Career Paths in Time and Space (WORK2019 Conferencen abstrakti)

Abstract

<div><p>The current labour market presents itself to jobseekers in various ways in relation to time and space. The physical location of work has decreased its meaning due to the opportunities for virtual work, environmental concerns decreasing business travel and commuting, and the abilities to source the best skills for specific positions and projects globally. From the perspective of time, careers are not limited to a certain company or position, but are more connected to the people and their continuous learning; projects and positions are temporary and after completion, new projects and teams are formed for new purposes. </p></div><div><p>At the same time, we see the emergence of a growing group of individuals who are only loosely connected to a physical location, namely cosmopolitans. In the recent World Values Survey more than a third of the respondents identified themselves as citizens of the world. Cosmopolitans can be described as nomads in the global job market; they are on a constant move that can help their professional and career development and enable them to find self-fulfilment in their work. For them, the geographical location or the length of the employment are not among the first priorities, but rather the individuals' possibility to make choices, develop skills and capabilities, and decide on their level of commitment to a job. Cosmopolitans share similarities with sojourners and expat-preneurs in that they are not attempting to become fully integrated in their host countries, as they rather see themselves more broadly as citizens of the world with the option of maintaining their home country culture as a knowledge-asset. </p></div><div><p>For cosmopolitans the recent trends of projectification, short-termism and emphasis on technologies are not negative issues. On the contrary, they likely facilitate the life style cosmopolitans have adopted. Thus, cosmopolitans would probably also welcome hybrid forms of work. This paper looks at cosmopolitans’ perspectives related to work and working environments, paying special attention to how cosmopolitans experience time and space with regard to work. In order to illustrate their working life, narrative stories are collected from cosmopolitans. Secondary data in the form of previous studies such as the World Values Survey as well as online blogs written by cosmopolitans are also used. <br /></p></div>