Facets of career agility as explanatory mechanisms of employees’ career adaptability

Abstract

Background: The fast-changing Industry 4.0 employment conditions require employees to be highly adaptable and resilient in their career self-management. More insight is needed regarding the manner in which facets of career agility (as indicators of adaptive readiness) explain the activation of career adaptability (as an indicator of self-regulated career management resources that help employees proactively respond to the demands of the modern-day technological-driven work context).

Objectives: The study explored the career agility facets of technological adaptivity, agile learning, and career navigation as potential explanatory mechanisms of individuals’ career adaptability.

Method: The study utilised a cross-sectional research design which involved a convenience sample (N = 177) of employees (mean age = 34 years; SD = 10.14) from various industries on managerial (39%), staff (38%), and professional consultant (23%) level positions across the globe. The sample was mostly represented by individuals employed in the South African organisational context (72%).

Results: Multiple regression analyses revealed that technological adaptivity, agile learning and career navigation function as facets of adaptive readiness that explain higher levels of the career adaptability resources embedded in individuals’ career concern, career control, career curiosity, and career confidence.

Conclusion: The findings contribute new insights into the construct of career agility and extends research on antecedents of career adaptability. Modern-day career counselling practice may find the results useful in helping clients be nimble in their adaptation to the changing career and job conditions of the digital era.