Bridging Troubled Times: Adaptability and Identity Metaskills in Challenging Career Contexts

Abstract

The current labor market has produced manifold crises with high unemployment rates and increasing worklife dynamics. Adaptability and identity are metaskills that enable the learning process necessary to overcome obstacles on the career path. The contribution of this review lies in its focus on the question of whether the metaskills of career adaptability and identity can serve to bridge troubled times for everyone in the working population. This review provides a conceptual model of a "decent career"that acknowledges challenging circumstances based on demographic differences (e.g., age, ethnicity, sex) or structural conditions (e.g., economic crisis) and the antecedents necessary to foster individual skills that serve various beneficial outcomes.