Review article: Enhancing employability: Human, cultural, and social capital in an era of turbulent unpredictability

TLDR

Turbulence and unpredictability in 21st‑century labor markets magnify the importance of maintaining employability, yet many related activities are unpaid and occur outside formal job structures. The article aims to discuss three mechanisms—identity work, training and networking, and laboring in unpaid or marginal paid positions—that enhance employability in turbulent labor markets. It draws on recent research to specify how a range of employment‑related activities are essential to and even constitute work, illustrating how everyday actions build and reinforce new economic structures. The article provides a more detailed specification of the concept of employability.

Abstract

Turbulence and unpredictability in 21st-century labor markets arguably magnify the importance of maintaining employability. Drawing on recent research, I discuss three mechanisms for enhancing employability in this context: identity work, training and networking, and laboring in unpaid and marginal paid positions. Few of these activities are counted as ‘work’ because they are mostly unpaid and they often take place outside formal job structures. By specifying how a range of employment-related activities are essential to and even constitute work, this article contributes to debates about the scope and boundaries of employment and shows how everyday actions build and reinforce new economic structures — how individual actions make the new economy possible. It also provides greater specification of the concept of employability.