Barcelona Metropolis

The 21st century has brought about changes in the way employment is approached and understood. Today’s workers prioritise autonomy and self-realisation over stability and social protection. As a result, the idea of the entrepreneurial paradigm as the epitome of a model worker has gained ground, along with emerging occupations in technology and a new form of multiple employment aimed at balancing vocation and economic sustainability.

Work is changing, along with the value and significance attributed to it. In just over three decades, many of the characteristics that once defined a good job – stability, security, rights and social protection – have become relics of the past for many workers. “Honestly, I don’t think anything is stable. I think that mindset is very ‘80s, and there’s a big gap in thinking between, for example, what my parents think and what millennials think. Because work has changed a lot, as well as the way it’s carried out and perceived. So, “the saying ‘your life is sorted’ no longer exists. No, it’s not like that, it doesn’t matter if you have a brilliant salary in a company, that can be here today and gone tomorrow”. This reflection by Alicia, a 31-year-old woman interviewed for one of my most recent research projects, effectively encapsulates this trend. In the world of work she navigates, insecurity, instability and intermittence are considered par for the course.

The labour market’s “new normal”

Overall, in the labour markets of most developed economies, standard or conventional employment still prevails, characterised by indefinite, full-time positions regulated by labour laws and collective bargaining agreements, which include social protection rights. Atypical and precarious forms of employment are not yet the norm, but they are increasingly diverse and affecting more workers.[1] Some, like temporary contracts, involuntary part-time work, subcontracting or zero-hours contracts,[2] occur within salaried employment. Others, such as project-based work, gig work,[3] or dependent self-employment, operate outside traditional employment structures. However, they all share a certain vulnerability, with intermittent unemployment, low or fluctuating incomes and limited access to social protection being common challenges.

In pursuit of passion and autonomy

The growing flexibility, diversification and hybridisation of types of employment are accompanied by shifts in the perceptions and social representations of work. The widely held belief that traditional career paths – stable and predictable ones – are a thing of the past, along with broader global trends like individualisation and the ideological dominance of neoliberalism, has led to the emergence and spread of what Stephanie Taylor[4] has termed a “new mystique” surrounding work. This represents a new way of viewing work, where it is no longer simply seen as a means of income and economic stability, but rather as something expected to provide personal fulfilment, meaning and purpose above all else. These workers are willing to accept job uncertainty and inadequate income in exchange for autonomy, flexibility and the opportunity to pursue their passions or creativity.

The following statements, which are increasingly common in interviews with workers, illustrate this transformation of work cultures: “I’ve always prioritised doing things I enjoy at any given moment, rather than taking on a job that might offer me more money or stability”; “It’s a crucial decision because if I leaned more towards security, I would probably be pursuing an academic career, but I want to do what I love”; “I do what I love as a precarious independent artist, despite all the risks involved”; “I have the freedom to choose which jobs I take on, which I love because I’m quite creative and I like to come up with things… I don’t like following strict rules from a company telling me ‘you have to do this and that’”. The satisfaction of pursuing a personal project or vocation, or the freedom of not having bosses – “being your own boss” – seems to outweigh the precarious conditions under which they often work.

A clear example of the proliferation of these new ways of understanding work is the rise of a new type of multiple employment. Unlike those in the late 20th century, whose main motivation was economic necessity, 21st-century multiple jobholders have a different profile. Multiple employment is no longer solely a strategy for economic survival; it is primarily a means to balance self-fulfilment in work with economic sustainability. These new multiple jobholders combine a main job to cover expenses and ensure a decent standard of living with another that, although it provides insufficient income, allows them to pursue their creativity, artistic interests or vocational activities. Thus, the primary motivation for these new multiple jobholders is not to earn additional income to get by; their overall goal is to enhance their work experience.

The emergence of new labour identities

Some research suggests that this cultural transformation could be seen as a response to the flexibility, insecurity and precariousness of contemporary employment, and more specifically, as a form of survival strategy in today’s labour market conditions. Indeed, this portrayal of work closely mirrors that which has traditionally characterised artistic careers. It is highly likely that the widespread precarity experienced by those in the cultural and creative industries has influenced the practices and perceptions of work, making artists’ experiences a cultural model for workers in other sectors.

Another explanation, which does not negate the previous one, points to the cultural spread of the entrepreneurial paradigm in recent years, not only as a reference point for a new labour model, but also as the archetype of the ideal worker. From this perspective, it is believed that this diffusion, with its strong political undertones, has aimed primarily at shaping labour identities to fit the rules of the new productive model. Thus, the narrative of entrepreneurship emphasises individual capabilities and personal effort as paths to success, promoting autonomy and individual responsibility for both professional success and failure. It also presents insecurity as an opportunity rather than a risk, leading to self-responsibility in the face of labour market vulnerability. This discourse has been deeply ingrained through various channels, including the media, employment policies promoted by European institutions, and the education system which considers entrepreneurship a key competency at all levels.