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Multiple jobholding (MJH) is assumed to be a growing phenomenon due to working life changes. This study presents new knowledge on the MJH career paths, from the perspectives of both employers and employees.

The qualitative interview study was focused on retail trade and restaurant and food service industries in Finland, where MJH is a quite common work arrangement compared to other European countries. The data were analyzed with the concepts of the chaos theory of careers and with an abductive thematic content analysis.

According to the results, several events and intertwined factors may lead individual careers gradually to MJH. Changing personal and family situations and leisure time needs attracted the careers towards MJH. MJH was not only a financial necessity to employees, but it also served their flexibility interests. The interviewed employers applied flexible non-standard employment arrangements mainly due to rapidly varying labor needs established in the industries. It was important for them to strengthen the non-standard core employees' sense of belonging to the work community. However, employees with work ability challenges were in risk to end up in peripheral positions at the labor market.

Previous research on multiple jobholding has not combined employers’ perspectives of MJH to employees’ experiences of career paths.

This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context.

This paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies.

The seasonal tourism industry is seeking employees to undertake further training at their own expense, but without guaranteed work this is proving hard to encourage and utilize.

The briefing saves busy executives, strategists and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy-to-digest format.

Skilled workers are crucial for an organization’s success, and managing, retaining and attracting them is vital in long-term. This study aims to explore talent management practices in the Finnish restaurant industry and to align workers' expectations with the real-world experiences of their work to reduce turnover and enhance job satisfaction.

The study adopts a mixed methods approach, including a survey and interviews with workers and managers to gain insights into their expectations and experiences of work. The study considers themes for designing and implementing effective talent management procedures.

This study highlights the importance of employees' experiences of their work conditions, leveraging positive emotions and fair utilization of temporary agency work (TAW). Understanding the different work preferences of generational cohorts and addressing the challenges associated with owner disengagement and TAW can also contribute to attracting and retaining talent in the restaurant industry.

Skilled workers have often been portrayed as targets that need to be managed, with insufficient consideration given to their preferences, needs and expectations. With the findings of this study, companies can establish mutual understanding with their employees and attract diverse talent.

This chapter discusses how the real options theory can be useful for understanding the adoption of human resources management (HRM) practices. The authors review how the real options theory has provided insights into the processes through which firms manage uncertainties involved in the adoption of HRM practices. The authors offer propositions for future HRM research from the real options perspective. The authors contend that analyzing HRM practice adoptions through the lens of real options theory can enhance our understanding of the mechanisms through which firms choose which HRM practices to adopt and how they adjust the timing, scale, and methods of investment in these practices. Specifically, the authors suggest that differences in information relevant to valuation of HRM options are the source of distinct choices of HRM options across firms. Finally, the authors propose advancing knowledge on HRM practice adoptions by using a portfolio of options approach, as well as considering factors like competitors, path dependence, and switching options.

The research attempts to estimate how the use of WeChat, the most popular mobile social networking application in contemporary China, affects rural household income.

Our materials are 4,552 rural samples from the Chinese General Social Survey, and a treatment effect (TE) model is employed to address the endogeneity of WeChat usage.

The results prove that WeChat usage has a statistically significant and positive correlation with rural household income. This conclusion remains robust after using alternative variables to replace the explanatory and dependent variables. Our research provides two channels through which WeChat usage boosts rural household income, namely, it can promote their off-farm employment and participation in investment activities.

Theoretically, the study provides several micro-evidences for understanding the impact of mobile social networks on rural household welfare. Further, our findings may shed light on the importance of digital technology applications in rural poverty alleviation for developing countries.

This paper aims to evaluate the impact of the “Postliteracy” program on the qualification of beneficiaries for socioeconomic integration. This qualification is achieved first through the consolidation of the achievements of individuals freed from illiteracy, and then through their support in creating income-generating activities by providing them with technical, economic, legal and institutional knowledge to ensure their conscious and responsible participation in local and regional development efforts.

To evaluate the impact of the “Postliteracy” program, this paper uses quasi-experimental methods with a control group (participants of the “Literacy” program 2020 / 2021) and a treatment group (participants of the “Postliteracy” program 2021 / 2022). Skill acquisition is measured through pretest and posttest evaluations using a questionnaire aligned with the National Agency for the Fight Against Illiteracy (ANLCA)-adopted curriculum. The survey occurred at the beginning and at the end of the program, providing sufficient time for skill development. The questionnaire includes three sections covering socioprofessional characteristics, technical and economic domains and legal and institutional aspects. These sections contribute to a score reflecting the acquired skills for successful socioeconomic integration.

The results of the study demonstrate that the “Postliteracy” program has a positive impact on the acquisition of competences necessary for improved socioeconomic integration of the beneficiaries. The various matching techniques reveal a score difference ranging from 12 to 14 points in favor of program participants compared to those who did not participate. The Difference-in-Differences method confirms the positive and significant impact of the program.

The findings highlight the importance of the “Postliteracy” program in national literacy policy, underlining the need to further strengthen its presence within the programs deployed by ANLCA, notably by increasing the number of beneficiaries targeted by this program. To achieve this, it would be advisable to increase the funds allocated to it within ANLCA's budget.

The originality of this work is a unique research of the case of Morocco based on a microeconometric study for which the authors evaluate the impact of adult education by applying impact evaluation methods in the field of adult literacy.

Productivity increase is correlated with profitability, sustainability and competitiveness of the construction firms. Recent studies reveal that the primary causes of productivity decline are poor usage of scientific and technological advances, ineffective supervision strategies and poor apprenticeship facilities/opportunities. Accordingly, the purpose of this study was to evaluate how well construction supervisors can utilise fundamental science and technological concepts/ideas to increase the efficiency and productivity of construction activities.

A new strategic layout was designed with the use of potential training guide tools. Based on the designed layout, a new supervisory training programme was developed, and 62 construction supervisors were selected, trained and evaluated in line with six parts of competencies and the relevant learning domains. An assessment guide with different levels of descriptions and criteria was developed through literature analysis and expert interviews. The research tools were verified using comprehensive approaches.

The overall mean values of supervisors’ performance scores indicate proficient-level grades in the competency characteristics related to taking measurements, generating drawings/designs using manual techniques and computer-aided tools, involving Bill of Quantities (BOQ) preparations and preparing training plans/materials for improving the competencies of labourers on estimation, measurements and understanding drawings. Their proficiency was notably lower in the use of information and communication technology application tools in construction tasks compared to others. The findings point to a modern generalised guideline that establishes the ranges of supervisory attributes associated with science and technology-related applications.

The study outcomes produce conceptualised projections to restructure and revalue the job functions of various working categories by adding new definitions within the specified scope. This may result in constructive benefits to upgrading the current functions associated with urbanisation, sustainability and society. The implementation of the study’s findings/conclusions will have a significant impact on present and future practices in other developing nations and developing industries, even if they are directly applicable to the Sri Lankan construction industry.

Up to certain limits/stages, the study fills not only the knowledge gap in the field of creating protocols and application techniques connected to lifelong learning and skill enhancement/upgrading but also the existing gaps in work attributes and roles of construction supervisors associated with the utilisation of fundamental science and technological concepts/ideas towards reinforcing sustainable and productive site operations.

The purpose of this study is to highlight a paradox between inclusion/exclusion at the level of the organisation and classroom practices, as well as between general and disability/special educational needs (SEN)-specific approaches to diversity in the classroom. The authors recommend better alignment between school policies and teaching practices to offer all students an equal chance to benefit from inclusive pedagogies.

This study analyses a school that has gained public reputation as an innovative, inclusive school in Austria. Applying a case study with an ethnographic methodological approach, the authors explore what strategies are implemented to become more inclusive at the level of school organisation and classroom practices? What are the pedagogical beliefs and actions relating to diversity that drive inclusive efforts? How is this school's general approach to diversity enacted with students with SEN?

The findings show that context-specific circumstances shape inclusive school development, which comes with a set of affordances and challenges. The authors argue that in this case, striving for inclusion indicated two ways of “doing difference differently”. First, the school has built on many cornerstones of inclusion when relating and responding to student diversity, that was remarkably different than in other mainstream schools in Austria. On the contrary, while creating new educational and pedagogical norms, it also recycled conventional segregating tendencies, and as such, reproduced hierarchised difference, but in other ways than schools typically do in mainstream schooling.

This school and its pedagogical mission have never been analysed through the rich data that two researchers were able to gather and work through.

The body has been one of the central tools in analysing connections between sport and postcolonialism in India, given how sport was an essential part of the colonial ‘civilising’ mission, which involved disciplining and controlling Indian bodies. Any discursive understanding of sport and postcolonialism in India must consider how it relates to existing concepts of the body and shapes the experiences of the people involved in it – acknowledging not just the power of colonialism in moulding sporting experiences but also the force of internal hierarchies that exist in Indian society. This chapter explores the experiences of students who studied in higher educational institutions in Kerala under the ‘sports quota’, a system that reserves seats in colleges/universities for high-performing sportspersons in India. Through their interviews, the sustained exclusion of the sporting body in contemporary Indian pedagogy is illustrated here. Specifically, the continuing prevalence of the colonial emphasis on the sporting body, as one whose strength and instrumentality are paramount, as well as its corollary postcolonial position, which treats this sporting body as inferior to the ‘refined mind’ of studious pupils, can be observed. Approaching the sports quota with a decolonising lens would require re-examining the disembodied nature of pedagogy in India’s higher educational institutions, acknowledging sporting students’ lived experiences, and a seamless integration – as opposed to separation/exclusion – of the sportsperson into higher education.

Guided by the conservation of resources theory, this study aims to present a comprehensive framework examining leadership, Guanxi, work-family conflict and work engagement. It specifically explores how group-level transformational leadership influences individual-level Guanxi and work-family conflict and how these factors, in turn, impact work engagement.

The study surveyed 473 teachers in the Klang Valley, Malaysia, and used hierarchical linear modelling.

The results reveal that transformational leadership directly enhances non-work relationships, reduces work-family conflict and indirectly predicts increased work engagement. This indirect influence occurs through the mediation of Guanxi and the work-family conflict. Notably, while stronger Guanxi is associated with greater work engagement in the professional sphere, it does not necessarily mitigate the work-family conflict in the personal domain.

These findings provide valuable insights into maintaining and enhancing work engagement by implementing transformational leadership through more effective channels, such as Guanxi and work-family conflict management.