Decent work and representations of Work among Unskilled and Low-Skilled Emerging Adults in France

Trabajo decente y representaciones del trabajo entre adultos emergentes no calificados y poco calificados en Francia

Soazig Disquay-Perot

Centre for Research on Work and Development., Francia

Laurence Cocandeau-Bellanger

Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers, Francia

Université Catholique de l’Ouest, Francia

Angel Egido-Portela aegido@uco.fr

Université Catholique de l’Ouest. Group, Francia

Laboratoire de Psychologie des Pays de la Loire, Francia

Nadia Baatouche

entre for Research on Work and Development, Francia

Université Catholique de l’Ouest. Group Subjects, Societies, Territories, Temporalities, Francia

Nathalie Prudhomme

Aix-Marseille University. Laboratoire Psyclé, Francia

Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers. Centre for Research on Work and Development, Francia

Emmanuelle Emmanuelle Vignoli

Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers. Centre for Research on Work and Development, Francia

Revista de Psicología

Pontificia Universidad Católica Argentina Santa María de los Buenos Aires, Argentina

ISSN: 1669-2438

ISSN-e: 2469-2050

Periodicity: Semestral

vol. 19, no. 37, 2023

revistapsicologia@uca.edu.ar

Received: 10 February 2023

Accepted: 09 March 2023

URL: http://portal.amelica.org/ameli/journal/798/7984303001/

DOI: https://doi.org/10.46553/RPSI.19.37.2023.p37-54

This work is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International.

The labor market is currently characterized by diverse forms of employment (Conseil d’Orientation pour l’Emploi [COE], 2014), changes in work organization and the individualization of professional trajectories. These characteristics are sources of uncertainty for many individuals (Castel, 2009; Lallemanent, 2018). Moreover, although downgrading is increasingly widespread, in France, a formal qualification generally ensures access to employment (Dubet & Duru-Bellat, 2006; Duru-Bellat, 2006; Joseph et al., 2008; Peugny, 2009). In this context, the emerging adult population is particularly vulnerable, especially those with low skills. In France, the estimated unemployment rate for 15- to 25-year-olds is 20.8%, 21.4% for men, and 20% for women (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development [OECD], 2019). In 2016, the unemployment rate of emerging adults aged 15 to 24 with no or low skills was three times higher than that of young graduates (OECD, 2016). In 2018, the unemployment rate in France was among the highest in Europe, with 29.2% of young people who had not completed primary education being unemployed, compared to an average of 22.5% in OECD countries. Unemployment among low-skilled young adults is higher, and their access to employment is more complex than the skilled population (Direction de l’animation de la recherche, des études et des statistiques [DARES], 2020). Furthermore, employment status and prospects are linked to micro-level (e.g., personal circumstances) and macro-level factors (e.g., socioeconomic conditions). The purpose of the present article is to examine young emerging adults' (Arnett, 2000) representations of work and 'decent work' in the context of France, based on the definition of the International Labor Organization (ILO, 2008, 2016) and the Psychology of Working Theory (Duffy et al., 2016).

As suggested by Paugam (2000), employment and working are influenced by objective factors (terms of employment, working conditions), subjective factors (satisfaction), and their social impacts (nature and importance of relationships, independence, and autonomy). Work is perceived as an essential means of social integration and contributes to the economy (e.g., Blustein, 2008, 2011; Duffy et al., 2016). However, low-skilled emerging adults are likely to hold jobs characterized by difficult working conditions and low social recognition compared to their highly educated peers (Disquay-Perot & Egido, 2017; Inan, 2013; Kulanthaivelu & Thierus, 2018). Moreover, many of these jobs are fixed-term contracts, often part-time and/ or poorly paid. Such conditions induce insecurity about the future, increased risk of social vulnerability, marginalization, and, more generally, the weakening of social ties (e.g., Bourdieu, 1993; Castel, 2009; Duffy et al., 2016; Durkheim, 1893).

It has been well documented that given the importance of work for psychological health and identity (Blustein, 2008), periods of unemployment (including transitional ones) lead to feelings of failure, a decrease in self-efficacy, depression, anxiety, and substance use (Demazière, 2006; Lucas et al., 2004; Vinokur et al., 2000). Moreover, perceived job insecurity (Paugam, 2000) is crucial in individuals' relationship to work (satisfaction) and employment (stability) and, therefore, entails health and social risks, with effects on their social and economic integration.

Rapid and frequent changes characterize the labor market. Emerging adults tend to navigate such a labor market by using the "zapping" technique in their job search, often prioritizing immediately available jobs (Institut national de la jeunesse et de l'éducation populaire [INJEP], 2011). Indeed, the notion of access to employment has changed: most young people enter the labor market with temporary jobs, although permanent contracts remain the norm, with 85% of the paid jobs (COE, 2014). Consequently, their relationship to job stability is likely to be modified. However, they perceived experiences resulting from multiple fixed-term contracts as beneficial (Cocandeau-Bellanger et al., 2018). Moreover, job precariousness does not necessarily imply that young people with little or no professional qualifications develop negative representations of work.

Pay levels or job security may no longer constitute central elements in their relationship to work. Other dimensions could be more significant and moderate the negative effects of job insecurity on representations of work. For instance, the growing number of skilled workers switching to manual, agricultural or social- and careoriented occupations (Cohen-Scali, 2017; Denave, 2015; Jourdain, 2014) may suggest that social protection, high-income, and social recognition are no longer sufficient to provide workers with satisfaction. Similarly, numerous recent studies on the concept of meaning (Bernaud et al., 2015; Blustein et al., 2016; Deranty & McMillan, 2012; Gómez Gonzales et al., 2013; Masdonati et al., 2014; Morin, 2008; Steger & Frazier, 2005; Steger et al., 2006) revealed increase expectations concerning personal development and social utility. According to Egido et al. (2018), being respected (70%), perceiving social utility in their work (41.7%), and personal interest (37.5%) are critical drivers of work meaning among young higher education graduates. What about their low-skilled peers? What are the meaning drivers among them? Do they feel respected?

Investigating individuals' relationship to work implies studying the representations of work, and beyond, decent work, by questioning what, from the workers' perspective, characterizes jobs that allow them to fulfill their needs and live accordingly with social standards, free from socio- economic and other contextual constraints. Knowledge about the representations of work could contribute to developing relevant public policies considering the needs of several populations, including low-skilled emerging adults. What are emerging adults' representations of the work? How do they envision their future career, and how do they define decent work? These are the research questions this study attempts to investigate.

The first theme, representations of work, included different sub-themes: the means of living, the social aspects of work, development possibilities, and personal fulfillment.

For all the participants, work should be a means of living as it should allow satisfying survival needs: "It's a need, something you can't do without... to live basically" (Sylvain); "It's necessary to live [...], anyway, staying at home doing nothing, I don't think it's a good solution. Even from the moral and physical point of view, in addition, we need money too, just simply" (Paul G).

Moreover, for eight out of ten participants, work must also contribute to living happily, notably by providing pleasure. Only Mirabelle and Rebecca did not mention this notion of pleasure in their general representation of work. Were these two young people in a more precarious situation than the others? Although they did not clearly express precariousness, the working conditions they mentioned tend to suggest it and raise some doubts regarding contract regularity (partially undeclared work). However, although mentioned by all, the financial aspect related to work did not appear to be central. Thus, when the young people were questioned about what they would do if they won the lottery, half declared that they would continue working even without financial constraints. They mentioned the desire "not to be bored" (Sylvain) or even the beneficial effect of "staying active" (Felix). In addition, Felix mentioned social protection: "at least for social security contributions". Others hesitated, such as Eva, "except perhaps to maintain relationships with colleagues", or Hélène, "To maintain social ties…to avoid, yeah, sinking into our money and locking ourselves in, and to not see other people, to maintain a social link, yeah that's mostly that... not to earn money since I would have some, but to keep in touch with the outside world, my friends, my family, to see other people ".

In the absence of any financial constraint, two emerging adults considered renegotiating their working conditions: "I would reduce my working hours" (Hélène), "I would negotiate my hours […], or I would set up my business" (Florian). Others would also maintain an activity: "but I would produce something else" (Xavier), "I would travel to discover the world" (Paul G), highlighting the social and self-accomplishment needs that work could allow to satisfy.

The second predominant sub- theme (9 out of 10 participants) was related to the need to exist in society, the notion of recognition, one's place and role in society, and the social utility of one's activity. The social dimension was emphasized as Paul P illustrated: "it's a job you like [...] where you feel useful and where you can help people, where you can be of use".

The third main sub-theme referred to the means of self-accomplishment and development. Within this third main subtheme, the links between work, on the one hand, and self-accomplishment, on the other, and becoming an adult emerged. For emerging adults, it is a question of "growing up", blossoming and becoming independent, and developing and using their skills. What interests Xavier in working is "progressing by performing tasks and learning; and feeling useful as well ", which also relates to the previous theme. Hélène's comments also reflected this sub-theme: "A pleasure, basically anyway...And a way to earn a living... because it's true since I work, I wouldn't have been able to buy all my little things, phone, high-tech... that's it... because I still live with my parents and it allows me to contribute to the shopping and all that, that... Afterward, I could have gone to live on my own, but for the moment, I prefer staying there... but still, I participate... and it's sure that if I didn't have my salary, I couldn't participate in the shopping and the household chores, it's true that it's... it allows me to be independent anyway. If I didn't have a salary, I would be completely dependent on my parents, but that's not the case. [...] to enter the world a little bit... it allows me to see a little bit if I were on my own, the kind of expenses I would have, the groceries, the rent and all that... Yeah, so it makes you grow up too, I think". Hélène also emphasized the importance of hanging out with friends, made possible by her salary

The second theme, job characteristics and perception of one's work, includes two sub-themes: the perception of work as decent and what characterizes good and worst jobs. The job held, the working environment, and the associated assignments are summarized in Table 1. Each of the two sub-themes presented several categories that would allow refining the representations of decent work.

Based on the proposed definition of decent work, nine participants said they consider their job decent work.

Consistent with the representations of work defined above, the main characteristics of a good job are, in the first place, to be fulfilling (8/10). This category is established from the following sub-categories: work that is meaningful (or valuable, from the ILO perspective), "useful", "helpful" (4/10), which allows "enjoying oneself" (6/10), "[self-] fulfillment " (Florian), including self-expression and skill development (5/10). The second quality of good jobs lies in their social dimension (6/10) in terms of organization, functioning, and working conditions. Young people are looking for a "good atmosphere" (all), a "team" relationship, and "cohesion". Finally, a good job is reassuring (5/10). This refers directly to the conditions in which it is carried out, i.e., the activity itself, the place, and the environment that provide the resources and the means to work. A good job is one adapted to the skills acquired, and that is "clear" (Sylvain), and where the "boss" is flexible and helps in learning. A good job allows one to enjoy it and develop oneself in a favorable social environment (atmosphere) and safe working conditions. This reflects Florian's comments: "[ It's] work that provides social ties and work that is fulfilling in terms of skills, which allows you to create or improve your skills ".

It should be noted that only three participants mentioned salary as a good job characteristic. Working must allow one to live and earn a sufficient wage. However, that doesn't make it a good job. For the young people interviewed, the worst jobs are related to a dysfunctional organization or hierarchy, poor working conditions (8 out of 10 participants), and conflicting relationships (7 out of 10 participants). The dysfunctional organization is due to the absence or lack of recognition, perceiving the hierarchy as incompetent or illegitimate, inequity, the absence of a framework, and unsafe working conditions; for example, being recruited for a job without having the required skills or resources. Working conditions also refer to difficulties of the job (6 participants out of 10 mentioned hours, the climate, the workload, and the difficulties encountered) and, to a lesser extent, insufficient pay (3 participants out of 10). Finally, the worst job is characterized by a lack of cohesion and poor working relationships. This underlines the importance of the social dimension of work in the eyes of the young people interviewed. Thus, the interpersonally and physically safe working conditions as characteristics of decent work emerged clearly from our participant's representations of work.

The third theme, career prospects, included two sub-themes: job prospects and the dream job envisaged by the young people.

All of them mentioned plans and were confident about finding a job. Their job search took no more than a month. Here are examples of what constituted a dream job for them: "well-known bartender in Ibiza" (Sylvain), car mechanic "in a luxury company" (Paul G), working in "a luxury hotel" (Hélène), "business class" (Florian), "famous actor", gaining "notoriety" (Paul P), "comic book designer" (Xavier), opening "a huge night bar" (Eva), "policewoman" (Rebecca, referring to the American "profilers" of TV series). It should be noted that these dream jobs were mentioned as being accessible, sometimes in the long term, and were generally related to their field of study or employment at the time of the interviews. However, the young people seemed to have positively integrated the need for time and training necessary to achieve their dream job. Returning to training for a goal they will be pursuing makes sense. The short-term career prospects, on the other hand, are less clear.

The elements of the discourse related to the representations of work were in line with motivational theories. Indeed, work should allow individuals to meet survival, sociability, and growth needs (e.g., Alderfer, 1969, 1972). Work is, therefore, primarily a means and not an end for young people. Similarly, although all mentioned the financial benefit of employment, it turns out that four of them spontaneously envisaged continuing to work even if they no longer faced financial constraints, and seven of them imagined minimal activity.

For the emerging adults interviewed, work is about more than just satisfying basic needs and getting adequate pay. The need for social recognition and self-fulfillment was indeed very present in their statements. As emphasized by Koekemoer et al. (2018), work progression and skill development opportunities fulfill individuals' self- determination needs. Moreover, research by Duffy et al. showed that even when a job is initially unmotivating (e.g., precarious, low- paid work), it can become satisfying in the eyes of workers, especially if it allows them to develop skills and/or progress. Such a situation enables workers to find meaning in their work and increases their employability. Furthermore, social relations lead to meaningful work and contribute to self- determination by generating the motivation and energy necessary to perform work- related tasks, even when they are of little interest. The notion of pleasure highlighted supports the idea that satisfaction is part of workers' expectations.

Working appeared to contribute strongly to independence by providing sufficient salary to leave their parents' "house", live on their own, and bear the expenses related to housing and food purchases. Working also allows for learning and growing, and more broadly, autonomy, a necessary component of emerging adults' quest for independence. For example, Rebecca explained that work is crucial because it "allows her to stop living with [her] mother", while Sylvain developed once he left school: "In addition, it [working] made me grow".

Emerging adults expect to be respected (by employers, co-workers, and clients). Therefore, working conditions should be physically and psychologically acceptable. However, we have noted evidence of adjustment to constraints. Thus, in the event of winning the lottery, the young people interviewed mentioned that they would be entering into negotiation on their salary, hours, and tasks. The absence of an obligation to work (e.g., enough income secured) increases potential negotiations within their contract. This seems to be in line with observations among young university graduates who expect a level of remuneration, activities, and social recognition commensurate with a high level of qualification (Egido et al., 2018). However, the intended benefits from income vary according to the level of qualification. While in Egido et al. (2018), young university graduates in transition to employment could be satisfied with a job that facilitates a real estate investment, the low-skilled emerging adults in our study mentioned the pleasure provided by the possibility of affording objects such as a cell phone, hanging out more freely with friends or even renting an apartment, and thus, becoming independent.

Finally, the effect of the level of qualification indeed lies in the expectations regarding work and working conditions, which low-skilled emerging adults would express less.

The young people interviewed mentioned they were not worried about their ability to access employment despite their low skills. Regardless of the area, urban or rural, these young people found a job within one to two months. However, they knew their salaries were insufficient to guarantee their independence unless they were in a relationship. However, they did not question the adequacy of their income with the work performed. On the contrary, they seemed to believe that their level of qualification justified their low pay. Felix, for example, considered his salary as "pocket money" but also stated that his "[his] salary could be increased but was related to the labor market". Overall, salary was perceived as insufficient but fair, except for Mirabelle, the only one considering her work as indecent. Indeed, parts of her activity might not be declared. She mentioned being paid directly by clients, at their discretion: "We have a 10-hour contract per week, after which you are paid according to the number of heads combed. […] I keep half of the hairstyle". There is no more protection here, and she did not consider her salary fair, depending on clients. Her situation deprived her of one of her children (living in Cameroon, her country of origin), and working at the hairdressing salon, in addition to the transportation about their condition. However, their jobs did not provide them with independence, and they expected improvements without being able to project themselves precisely in the short term.

By examining what our participants had not expressed, we can explore more deeply their expectations and what is meaningful to them. Apart from Mirabelle, most of them stated that they could easily find a job, were not worried about finding a job, and did have decent jobs. Conversely, they did not explicitly mention that they lack recognition, that they did not have a defined and oriented career project, or that they were dissatisfied with their employment conditions. However, some of these elements showed up indirectly. Indeed, everyone would like to earn more (certainly later, in a more qualified job). Likewise, they expressed a need for recognition. The mentioned dream jobs indicated that they project themselves onto positions that could be described as ideal, implying high social recognition and even notoriety. Finally, there was no complaint but no realistic shortterm project either. With these low-skill job characteristics, can they project themselves into the future? We think not, as they live with their parents, not earning enough to be independent. They live in the present, enjoy pleasures (hanging out with friends, iPhones, pocket money), and are satisfied with their working conditions, which are perceived in line with their level of qualification. However, their awareness of the importance of being highly skilled contributed to/ and enabled a desire for more comfortable jobs. These experiences, therefore, led to a reflection on the value of a diploma, which, the students are not concerned about in earlier stages of schooling. Emerging adults indeed find work, but to hope for better, they will have to attend training, which is essential for professional development.

We are witnessing a change of reference through experience. If the parental model is based on the ability to access employment without a diploma, it may not enable projection into the future and independence. Thus, working experience can allow a posteriori engagement in training that was mentally impossible until then. While work can reveal "meaning inhibitors" in young graduates transitioning from university to work (Cocandeau-Bellanger et al., 2018), it can show the value of training among low- or unskilled young people. The school-to-work transition produces unique changes in identity and attitude toward the world, events, and what does or does not contribute to stability (Parkes, 1971; Schlossberg, 1984).

Furthermore, the analysis of participants' responses suggested that precarious work made it possible to overcome financial need but not enough to allow projecting themselves into the future, giving new meaning to the mentioned dream jobs. Luxury and notoriety were crucial characteristics that echo the idealized occupations mentioned by young people (aged 11 to 13) about thirty years ago (Dumora, 1990). Indeed, prestige was associated with certain occupations (Gottfredson, 1981). Idealization, prestige, and difficulty of projecting into the future that characterized adolescents at that time could also apply to low-skilled emerging adults today. Could this be the mark of this population's lengthening time to adulthood?