Supporting Blue-Collar Workers' Adaptation to Digitalized Work: A Career Construction Theory Analysis

This paper examines how to support blue-collar workers in adapting to the growing digitalization of work. Recognizing that blue-collar workers typically possess lower levels of formal skills, the study highlights their heightened vulnerability to technological disruption and the challenges of transitioning to digitalized work environments. Using an exploratory case study of a cleaning company, the research extends career construction theory as a theoretical lens to understand how managerial interventions support worker adaptation. The findings identify a set of ten interventions. These interventions help blue-collar workers develop new competencies, adjust to digitally augmented workflows, and maintain employability in evolving job contexts. In contrast to most existing research that focuses on how blue-collar workers themselves adapt to the digitalization of their work, this study focuses on their managers, contributing to the research and practice for a more human-centered approach in supporting blue-collar workers' adaptation to digitalized work.