Abstract
This 16-year longitudinal study examines individual uncertainties concerning work and career, as perceived by 213 employed and unemployed Italian young adults, and reflecting the precarious situation in the Italian labor market in times of globalization. Predictors were individuals’ academic and social adjustment during adolescence and current characteristics of educational achievement and employment status. As expected, a two-group path analysis revealed that those employed perceived a lower load of work-related uncertainties than those unemployed. Moreover, the employment status moderated the associations between earlier adjustment and perceived uncertainties in adulthood. Whereas better academic adjustment was significantly related to a lower load of perceived uncertainties in the unemployed group, the association was insignificant in the employed group. Likewise, better social adjustment was only relevant for a lower load of uncertainties in the employed group, but not in the unemployed. The results reveal the complex role of early adjustment risks for successfully establishing oneself in a precarious labor market characteristic of southern European countries.
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