With labour markets across the world and even in social democratic Europe in a state of unprecedented flux, 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 analyse how labour-market trends, organizational 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 workers from 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.

Inhalt

1. Introduction.- 4 1.1 Research Context.- 8 1.2 Research Question.- 16 1.3 Methodological Approach.- 18 1.3.1 Frameworks of Reference.- 18 1.3.2 Research Steps and Selection of Participants.- 22 1.3.3 Interview Method and Data Analysis.- 23 2. Skills and Labour Markets in Germany and the UK.- 26 2.1 Introduction.- 26 2.2 Skills and Labour Markets in Germany.- 30 2.3 Skills and Labour Markets in the UK.- 34 2.4 Flexibility, Mobility, Employability.- 38 2.4.1 Flexibility.- 39 2.4.2 Mobility and Commitment.- 41 2.4.3 Employability.- 44 2.5 From 'Skills' to 'Competences'.- 49 2.6 Reflections.- 55 3. Work and Career Orientations of Nurses.- 59 3.1 Introduction.- 59 3.2 Description of the Nursing Sample.- 61 3.3 Background and Sectoral Context.- 70 3.4 Modes of Flexibility and Learning Demands.- 78 3.5 Work and Career Orientations of Nurses.- 84 3.6 The Role of Learning, Skills and Professional Development.- 103 3.7 The Role of Peers and Practice Communities.- 116 3.8 Conclusions.- 118 4. Work and Career Orientations of IT technicians.- 118 4.1 Description of the IT Sample.- 118 4.2 Background and Sectoral Context.- 118 4.3 Modes of Flexibility and Learning Demands.- 118 4.4 Work and Career Orientations of IT technicians.- 118 4.5 The Role of Learning, Skills and Professional Development.- 118 4.6 The Role of Peers and Practice Communities.- 118 4.7 Conclusions.- 118 5. Reflections on Empirical Findings.- 118 5.1 Nurses and IT technicianssummary of empirical findings.- 118 5.2 German and UK labour marketsopportunities and constraints.- 118 6. Key Issues and Dominant Themes.- 118 6.1 Control and agency in modern work contexts.- 118 6.2 Creating coherent career narratives and identity continuities.- 118 6.2.1 The notion of 'identity'.- 118 6.2.2 Work-related identities.- 118 6.2.3 Creating work-related identity continuities.- 118 6.3 Tensions between careers, skill profiles and work identity.- 118 6.3.1 Developing specialist or general skills or both?- 118 6.3.2 Skills and individual careers.- 118 7. Conclusions.- 118 8. References 118 Annexes Appendix I: Methods.