Dear colleagues,

We are editing a special issue in the Journal of Vocational Behavior focused on navigating careers in non-standard work. One of the core aims of this special issue is to connect the Careers and HR communities, and we hope that you might be interested in submitting your work. Please see below for more details or visit the JVB website here: https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/journal-of-vocational-behavior/about/call-for-papers#navigating-careers-in-non-standard-work-challenges-and-ways-forward-for-vocational-behavior-and-human-resource-management.

Best wishes and feel free to reach out at any time,

Jos

Introduction to the Special Issue Topic

During the past decade, non-standard work (sometimes referred to as alternative work arrangements) – which can be described as the absence of standard work – has increased and has gained political and societal awareness (Shifrin & Michel, 2022; Spreitzer et al., 2017). Thereby, standard work can be defined as "jobs where work is performed on a fixed schedule, at the firm's place of business under the firm's control and with a mutual expectation of continued employment" (Okhuysen et al., 2013, p. 492).

Non-standard work arrangements show more flexible characteristics compared to standard work (Spurk & Straub, 2020). For example, they typically lack a long-term relationship between employer and employee. Moreover, they may feature relatively high levels of autonomy but also insecurity (Retkowsky et al., 2023). Different types of non-standard work arrangements especially affected by such flexible employment relationships are (a) on-call workers (e.g., IT support technicians), (b) agency workers (e.g., temporary secretarial or legal help leased via an agency), (c) direct contract workers (e.g., freelancers, independent contractors, day laborers), and (d) gig workers (e.g., platform mediated work via online platforms such as Uber, Upwork, or Only Fans).

Our special issue specifically focuses on such types of non-standard work because these workers face specific challenges and opportunities regarding career development and planning, as well as receiving organizational career support (Ashford et al., 2018). Moreover, career, vocational, and HRM scholars are yet to theorize the contingencies of various aspects of these types of work and the occupational experiences of workers who navigate them. On the one hand, this special issue aims to find answers to critical questions about if, how, and why non-standard workers can or cannot establish a successful and sustainable career. For example, how to craft a job or career when constantly sent out to different employers on short-term contracts as an agency worker? How to create meaningful social connections when your boss is an algorithm as a gig worker? On the other hand, organizations that are managing those workers (e.g., regular employers but also agencies or gig work platforms) face specific challenges and opportunities to manage and develop their workforce from an HR perspective. For instance, what kind of HR policies and practices can help non-standard workers develop successful and sustainable careers? How can employment agencies and digital platforms support their workers' careers? Which specific barriers do organizations face to support non-standard workers?

There are some recent approaches to studying non-standard work arrangements from the careers and HR perspective, but the knowledge is still limited, and most studies focus on stressors and insecurities within those samples (De Cuyper et al., 2009; Duggan et al., 2021; Giunchi et al., 2016; Kost et al., 2020; MacDermid et al., 2001; Retkowsky et al., 2023). Hence, we need a broader perspective to unpack how workers and other stakeholders can jointly make sense of and potentially successfully manage careers in non-standard working arrangements. The focus of the special issue thereby lies on careers and HRM within the context of non-standard work.

Potential Research Questions that could be Answered within the Special Issue

Empirical quantitative and qualitative research is prioritized, but conceptual and theoretical articles can also be submitted. The aim of the special issue is to answer research questions, including but not limited to:

-     How do workers within non-standard work construct and understand career success, and which specific predictors, mechanisms, and boundary conditions are relevant to achieve it?

-     How do the unique personal, contextual, and temporal elements in non-standard work facilitate or hinder workers' career success and sustainability?

-     How do workers within non-standard work make career decisions, and what is the potential role of indecision or inaction in their career paths?

-     Which types of (positive and negative) career shocks do non-standard workers encounter, how do they deal with them, and how do those shocks influence their career paths and outcomes?

-     How do resources, workplace perceptions, and employment relations develop over time within non-standard work, and what role do they play in workers' career development?

-     How do non-standard workers look at HR practices and policies, and how can they use them in their career development?

-     How can HRM provide sustainable guidance and help for workers within non-standard work? Which groups are particularly vulnerable in light of career sustainability and how could HR help?

-     What are the challenges and opportunities for HRM in various non-standard work settings, and how can they optimally solve them?

-     How can HRM build commitment and embeddedness for non-standard workers even if the employment relationship is more flexible and typically short-term?

-     How can HRM of the related agencies and platforms manage the careers, performance, and employability of workers within non-standard work arrangements?

Timeline for Authors

Submission deadline for papers	1st of February 2024
First notification of authors about decisions	1st of May 2024
Submission of revisions	1st of September 2024
Planned publication period	January 2025 till March 2025

Informal inquiries about the potential fit of the paper or other issues can be sent to the guest editorial team members at any time.

Guest Editorial Team

Daniel Spurk, University of Bern, Switzerland. daniel.spurk@unibe.ch

Jos Akkermans, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, The Netherlands. j.akkermans@vu.nl

Mina Beigi, Southampton Business School, Great Britain. m.beigi@soton.ac.uk

Annabelle Hofer, University of Cologne, Germany. annabelle.hofer@wiso.uni-koeln.de

Nele de Cuyper, KU Leuven, Belgium. nele.decuyper@kuleuven.be

References

Ashford, S. J., Caza, B. B., & Reid, E. M. (2018). From surviving to thriving in the gig economy: A research agenda for individuals in the new world of work. Research in Organizational Behavior, 38, 23-41.

De Cuyper, N., Notelaers, G., & De Witte, H. (2009). Job insecurity and employability in fixed-term contractors, agency workers, and permanent workers: associations with job satisfaction and affective organizational commitment. Journal of occupational health psychology, 14(2), 193.

Duggan, J., Sherman, U., Carbery, R., & McDonnell, A. (2021). Boundaryless careers and algorithmic constraints in the gig economy. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 1-31.

Gallup. (2022). Hybrid Work. https://www.gallup.com/401384/indicator-hybrid-work.aspx

Giunchi, M., Emanuel, F., Chambel, M. J., & Ghislieri, C. (2016). Job insecurity, workload and job exhaustion in temporary agency workers (TAWs): Gender differences. Career Development International. 21(1), 3-18.

Kost, D., Fieseler, C., & Wong, S. I. (2020). Boundaryless careers in the gig economy: An oxymoron?. Human Resource Management Journal, 30(1), 100-113.

MacDermid, S. M., Lee, M. D., Buck, M., & Williams, M. L. (2001). Alternative work arrangements among professionals and managers: Rethinking career development and success. Journal of Management Development, 20(4), 305-317.

Okhuysen, G. A., Lepak, D., Ashcraft, K. L., Labianca, G., Smith, V., & Steensma, H. K. (2013). Theories of work and working today. Academy of Management Review, 38(4), 491-502.

Retkowsky, J., Nijs, S., Akkermans, J., Jansen, P., & Khapova, S. N. (2023). Toward a sustainable career perspective on contingent work: a critical review and a research agenda. Career Development International, 18(1), 1-18.

Shifrin, N. V., & Michel, J. S. (2022). Flexible work arrangements and employee health: A meta-analytic review. Work & Stress, 36(1), 60-85.

Spreitzer, G., Cameron, L., & Garrett, L. (2017). Alternative work arrangements: Two images of the new world of work. Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior, 4, 473–499.

Spurk, D., & Straub, C. (2020). Flexible employment relationships and careers in times of the COVID-19 pandemic. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 119, 103435.

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Jos Akkermans
Associate Professor
Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
Netherlands
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