Employable Ever After: Examining the antecedents and outcomes of sustainable employability in a hospital context

Abstract

This dissertation focuses on sustainable employability, its consequences, and how it can be stimulated. Sustainably employable workers are those that are able and willing to productively work throughout their careers. Sustainable employability is considered important for both employees and their employers, because it can help workers to deal with the ever-changing work environment. This dissertation contributes to our knowledge on sustainable employability by addressing four gaps in the literature. These gaps are defined in the first chapter and inform the research in this dissertation. The empirical research is conducted in the Dutch hospital sector, a relevant research context as there is a high need for sustainably employable workers in this dynamic environment. This dissertation shows that employer’s investments in providing resourceful and challenging jobs as well as adequate managerial support, stimulate employees to become and remain Employable Ever After. The research indicates that employee age and job type should be taken into account when investing in workers’ sustainable employability, as for example, some occupational groups run the risk of ‘entrapped employment positions’, which limits their career chances. Ultimately, both employees and employers benefit from employer’s investments in sustainable employability, although employers should be aware of the so-called ‘spoiled worker alert’. This means that employees could become reluctant to change because they value their employer’s investments focused on their current job so much, while at the same time, they are insufficiently stimulated to think ahead.