Flexibility and security? ‘Flexicurity’ and its implications for lifelong guidance

Abstract

This article sets out to trigger research and policy attention among the career guidance community to the increasingly important notion of ‘flexicurity’. It first explores the different meanings of the term, particularly as these have evolved in discussions across the European Union. It then goes on to consider why ‘flexicurity’ has attracted so much policy interest, particularly in its promise to both support labour market competitiveness and increase economic efficiency on the one hand, while protecting the interests of workers on the other. Next, the article documents some of the key debates around the notion of flexicurity, highlighting the fact that any consideration of ‘flexicure’ arrangements needs to be empirically grounded in time and space, and carefully contextualised. The article concludes by making a series of critical reflections on the need to ‘insert’ career guidance in the European discourse on ‘flexicurity’.

Keywords:

• flexicurity
• labour market flexibility
• worker security
• lifelong guidance
• new capitalism

Acknowledgements

This article is based on a concept note commissioned by the European Lifelong Guidance Policy Network (ELGPN). I am grateful to the ELGPN for the opportunity to delve more deeply into this important topic, and to Tony Watts as well as to the journal's referees for critical comments on earlier drafts of this article. Needless to say, I remain responsible for the views expressed.