Careers and human resource management—a European perspective

Although many of the principal milestones of current career research are of U.S. origin, the influence of European contributions slowly grows. Drastic changes of careers and career contexts surfacing in the early 1990s have renewed the interest in career issues. In addition, new concepts such as the boundaryless career propelled the European career discourse and triggered career studies in Europe. Despite the difficulty to give a comprehensive picture because of the differences within Europe and the many possible measures of comparison, this paper identifies three major characteristics of European career research and practice: (1) Substantial heterogeneity in terms of career practice; (2) The use of theoretical concepts usually coming from social sciences in career research; (3) The emphasis on social structures in conceptualizing influencing factors of career. After identifying and explaining these characteristics, the paper discusses their implications for human resource management research and practice.