Contemporary World Of Work Research Articles

Navigating the Fourth Industrial Revolution: Generational Differences, COVID-19 Impact, and Knowledge Sharing in the Modern Workplace

This systematic literature review examines the intricate interplay between generational differences, the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR), and the unanticipated effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the contemporary world of work. In response to the pandemic, organizations worldwide rapidly reevaluated their work processes, embracing digital technologies and remote work. This unforeseen shift underscored the world's capacity for rapid adaptation to unforeseen challenges. However, the 4IR extends beyond technological advancements, involving non-technological aspects such as evolving business models, workforce well-being, job security, and the changing nature of work. Understanding these dimensions is vital in shaping the modern workforce. Generational differences add another layer of complexity. Each generation, from Baby Boomers to Millennials, brings distinct worldviews and work values. This review explores how different generations perceive and adapt to the evolving nature of work, especially in the context of the 4IR. In addition, the 4IR highlights the critical role of knowledge in driving innovation and competitiveness. Knowledge-sharing practices within organizations have become pivotal in staying ahead in this era of rapid technological change. By addressing both technological and non-technological dimensions of the 4IR and considering generational perspectives, this review offers a comprehensive understanding of how these forces intersect and influence the modern workplace. It provides insights and recommendations to guide organizations, policymakers, and individuals in navigating the complexities of the modern world of work, harnessing 4IR opportunities, and addressing its multifaceted challenges.

Critical Challenges to the Sociology of Work: From a Perspective of Russian Labor Studies

ABSTRACTGlobal changes currently roiling the contemporary world of work present a significant challenge for the sociology of work. The lifestyles of many people are becoming more dynamic and uncertain. As work itself starts to lose its familiar outlines, the employment paradigm that formed during the industrial period seems increasingly inapplicable. Such transformations give rise to criticism of existing concepts and the emergence of new discourses that simultaneously expand and complicate an understanding of the prospects for further development. In this article, we attempt to uncover problems that limit the possibility of generalizing scientific understanding in the field of sociology of work. Particular attention is paid to the integration of Russian experience into the global agenda. The review highlights the importance of clarifying the blurred conceptual framework of the sociology of work, enhancing the distinction between work and life, and identifying the possibilities and limitations of using big data for empirical analysis. In conclusion, we emphasize the need to counter the fragmentation of the sociology of work and its “dissolution” into other areas of knowledge by providing a strong theoretical background while maintaining the comparability of measurements. Addressing these gaps is essential for a more accurate reflection of modern labor relations.

Supporting clients via narrative storytelling and artificial intelligence: a practitioner guide for career development professionals

PurposeIn this practitioner-focused essay, we combine traditional narrative storytelling approaches with Artificial Intelligence’s (AI) innovative abilities to enable career development professionals to support individuals across their lifespan.Design/methodology/approachWe propose a three-phase career exploration approach, developed and tested in a real-world setting for career development professionals to support their clients to consider various career-related options as well as identify strengths and opportunities for personal development.FindingsIn phase one, the client recounts 7–10 positive narrative stories about engaging in activities they enjoyed. In phase two, the career development professional uses AI with tailored prompts to generate a personalised client report based on these narrative stories. In phase three, the report serves as the basis for further discussion and exploration with the client.Practical implicationsThe approach provides a practical guide for career development professionals to increase their capability to support their clients in response to technological advancement and the contemporary world of work. A training document incorporating a worked example of the approach is provided in “Supplementary Material Appendix 1”.Originality/valueOur approach acknowledges AI as a new actor and career development professionals as undervalued actors in supporting individuals to foster a sustainable career ecosystem.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS BUILDING THE QUALITY OF ISLAMIC UNIVERSITY IN THE WORLD OF WORK

This research aimed to critically understand how to build the quality of Islamic university graduates and the needs of the world of work. Researchers used qualitative research with the type of library research to implement the method in this research. The research results showed that there was a gap between the skills taught in universities and those needed in the workplace. Therefore, it was necessary to strengthen soft skills and hard skills while students were studying at university. At this point, Islamic universities needed to actualize their curriculum system by basing it on the needs of the realities of the contemporary world of work. These findings provided an important contribution for Islamic universities and industry to increase their collaboration in preparing professional graduates who were more ready to work in order to meet the quality of civilization of the next generation of the nation.

The Fragmented Labor Power Composition of Gig Workers: Entrepreneurial Tendency and the Heterogeneous Production of Difference

The literature on digital labor platforms requires a focus beyond techno-utopianism, foregrounding the role of living labor that materially sustains the fantasies of convenience ingrained in platform capitalism. The gig workers embodying living labor exhausted by location-dependent platform work are mainly migrants. Yet, greater understanding of the complexity of difference production and the gigification of work is needed. The article is prompted by the desire to understand the relationship between entrepreneurialized workers and heterogeneously produced differences within the labor power composition of gig workers active on location-based labor platforms. Drawing on ethnographic data produced together with migrant workers engaged in food delivery and cleaning gigs via labor platforms in Helsinki, the article first analyzes the organizing logic of gig work mediated via platforms through the notion of transversal entrepreneurial tendency, and second, the entwined forms of social, legal, and algorithmic difference produced among gig workers. The article argues that differentiation in labor power composition is dynamically related to the interactions required and facilitated by the platforms. The article contributes to discussions on entrepreneurialization in the contemporary world of work and the specific ways in which the social, legal, and algorithmic production of difference shape the constitutive hierarchies of platform labor.

Optimizing Social Support: Building Resilience to Work-Related Stress in Women through Managing Conflict Between Work and Personal Life

Job stress, as a major well-being issue in the contemporary world of work, is attracting increasing attention from researchers, especially in the context of its effects on women. Women often fulfill dual roles as professional workers and household leaders, presenting unique challenges in managing multiple demands both at work and within the family sphere. This research discusses how the imbalance between work life and personal life, especially work-life conflict, influences work stress levels in career women. This research involved 200 women who had worked for at least 6 months. Using the Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) data analysis method with the help of the SmartPLS application, this research discusses the influence of Work-Life Conflict (WLC) on women's work stress levels. The findings highlight the importance of conflict management between work and personal life, with implications for organizational policies in supporting such balance. Although Perceived Social Support (PSS) was not proven to be a significant mediator, this research contributes to the understanding of the complexity of the dynamics between these variables, providing a basis for further research and practical implementation. These findings also emphasize the important role of leadership in creating an organizational culture that supports work-life balance.

Work does not speak for itself: examining the incremental validity of personal branding in predicting knowledge workers’ employability

ABSTRACT The changing context of contemporary knowledge work, including the massive adoption of home office work arrangements and a great resignation, calls for new research on the employability of knowledge workers. In this paper, we suggest that knowledge workers can no longer rely on developing their human capital and being intrapreneurial at work to secure their employability. With the aim to offer a new perspective, we test the incremental validity of personal branding in predicting employability over and above established predictors (i.e., human capital and intrapreneurship behaviours) and test the relationships in three studies (total N = 883), consisting of a supervisor sample (Study 1), a student sample (Study 2), and a time-lagged employee sample (Study 3). Results show that personal branding explains variance in employability over and above human capital and intrapreneurship behaviours. The results also show that the relationship between personal branding and employability is fully mediated by personal brand equity. The paper concludes with a discussion of the opportunities the concept of personal branding offers for employability research in the context of the contemporary world of work.

Vocational Choice: A Narrative Identity Approach Conceived from Cultural Psychology

Vocation has been studied from perspectives such as trait-factor, differential psychology, and psychometrics. These perspectives have assumed it to be the precursor of a unique and definitive career choice, resulting from matching personal characteristics with the requirements of a job. Vocation has also been conceptualized as the product of evolutionary stages, dependent on maturational processes. However, the changing conditions of the contemporary world of work make it necessary to reconsider vocationality from a dynamic perspective that transcends the exclusively psychometric view. This article proposes an alternative approach to vocation, based on the processes of identity construction propose by cultural psychology. Thus, vocation is assumed as a process of a narrative nature, in constant formation, based on the symbolic resources with which people interact. Vocationality emerges as a historical, situated, and distributed phenomenon, marked by occupational and educational experiences, as well as by interactive experiences with significant others.

The psychological conditions for employee engagement in organizational change: Test of a change engagement model.

In the contemporary world of work, organizational change is a constant. For change to be successful, employees need to be positive about implementing organizational change. Change engagement reflects the extent to which employees are enthusiastic about change, and willing to actively involve themselves in promoting and supporting ongoing organizational change. Drawing from Kahn's engagement theory, the research aimed to assess the influence of change-related meaningful work, psychological safety, and self-efficacy as psychological preconditions for change engagement. The study also aimed to test the indirect associations of the change-related psychological preconditions with proactive work behavior through change engagement. Survey data from a Prolific sample (N = 297) were analyzed using confirmatory factor analysis and structural equations modeling. In support of the validity of the model, the results showed that change-related self-efficacy, psychological safety, and meaningfulness had significant direct effects on change engagement, explaining 88% of the variance. The change-related psychological conditions also had significant indirect effects on proactive work behavior through change engagement. The findings therefore suggest that employees who exhibit higher levels of change-related self-efficacy, psychological safety, and work meaningfulness are more likely to support and promote organizational change, and to proactively engage in innovative work behavior. In practical terms, organizations that create the psychological conditions for change could significantly improve employee motivation to change and to innovate, which in turn would increase the likelihood of successful organizational change, and improved organizational competitiveness. Study limitations and directions for future research are discussed.

Theorizing Gets Personal: Management Academia in the Mirror of Independent Work

With the rise of a global marketplace for research ideas, and the increased precarity of teaching positions, academic labor occurs more so than ever in conditions that resemble those faced by independent workers. We came to this realization in the process of bridging these two worlds, so dissimilar institutionally and yet so resonant existentially. The freedom that must be coped with, the personal investment work, and the precariousness experienced, for both independent workers and academics, contribute to an obsession with productivity as a way to manage strong and conflicting emotions attendant to work. This essay offers a lens to interpret that obsession, and some advice for countering it and crafting a viable and vital working life, by cultivating connections to significant people, a specific and evocative place to work, soothing routines, and an overarching purpose. We must examine the experience of those who theorize for a living, this essay argues, if we aspire to bring theories to life. Focusing on the personal, existential experience of “being” an academic, the essay complements work on the social and institutional challenges of “doing” academia, and contends that sustaining personal investment in work is essential to developing more pluralistic and potent theories about the contemporary world of work.

Coaching to support apprentice’s ability to manage their own (further) competence development: results of a case study and their implications

ABSTRACT In vocational education and training, coaching can be used to support apprentices’ ability to manage their own (further) competence development ‘on the job’. This is largely requested among employees at workplaces in internationally competitive sectors of the economy which require of their workforce a great deal of flexibility and learning ability. So far, little is known about coaching practices in vocational education and training. The aim of this paper is to explore how coaching is used in vocational training in a large Swiss enterprise of the communication- and IT- services sector. The for this purpose analysed case study data comprises 30 interviews with apprentices, workplace trainers, coaches, and members of VET management of the enterprise, protocols of site visits and an analysis of VET related documents. As also VET schools must train learners for the contemporary world of work and must foster their ability to increasingly manage their own (further) competence development, coaching could be an interesting approach to be used in VET schools. This is critically discussed in the second part of the paper, respecting the different conditions that apply for supporting learning at the workplace- and supporting learning in the VET school context.

Towards Meaning in Life: A Path Analysis Exploring the Mediation of Career Adaptability in the Associations of Self-Esteem with Presence of Meaning and Search for Meaning.

In the contemporary world of work, workers are engaged more frequently in career choices to cope with changing work and working conditions. In this scenario, the well-being of workers is under threat. This study aims to examine the effect of career adaptability as a preventive resource on the relationship between self-esteem and meaning in life. Three-hundred Italian workers (67.3% females, mean age = 41.90; SD = 12.54) completed an online survey enclosing the Career Adapt-Abilities Scale, the Rosenberg self-esteem scale, and the Meaning in Life Questionnaire. Data were analyzed through a path analysis by implementing a mediation model to test the hypothesized relationship. The results show that career adaptability partially mediated the relationship between self-esteem and meaning in life, both considering the presence of meaning and the search for meaning dimensions. The findings expand current knowledge on the relationship between self-esteem, career adaptability and meaning in life in workers with implications for research and intervention.

Guest editorial: The world of contemporary work and the digital economy

Guest editorial: The world of contemporary work and the digital economy

Delotvornost radnog zakonodavstva i uloga inspekcije rada u svetlu standarda Međunarodne organizacije rada

Regulation of labour relations is accompanied by adoption of measures pivotal to ensuring effective implementation of labour legislation. One of the most important measures is labour inspection. During the last century, a solid legal and institutional framework for labour inspection had been developed in most of the world, with many countries using the standards contained in the International Labour Organization conventions no. 81 and 129 as inspiration or model. Nevertheless, labour inspectors face many challenges and obstacles, because the proliferation of labour regulations and the emergence of new occupational risks and new forms of work are not accompanied by appropriate mechanisms to ensure effective protection of labour rights. This also applies to the emergence of economic and financial crises, which are regularly linked to employers' efforts to reduce the cost of work by bypassing the labour, social and tax regulations. We should not lose sight of the fact that a large number of workers are outside of the personal scope of application of labour legislation, which, in the contemporary world of work, is a serious obstacle to successful labour inspection. In addition, a large number of workers performs undeclared work, and the so-called externalization of work has blurred the legal position of workers, calling into question the traditional distinction between employment and independent work for others, but also the traditional (unitary) concept of an employer, as its prerogatives are now exercised by two or more entities. The seriousness of these challenges becomes even greater if we take into account the insufficient number of labour inspectors and their inadequate training, which often results in the unacceptably modest number of (registered and unregistered) entities being inspected. The low probability of inspection actually taking place will further encourage employers to continue to circumvent the applicable regulations. This is bolstered by the lenient penalties that the labour inspectors have at their disposal, as well as the fact that their work is often rendered meaningless by the negligence of the misdemeanor courts. Another problem is the lack of specialization of labour inspectors for certain labour issues, such as the protection of particularly sensitive categories of workers. The authoress seeks to examine the goals, functions and prerogatives of labour inspectors in view of the International Labour Organization standards, as well as to review them taking into consideration the current trends in labour law, like economic and political turn towards neoliberalism, economic and financial crises as well as the intense international migrations.

Performance, job crafting and work context: practical implications from a multilevel perspective

PurposeEffort by managers and academics have been applied to understand elements that improving organizational performance and results. This study aims to analyze the relationship among job performance, job crafting, work complexity and learning support. The authors conducted a cross-sectional survey in a study with a regression hierarchical (i.e. multilevel) design.Design/methodology/approachSample included 530 respondents of both sexes with ages ranging from 17 to 68 (M = 33.9; SD = 9.75). Participants were employees from 53 public and private organizations located in the Southeast of Brazil. They answered the scales: General Self-Assessment Scale of Job Performance, Job Crafting Behaviors, Learning Support and Subjective Task Complexity.FindingsThe results indicated that variance in job performance due to the differences among the organizations and learning support can explain 22% of variance at this level. Job crafting explained 22% of the job performance variance at level 1 (worker). It is concluded that the development of actions concerning job crafting and the relationship with the work context predict performance at work. Thus, the authors highlight the importance of maintaining individual-focused management practices, meaning that focusing on workers development promotes good results at the organization.Originality/valueResults revealed practical implications through individual performance considered in a multilevel perspective both in Levels 1 and 2, which is not the most common for this variable. They could be especially important in scenarios that will demand adaptability and work modification, as the actual ones were observed in the contemporary world of work.

Framing Law Stories: Work Health and Safety and the Self-employed Person’s Wellbeing

The question of whether law can, or cannot, touch the territory of the wellbeing of workers is steadfastly rising to the surface of the contemporary world of work. This begs exploration of whether current law provides ways to workers’ wellbeing. This article explores whether the self-duties that the self-employed person owes herself under sub-sections 19(5) and 28(a) of the Work Health and Safety Act 2011(NSW) (‘WHSA’) touch her wellbeing at work. The WHSA is the state’s adoption of the Model Work Health and Safety Act. In adopting the methodology of legal narratology ( Olson 2014 ), this article unframes grand narratives of law and wellbeing and renders a collection of micro narratives which emerged from the law stories told by seven self-employed persons juxtaposed with the story the WHSA tells of itself. The research has been conducted in the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales. The article draws upon four law stories which frame the interpretations that: (1) the self-employed person must ensure, and take reasonable care for, his or her own physical and psychological wellbeing and safety, while wellbeing unlimited from that definition lies in law’s lacunae; (2) the self-employed person must ensure the provision of adequate facilities for her wellbeing at work and the maintenance of those facilities, while an intentional by-product of discharging health and safety duties is wellbeing beyond liability; (3) the self-employed person may, or may not, promote wellbeing in discharging her self-duties ( Tooma 2020 ); and (4) a desire for law in the self’s wellbeing appeals to law beyond the WHSA. The article ultimately invites the reader’s own interpretations of the ineffable, sometimes called wellbeing.

Reinventing the Theatre Curriculum to Address Contemporary Development Needs and Job Alignment in Nigeria.

As the social and economic terrain is changing in Nigeria, theatre training and practice have not evolved commensurately to address the current development needs and job alignment. The models used in many Nigerian universities mainly offer theoretical knowledge of theatre and basic training for entertainment roles. Even though the philosophy and objectives of theatre training in the NUC Benchmark for minimum academic standards are couched with the anticipation for innovation and programme expansion, it does not specify the type or scope of expansion needed to retain the viability of theatre practice within the current knowledge economy. Nigerian universities are therefore not firmly guided to develop their theatre curricula in a direction that is sensitive to the exigencies of time and age. There is currently a lot of interest in film production, carnival, standup comedy, development communication, applied theatre and event management. This paper argues that theatre and performing art programmes in universities and other theatre training centres should develop more courses around these emerging areas of interest. The paper submits that while there are many specialties in which theatre graduates can be professionally engaged, and while the nature of theatre training imbues numerous subjective qualities desired in the contemporary world of work, much more could be done by reinventing the theatre curriculum to give theatre graduates wider opportunities.

Does Meaningful Work Fuel the Altruistic Behavior of Employees in the Contemporary World of Work? Evidence from Private Sector Banks in Sri Lanka

In the modern era, infinite selfless behavior patterns of employees play a central role in founding a great place of work. But it is hard to expect altruistic behaviors from employees as the game of business is frolicked in a dynamic and competitive arena. Surprisingly, most employees were concerned only about themselves and over-utilized the COVID-19 catastrophe to rationalize their egotistic behaviors. However, scholars found that employees who demonstrate altruistic behaviors are more likely to be optimistic and cheerful than egocentric employees. Hence, employers need to discover appropriate strategies to nurture altruistic behaviors at the workplace. Nowadays, employees have an inner desire to accept tasks, duties, and responsibilities which add more meaning to their work lives. No matter what the situation is, meaningful work can maintain the employee’s momentum even during a crisis. Scholars have proved that meaningful work is a significant contributor to altruistic behavior in the workplace. Hence, this study investigated the impact of meaningful work on altruistic behavior with special reference to private sector banking employees in Sri Lanka. Researchers conducted this study in a quantitative perspective along with the positivism philosophy, deductive approach, and survey strategy. Through convenience sampling, data were collected from 149 private sector banking employees in Sri Lanka. Based on the regression analysis, researchers proved that meaningful work could create 34.1% of an effect on employee’s altruistic behavior. Hence, it is evidenced that when employees receive meaningful work, they are intrinsically inspired to exhibit altruistic behaviors at the workplace. Keywords: Altruistic Behavior, Meaningful Work, Private Sector Banking Employees, Sri Lanka

‘Masters and Servers’: Collective Labour Rights and Private Government in the Contemporary World of Work

This article explores the issues of subordination and authority in the contemporary world of work as they are exacerbated by new forms of work-surveillance that track emotions and mental states of workers by means of artificial intelligence, predictive algorithms and big data. It discusses subordination in contemporary work arrangements, highlighting how new technologies and business practices expand hierarchy and forms of private government beyond the scope of the employment relationship. It explores some of the technologies and practices that magnify and expand managerial powers to unprecedented levels, by tracking and strictly monitoring workers’ emotional and mental states. It also highlights how collective labour rights represent the best counterbalance to restrain these practices and curb modern forms of private government in the workplace. It concludes by discussing how the distinction between the traditional functions of collective rights, the ‘civil liberty’ and the ‘industrial’ function is increasingly blurred, arguing that an expansion of the personal scope of collective rights is crucial in this regard. Workplace Surveillance, Artificial Intelligence, Predictive Algorithms, Big Data, Platform Work, Surveillance Capitalism, Subordination, Contract of Employment, Collective Labour Rights

Reflecting on the nature of work in contemporary South Africa: A public theological engagement with calling and vocation

This article argues for a rediscovery of a theology of work in South Africa that is based on the Protestant notion of calling and vocation. Such a view has the primary intention of emphasising obedience and faithfulness to God rather than self-fulfilment or achievement as the intentions of work. Such an approach can empower and equip the church and individual Christians for effective and faithful living in all spheres of life – both private and public. The article shows that the influences of theological dualism, an unbalanced view of the clergy as primary agents of ministry and mission, and a structures-centred view of ministry and mission detracted from the importance of the church’s ministry in numerous spheres of society. A consequence of this was the introduction of a subtle dualism between faith and work. In response to this, the article considers how the church could become an agent of mission and transformation in the world of work. The conclusion of this article is that the South African church could benefit from revisiting and rediscovering a theology of work that is based on the Protestant emphasis of calling and vocation in the public sphere. Contribution: While this article engages the traditional protestant theological notions of calling and vocation, it argues that reconsidering these notions in relation to the contemporary world of work can renew a theology of work and ministry for South African churches to serve their members in achieving God’s will in society.