work.
Horizontal Mobility as a Means to Profiling.
One’s Own Individual Career.
High Learning Intensity as Part of the Professional Culture.
Work and Career Orientations of IT Technicians.
Type I-1: Employees with Technical Non-IT.
Background and High Learning Affinity.
Type I-2: Employees with Background.
in Telecommunications – Successful Convergence.
Type I-3: Employees with Background.
in Telecommunications – Unsuccessful Convergence.
Type II: IT-Specific Qualification Combined with.
Strategic Career but Seeking to Align Broader Goals.
Type III: No Formal Qualification – The.
Self-Taught IT Specialist.
The Two Faces of Work Centrality and Fast.
Changing Work Environments.
The Role of Learning, Skills and Professional Development.
The Role of Peers and Practice Communities.
Conclusions.
Reflections on Empirical Findings.
Nurses and IT Technicians – Summary.
of Empirical Findings.
German and the UK Labour Markets – Opportunities.
and Constraints.
Key Issues and Dominant Themes.
Control and Agency in Modern Work Contexts.
Creating Coherent Career Narratives and Identity Continuities.
The Notion of ‘Identity’.
Work-Related Identities.
Creating Work-Related Identity Continuities.
Tensions Between Careers, Skill Profiles and Work Identity.
Developing Specialist or General Skills or Both?
Skills and Individual Careers.
Conclusions.
Annexure I.
Guidelines for Conducting Interviews with Managers.
Annexure II.
Guidelines for Interviews with Employees.
Appendix: Methods.
Research Steps.
Database and Sample.Author Index.
Subject Index.