In The Eye Of The Hurricane: Sustainable Careers Under Lockdown

Abstract

The sustainable careers framework proposes that careers are sustainable if they are characterized by three main indicators: health, happiness, and productivity, when responsibility for these career outcomes is shared between individuals and organizations. The COVID-19 pandemic has created a major career disruption for many individuals due to layoffs, reduced work hours and increased work-life conflict. Using a mixed methods design, we explore how individuals perceive their careers, and specifically indicators of sustainability, during the first lockdown in the UK. In the qualitative Study 1 we identify themes that characterize the common experiences during this early stage of the pandemic, namely employer support, careful optimism and strengthened relationships. Then, in the quantitative Study 2, we empirically test a research model that links the concept of employer support with indicators of sustainable careers. We investigate the mediating role of career empowerment, which is a motivational cognitive construct that captures individual cognitions of agentic control over one’s career. In addition, we investigate the moderating role of agreeableness in the relationship between the individual and the organization. Our research provides a rich snapshot that depicts perceptions of careers in crisis, which has both theoretical and practical implications.