In the Eye of the Hurricane: Careers under Lockdown

Maria Mouratidou and Mirit K. Grabarski ()
Additional contact information
Maria Mouratidou: Business School, University of Cumbria, Lancaster LA1 3JD, UK
Mirit K. Grabarski: Faculty of Business Administration, Lakehead University, Thunder Bay, ON P7B 5E1, Canada

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 22, 1-15

Abstract: The COVID-19 pandemic has created career disruptions and shocks for many individuals, due to layoffs, reduced work hours and increased work–life conflict. Our study aimed to explore individual-level perceptions of people regarding their careers during the first lockdown in the UK, and to test potential implications of the situation for individuals’ career sustainability. For a deeper understanding of these perceptions, we used a sequential mixed-methods research design. First, we conducted a qualitative study, using semi-structured interviews to explore how people perceive their careers during early stages of the pandemic. We identified two themes that characterize the common experiences during this time period, namely employer support and careful optimism, that play an important role in the way careers unfold. Then, in the quantitative study, we conducted an online survey to empirically test a research model that links the concept of employer support with employability, career satisfaction and mental well-being. We also investigate the mediating role of career empowerment, which is a motivational cognitive construct that captures individual cognitions of agentic control over one’s career. Our research provides a rich snapshot that depicts people’s perceptions of careers during a shock event, which has both theoretical and practical implications.

Keywords: career shocks; COVID-19; career outcomes; organizational support; career empowerment; motivation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/22/15098/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/22/15098/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:22:p:15098-:d:972911

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().