ERIC Clearinghouse on Adult, Career, and Vocational Education (ACVE) ARCHIVE

Career Resilience in a Changing Workplace

Information Series No. 366
by Betsy Collard, John W. Epperheimer, and Diane Saign
Order No. IN 366, Price $7.00
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Major changes in the workplace have altered the social contract between employer and employee and rendered many traditional models of career development inadequate. This paper examines the effects of a changing workplace on the individual and on career development. These changes in the workplace have created new types of organizations and new roles for individuals. Organizations no longer can provide job security and protection. Individuals are required to assume greater responsibility for their careers and must develop new skills and attitudes to manage their own careers.

The old employment contract was characterized by a parental relationship and the exchange of loyalty and hard work for job security. A new contract, based on interdependence and the principles of partnership and open and honest communication, is recommended. The evolution of organizational career programs is briefly examined, and changing approaches to career development are explored.

A new approach to career development is outlined, based on the concept of individual career self-reliance, and a career resilience model for career development is proposed.

Information on career resilience may be found in the ERIC database using the following descriptors—*Career Development, Career Ladders, Career Planning, Change Strategies, Contracts, *Employee Responsibility, *Employer Employee Relationship, Employment Practices, Organizational Change; Self Actualization; and identifiers—*Career Resilience, *Self Reliance. Asterisks indicate descriptors and identifiers that are particularly relevant.