Work career defined by autonomy in work
Work career defined by autonomy in work

Summary/Abstract: A work career can be defined as series of different working states. Since autonomy in work is one of the main characteristics that influence the quality of working life, we have defined the work career of an individual as a sequence of different states of work autonomy. Two jobs differ only when they differ in autonomy. In this paper, data collected retrospectively for the period 1974-1994 are examined. Event history analysis is used to describe the process of changing work autonomy. To determine how long autonomy episodes are and how they end, the Kaplan-Meier method for estimating survivor function was applied. Most of the autonomy episodes are of very long duration. During their work careers individuals generate only one episode, which ends in inactivity. Since episodes are long, we presume that these episodes indicate the leaving of the labour market and retirement. The probability of changing autonomy status is somehow higher in the first five years, after which changes are rare. Younger and more educated Individuals are more likely to achieve jobs, which afford more autonomy. It seems that quality of working life defined in terms of work autonomy doesn't improve during a career.

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