Sustainable employability and job crafting : three essays on strategies adopted by individuals at work to develop their employability, career success, and well-being

This thesis deals with the development of sustainable employability through job crafting. Starting from an analysis of the conceptualization of employability, the theoretical framework of sustainable employability, based on the capability approach, is adopted. Sustainable employability includes not only the possibility for individuals to find a job and income through their working life, but the ability to achieve valuable contributions, well-being, satisfaction, performance, in a collaborative situation between individuals and organization. We argue that sustainable employability can be developed through job crafting, a set of proactive behaviors individuals initiate to adapt their job to themselves. Thanks to job crafting, individuals can tailor their job to themselves. We explore this topic with three studies: first, a quantitative study aiming to understand which combination of competences makes individuals employable. Second, a qualitative study seeking to understand how workers in a permissive organization craft their jobs and careers in the short and in the long term to achieve sustainable employability. Third, a qualitative study on how low-skilled workers use job crafting to increase the sense of belonging and well-being. Through our studies we contribute to the literature on sustainable employability and job crafting, showing how job crafting has the potential to contribute to the realization of sustainable employability.