Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2024

Publication Title

Journal of Career Development

Keywords

gig work, work identity, career self-management

Abstract

The opportunity to construct a career and the prevalence of virtual work are hallmarks of the extant environment that makes career decisions and workforce recruitment increasingly complex. We seek to understand jobseekers’ choices in this context, which allows for great personal control and independence. We draw on the career self-management stream of social-cognitive career theory to inform our examination of the influences of certain applicant work preferences and individual characteristics on preferences for gig or traditional work and related job-seeking behaviors. Findings from this study indicate that a sense of agency and need for affiliation are significantly related to new and transitional job seekers’ willingness to pursue face-to-face versus gig work opportunities. Additionally, this work revealed a positive relationship between a preference for face-to-face and gig work options, indicating that incorporating a combination of the two may be optimal for employees and employers.

Funding Source

This article was published Open Access thanks to a transformative agreement between Milner Library and Sage Journals.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License

DOI

10.1177/08948453241275031

Comments

First published in Journal of Career Development: https://doi.org/10.1177/08948453241275031

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