Functions of Career Resilience Against Changes During Working Life in Japan: Focus on Health Condition Changes and Task or Job Changes

Makiko Kodama

doi:10.1177/21582440211002182

Abstract

This study aimed to clarify the role that career resilience plays in preventing inhibition of career development when individuals confront changes during their working life, such as changes in work tasks or health condition. Career resilience consists of five factors: ability to cope with problems, social skills, interest in novelty, optimism about the future, and willingness to help others. In all, 1,000 Japanese company employees completed an online survey. The results showed that optimism about the future and ability to cope with problems exhibited a negative correlation with NPC when confronting changes. The results of simple slope analysis suggested that social skills and ability to cope with problems decreased the negative influence that psychological symptoms caused by changes had on job satisfaction, which was one index of career development. This study underlines the necessity of developing the ability to cope with problems and social skills.

Highlights

Sources indicate that in recent years in Japan, a considerable number of employees have developed mental health problems and have subsequently either taken leaves of absence or resigned
Cronbach’s alpha coefficients for each element of career resilience were as follows: ability to cope with problems and changes, .868; social skills, .841; interest in novelty, .845; optimism about the future, .731; and willingness to help others
Psychological symptoms Social skills × Psychological symptoms Interest in novelty × Psychological symptoms Optimism about the future × Psychological symptoms Willingness to help others × Psychological symptoms as an explanatory variable showed a significant interaction between ability to cope with problems and changes and psychological symptoms linked to health condition changes

Summary

Introduction

Sources indicate that in recent years in Japan, a considerable number of employees have developed mental health problems and have subsequently either taken leaves of absence or resigned. According to the Workers’ Health Condition Survey in 2012 (Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, 2013), 60.9% of respondents had strong anxiety, worries, or stress related to work or occupational life in Japan. This has, as may be expected, negatively affected their career development. The Labour Standards Bureau of Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (2010) of Japan reported that personnel relocation and promotion are among the main triggers of such problems Such changes in working conditions appear to cause mental health issues and may hinder career development; this necessitates preemptive measures.

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Conclusion