The partnership between Antwerp Management School (AMS) and SD Worx led to the establishment of the SD Worx Chair in Sustainable Careers in 2011. Guided by the ambition to jointly address the multiple challenges and opportunities brought along by the changing nature of work, the Chair supports organizations, individuals, and society in enhancing sustainable careers. We thereby acknowledge the role of multiple stakeholders involved, aiming for long-term solutions that benefit the career sustainability of all workers throughout their lifespan.
We realize this ambition through groundbreaking research on a wide range of topics related to contemporary careers and sustainable career management and by translating our findings into practical solutions for key stakeholders. We thereby collaborate with an international network of academics and organizations. The Chair is led by Professor Ans De Vos. Over the years, this has resulted in a strong thought leadership on sustainable careers as reflected in academic publications, collaborations with companies, tool development, and advice for policymakers.
Over the years, the sustainability of careers has become only more pertinent in light of multiple grand challenges – think of demographic change, the rapid rise of technology and AI, climate change, and global migration. We have contributed to putting the topic high on the agenda of key actors, raising awareness about how crucial it is to search for innovative solutions to enable more sustainable careers and leading to a steadily and still growing interest in and questions for guidance on career management by important actors on multiple levels.
Our impact after more than 13 years of research
Over the past 13 years, the SD Worx Chair in Sustainable Careers has created valuable insights for diverse audiences, including academic output, policy advice, and practical applications. Our research efforts have resulted in concrete outcomes, focusing on key trends and developments influencing the future of work and careers.
10.000+ quotations in Google Scholar
50+ publications in scientific journals and academic books
Together with SD Worx, AMS wants to shape the future of careers. This requires a comprehensive approach that looks beyond traditional talent and career management policies and practices. Our agenda is centered around four key themes: embracing a total workforce perspective, leveraging career analytics, fostering a culture of continuous learning, and promoting sustainable career paths for all workers.
Total workforce strategy for talent and careers
The growing diversity of profiles in companies highlights the need for a total workforce perspective, beyond traditional payroll employees. The key challenge is making smart decisions about whether to hire, train, or outsource talent while balancing the immediate needs of the company with the long-term impact on all workers involved. This includes employees, teams, external workers, and even automation like robots. In many companies, there is still a fragmented approach when it comes to making decisions about hiring talent versus deciding to collaborate with external workers, the adoption of automation or AI. To overcome this fragmentation, a total workforce strategy is critical.
Career analytics as the basis for strong career mobility
Despite the growing focus on subjective career success and individualized career support, employees still need clarity on their career perspectives. This can be important for employee engagement, considering that career development is still a key factor in talent attraction and retention. It’s also critical from a sustainable career perspective, as lack of career mobility might result in career inertia, and the obsoletion of skills, thereby eroding employees’ adaptability and resilience. Yet, in a rapidly changing context, it is no longer realistic to offer predictable and linear career paths.
Applying career analytics, i.e., mapping how work sequences shape career paths including determinants and outcomes using real personnel data can therefore offer valuable insights into how careers evolve, helping to redefine organizational careers paths as a basis for enhancing employee mobility, overcoming inertia, and providing a strong career culture in which employees feel equipped and supported in their career development.
Preparing individuals and organizations for an unpredictable future requires balancing short-term needs with preskilling, upskilling, and reskilling. A strong learning culture that aligns individual and organizational growth with critical future skills, is essential. We thereby take a broad perspective upon future skills – as companies need to overcome the tendency to focus on matching short-term and job-specific skill needs. Being future-proof encompasses more than functional skills. It’s also about supporting people in their self-confidence, developing a growth mindset, building social capital. Employability is more than the match between skills and job requirements. It’s also about staying (mentally and physically) healthy and about providing employees with the skills they need to deal with uncertainty.
Career development is not for the ‘happy few’ (or so-called ‘key talent’) in the organization. All workers have a career, as a career is made up of the sequence of work experiences people go through across their lifespan. Therefore, enabling the sustainability of careers for all workers (including gig-workers, freelancers, multiple job holders as well as employees being vulnerable because of their age, skillset, of other characteristics) is an expression of sustainable HRM and responsible employership. We consider this to be a key principle in our collaborations and research, and which is also reflected in current directives on ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) reporting. This means that we address career sustainability by taking a lifespan, lifecourse perspective – considering the challenges and opportunities to enable people’s happiness, health and productivity as they go through different life and career stages, thereby also considering changes in their broader life context. Moreover, this implies that the concern for sustainable careers goes further than the boundaries of the company. It implies that all workers across the value chain must be addressed, including suppliers and subcontractors, hence moving beyond the core-periphery debate.
Sustainable careers are not just about individual growth, they are about creating long-term value for employees, organizations, and society as a whole.
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Prof. Dr. Ans De Vos
How do we turn our research into action?
Research: Actionable insights for sustainable careers We translate research from the SD Worx Chair into practical publications that highlight trends, innovative practices, and inspiring case studies, helping organizations build sustainable career policies.
Co-Creation: Shaping the future of work together In collaboration with partners and the University of Antwerp, we co-create a sustainable vision for the future of work, integrating multiple stakeholder perspectives to drive impactful HR solutions.
Development: Building sustainable mindsets Through our educational programs, including tailored HR Masterclasses, we equip organizations with the latest research and tools on sustainable careers, ensuring participants can apply this knowledge in real-world settings.
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FunctionChairholder SD Worx Next Generation Work: Creating Sustainable Careers, associate dean of education, academic director Global Leadership Skills full-time master's programs. Professor Talent Management
