Sustainable Enterprise Development in the Manufacturing Sector: Flexible Employment and Innovation in China

Since the COVID-19 outbreak, the scope and market size of flexible employment in sustainable enterprise development have significantly increased worldwide, yet academic literature offer little information about the outcomes and moderators of flexible employment in China. The paper advances current knowledge and empirically addresses this gap by examining the effects of flexible employment on enterprise innovation input and output, with information technology capability and labor regulation as unexplored moderators. Based on data from 1179 manufacturing enterprises in China, this paper uses the OLS method to conduct empirical tests. The results show that (1) flexible employment has positively contributed to sustainable enterprise development by facilitating innovation inputs and outputs;(2) superior enterprise information technology capabilities and strict labor regulations were significant moderating factors in this relationship. The findings provide credible evidence for enterprises to pursue flexible employment as an inexhaustible impetus for sustainable economic and enterprise development.

The Beveridge Curve and the "she-cession"

The Beveridge Curve has been dissected in many ways over the years - by industry, by region, and by state. However, despite the availability of a proxy for a curve for each sex, there have been no estimates of the Beveridge Curve for males and females separately. This paper explains how the Beveridge Curve can be calculated in this way and provides a brief analysis of labor market conditions. Women enjoyed a more efficient labor market than men from 20032014 and in 2018-2019, but the Coronavirus-induced "she-cession" is flashing warning signs of a trend reversal. Policymakers and hiring firms alike should ensure that conditions are conducive to a return to work for women - especially mothers.

Introduction

Individualised employment relations formed a key pillar of the shift to neoliberal economic policy in the 1980s, complementing other dimensions of orthodoxy deployed across governments, public administrations and central banks in the same time. In the neoliberal narrative, market forces would ‘naturally' and justly compensate labour for its contribution to productivity, like any other input to production. Consequently, redistributive institutions empowering workers to win more adequate wages and conditions (through minimum wages, Awards, unionisation, and collective bargaining) were dramatically eroded, or discarded entirely. Combined with welfare state retrenchment, this restructuring of labour market policy increased the pressure on people to sell their labour, and under terms over which workers wielded little influence. Since then, forms of insecure, non-standard work have proliferated globally, and employment relations have been increasingly individualised. Now, most workers in Anglo-Saxon market economies, and a growing proportion of workers in European and Nordic nations, rely on individual contract instruments (underpinned only by minimum wage floors typically far below living wage benchmarks) to set the terms and conditions of employment. Wages have stagnated, the share of GDP going to workers has declined, and inequality and poverty (even among employed people) has intensified. More recently, after years of this employer-friendly hegemony in workplace relations, successive crises (first the GFC and then the COVID-19 pandemic) have more obviously shattered traditional expectations of a natural linkage between economic growth and workers' living standards.After a generation of experience with this individualised model of employment relations, and with the human costs of that approach becoming ever-more obvious, there is renewed concern with reimagining policies and structures which could support improvements in job quality, stability, and compensation. Important policy dialogue and innovation is now occurring in many industrial countries, in response to the negative consequences of neoliberal labour market policies. In those conversations, institutions like collective bargaining have returned to centre stage.

Balanço dos impactos da crise da COVID-19 sobre o mercado de trabalho brasileiro em 2020

O objetivo deste estudo é analisar os impactos da crise associada à pandemia da Covid-19 sobre o mercado de trabalho brasileiro até o final de 2020. Para tanto, são utilizados principalmente os dados da PNAD Contínua, visando identificar o comportamento da força de trabalho, a dimensão do desemprego gerado, as principais características dos postos de trabalho perdidos e os efeitos sobre a renda do trabalho no período. O mercado de trabalho nacional foi fortemente atingido a partir de março de 2020, registrando quedas inéditas no nível de ocupação. Os trabalhadores mais prejudicados foram aqueles que se encontravam em ocupações informais e mais flexíveis, com menor grau de proteção social. Com a contração da população ocupada e do número de horas trabalhadas, houve uma intensa queda nos rendimentos do trabalho, destacadamente nas menores faixas salariais. Com isso, a pandemia pode ter deflagrado a pior crise da história do mercado de trabalho brasileiro, com impactos duradouros sobre os níveis de emprego e de renda.Alternate :This study aims to analyze the impacts of the crisis associated with the Covid-19 pandemic on the Brazilian labor market until the end of 2020. Therefore, data from PNAD Contínua are analyzed in order to identify the behavior of the labor force, the main characteristics of the jobs lost and the impacts on labor income in that period. The national labor market was strongly hit from March 2020, with a historical slump in the level of occupation. The most affected workers were those who were in informal and more flexible occupations, with a lower degree of social protection. With the contraction of the employed population and the number of hours worked, there was an intense fall in labor income, especially in the lowest salary ranges. As a result, the pandemic may have triggered the worst crisis in the history of the Brazilian labor market, with lasting impacts on employment and income levels.

Industry Structure of Commercial Districts and the Impact of COVID-19

This paper aims to empirically analyze the difference in the closure rate of the commercial district according to the industry structure of the commercial district. Theoretically, the larger the number of stores in a commercial district, the greater the positive externality caused by the agglomeration economies in consumption, namely, the external economies of scale. However, the agglomeration economies could occur from comparison shopping or one-stop shopping, depending on the business structure of the commercial district. According to the empirical results of the regression analysis of all 1164 commercial districts in Korea, the more specialized a commercial district is by stores in a specific industry, the lower the closure rate of that commercial district. This means that the agglomeration economies in consumption are driven by comparison shopping rather than by one-stop shopping and implies that it is necessary to introduce incentives that allow stores in the same industry to cluster together in terms of policy. Meanwhile, if the closure is limited to a specific industry, it will cause an endogeneity problem since it affects the industry structure of the commercial district. Considering this, as a result of additional estimation by 2SLS and GMM using instrumental variables, the error in estimation due to the endogeneity problem was not large, confirming that COVID-19 corresponds to an overall external shock that is not limited to a specific industry. In addition, this paper presents diagnostic indicators for commercial districts to measure the impact of COVID-19. Through this, it will be possible to alleviate conflicts between social classes over compensation or subsidies for sanctions for quarantine. To the best of our knowledge, it is the first time to use all commercial districts in Korea for a research in evaluating the impact of COVID-19, and empirical results on agglomeration economies focusing on the consumption side are limited.

Ensino e formação virtuais: a nova estratégia do projeto de educação a serviço do capital

O artigo desenvolve a hipótese de que há uma íntima relação entre os interesses do capital e educação como estratégia na construção dos sujeitos que vão disputar um mercado de trabalho escasso, precário e instável. Analisa alguns documentos dos organismos multilaterais, seus mecanismos ideológicos e estratégias acionadas na direção de construir consensos sobre a necessidade de um "novo” projeto educacional, no qual há a substituição lenta e gradual do ensino presencial, via sistemas híbridos. Está em curso a mudança mais concreta, completa e complexa do ensino/educação: sua virtualização ou digitalização, que foi projetada desde a reforma de Bolonha (1999). Concluímos que o capital, em sua busca de valorização, encontrou na pandemia as estratégias e táticas para a continuidade e intensificação do uso de tecnologias digitais na educação, transformando-a em ensino à distância e impondo um novo projeto educacional. Este projeto encontrou uma oportunidade e uma justificativa sem precedentes: a Covid-19.Alternate :The article develops the hypothesis that there's an intimate relationship between the interests of capital and education, as a strategy in the construction of individuals who will compete in a scarce, precarious and unstable labor market. It analyzes documents from multilateral organizations, their ideological mechanisms and strategies used with the intention of building consensus on the need for a "new” educational project, in which there is a slow and gradual replacement of classroom teaching, via hybrid systems. The most concrete, complete and complex change in teaching/education is underway: it's virtualization or digitalization, which has been projected since the Bologna reform (1999). We conclude that capital, in it's search for valorization, found strategies and tactics in the pandemic for the continuity and intensification of the use of digital technologies in education, transforming it into distance learning and imposing a new educational project. This project found an unprecedented opportunity and justification: Covid-19.

Enseñanza y formación virtual: una nueva estrategia para el proyecto educativo al servicio de la capital

O artigo desenvolve a hipótese de que há uma íntima relação entre os interesses do capital e educação como estratégia na construção dos sujeitos que vão disputar um mercado de trabalho escasso, precário e instável. Analisa alguns documentos dos organismos multilaterais, seus mecanismos ideológicos e estratégias acionadas na direção de construir consensos sobre a necessidade de um "novo” projeto educacional, no qual há a substituição lenta e gradual do ensino presencial, via sistemas híbridos. Está em curso a mudança mais concreta, completa e complexa do ensino/educação: sua virtualização ou digitalização, que foi projetada desde a reforma de Bolonha (1999). Concluímos que o capital, em sua busca de valorização, encontrou na pandemia as estratégias e táticas para a continuidade e intensificação do uso de tecnologias digitais na educação, transformando-a em ensino à distância e impondo um novo projeto educacional. Este projeto encontrou uma oportunidade e uma justificativa sem precedentes: a Covid-19.Alternate :The article develops the hypothesis that there's an intimate relationship between the interests of capital and education, as a strategy in the construction of individuals who will compete in a scarce, precarious and unstable labor market. It analyzes documents from multilateral organizations, their ideological mechanisms and strategies used with the intention of building consensus on the need for a "new” educational project, in which there is a slow and gradual replacement of classroom teaching, via hybrid systems. The most concrete, complete and complex change in teaching/education is underway: it's virtualization or digitalization, which has been projected since the Bologna reform (1999). We conclude that capital, in it's search for valorization, found strategies and tactics in the pandemic for the continuity and intensification of the use of digital technologies in education, transforming it into distance learning and imposing a new educational project. This project found an unprecedented opportunity and justification: Covid-19.

The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Financial Condition and Mortality in Polish Regions

The study aimed to assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the financial condition and mortality in Polish voivodeships. To achieve this objective, the relationship between the number of deaths before and during the pandemic and the financial condition of the provinces in Poland was studied. The study covered the years 2017–2020, for which a one-way ANOVA was used to verify whether there was a relationship between the level of a province's financial condition and the number of deaths. The results of the study are surprising and show that before the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a higher number of deaths in provinces that were better off financially, but the relationship was not statistically significant. In contrast, during the pandemic, a statistically significant strong negative correlation between these values was proven, which, in practice, shows that regions with better financial conditions had a higher number of deaths during COVID-19.

Fiscal deficits and the socioeconomic consequences of rebalancing: Insights from a TVP‐VAR with stochastic volatility

This article connects two salient economic features: (i) Fiscal shocks have asymmetric effects across business cycle phases (Gechert, Horn, & Paetz, 2019);(ii) the unemployment‐output trade‐off is time varying and may be unstable. The intertwined dynamic behaviour of fiscal deficit shocks and the unemployment‐output trade‐off is studied in this article using a time‐varying parameter (TVP) vector autoregression (VAR) with stochastic volatility techniques applied to the analysis of data from Canada, France, Germany, Japan, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom and the United States of America. We confirm the trade‐off heterogeneity across country, and its time‐varying nature across time, showing in addition its fluctuation around a long‐run reference value. We document significant short‐run impacts of fiscal shocks on the unemployment‐output trade‐off which, based on the experience of the Global Financial Crisis, becomes larger in periods of economic turmoil. Policy‐wise, the rebalancing of public finances may have unexpected adverse effects on job creation if implemented during slumps, precisely when the labour market sensitivity with respect to the performance of the product market is likely to be more acute. This message is particularly relevant in the aftermath of the Covid‐19 pandemic.

Women's Participation in Firms' Management and Their Impact on Financial Performance: Pre-COVID-19 and COVID-19 Period Evidence

At a time when gender equality is a key priority of all international organizations, this paper can be considered a remarkable contribution to the role of women executives in firms' performance. More specifically, this study focuses on the effect of women holding positions of responsibility on firms' performance worldwide. For the purposes of our research, we applied cross-sectional and panel data analysis for all sectors at an international level from 2019, the year preceding the breakout of the pandemic crisis, to 2021, while the indicators used to measure the participation of women in executive positions are classified as ESG indices. The empirical analysis findings end up showing that the participation of women in executive positions positively affects firms' performance over time, while there is no material change observed before and during the COVID-19 pandemic period. More specifically, when the percent of women processing job positions of responsibility increases by 10%, then the index of profitability will increase from 1.4% to 1.8%, regardless of the measurement of female participation in executive positions used. The results of this study constitute a remarkable contribution to the promotion of the creative economy, the progress of societies, and sustainable development. The research's outcome can be primarily used by policymakers drawing up policies for achieving gender equality in the labor market and workplaces and by shareholders and firms' managers in order to trust females in executive positions in favor of their firms' financial performance. The current study is unique in that it focuses on the period before and during the COVID-19 period, as a period of high volatility in economic activity worldwide, while the sample includes firms from large and mid-cap companies belonging to developed and emerging markets. The above approach will contribute to providing more credible information related to the role of women executives in firms' performance.

Immigrant Legal Status among Essential Frontline Workers in the United States during the COVID-19 Pandemic Era: IMR

Emerging evidence suggests that the COVID-19 pandemic has extracted a substantial toll on immigrant communities in the United States, due in part to increased potential risk of exposure for immigrants to COVID-19 in the workplace. In this article, we use federal guidance on which industries in the United States were designated essential during the COVID-19 pandemic, information about the ability to work remotely, and data from the 2019 American Community Survey to estimate the distribution of essential frontline workers by nativity and immigrant legal status. Central to our analysis is a proxy measure of working in the primary or secondary sector of the segmented labor market. Our results indicate that a larger proportion of foreign-born workers are essential frontline workers compared to native-born workers and that 70 percent of unauthorized immigrant workers are essential frontline workers. Disparities in essential frontline worker status are most pronounced for unauthorized immigrant workers and native-born workers in the secondary sector of the labor market. These results suggest that larger proportions of foreign-born workers, and especially unauthorized immigrant workers, face greater risk of potential exposure to COVID-19 in the workplace than native-born workers. Social determinants of health such as lack of access to health insurance and living in overcrowded housing indicate that unauthorized immigrant essential frontline workers may be more vulnerable to poor health outcomes related to COVID-19 than other groups of essential frontline workers. These findings help to provide a plausible explanation for why COVID-19 mortality rates for immigrants are higher than mortality rates for native-born residents.

The Fears and Hopes of Ukrainian Migrant Workers in Poland in the Pandemic Era.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many immigrants found themselves in extremely unstable situations. The recent contributions show that employment decline in the first several months of the lockdown was higher for migrant workers than for natives. At the same time, migrants were less likely to find new employment in the recovery months. Such circumstances may result in an increased level of anxiety about one's economic situation. On the other hand, an unfavorable environment may induce resources that could help to overcome it. The paper aims to reveal migrants' concerns together with ambitions connected with the economic activity during the pandemic. The study is based on 30 individual in-depth interviews with Ukrainian migrant workers from Poland. The research approach was based on Natural Language Processing techniques. We employed sentiment analysis algorithms, and on a basis of selected lexicons, we extracted fears and hopes that appear in migrants' narrations. We also identified major topics and associated them with specific sentiments. Pandemic induced several matters connected with e.g., the stability of employment, discrimination, relationships, family, and financial situation. These affairs are usually connected on the basis of a cause-and-effect relationship. In addition, while several topics were common for both male and female participants, some of them were specific for each group.

Digital welfare state and problem arising: an exploration and future research agenda

PurposeThe penetration of technology and the strengthening of evidence-based policies have paved the way for the automated delivery of social services. This study aims to discuss the inherent risks of this automatization, particularly those associated with the discrimination, exclusion and inequality problem, which the authors package under the theoretical umbrella of a digital welfare state (DWS).Design/methodology/approachThis conceptual article reviews the literature on the welfare DWS, with an empirical focus on the recent experience of selected countries from India, Kenya and Sweden. These countries reflect three different types of welfare regimes but are connected by the same digital social risk. The authors' exploration also includes questions about what this DWS has in common with and how it differs from the previous era. This article illustrates that there has been a very similar trajectory in regards to the development of the DWS and the associated risks in the examined countries.FindingsDWS has triggered new social risks (e.g. discrimination, exclusion and inequality in welfare access) that are a result of data breaches experienced by citizens. Further, vulnerable groups in the digital age should be viewed not only as those who lack access to welfare services, such as education, health and employment, but also as those without internet access, without digital skills and excluded from the DWS system.Originality/valueThe article calls for the development of scholarly research into the DWS in particular and the contemporary one in general. The authors also predict that a critical aspect of the future regime typology rests in the ability to mobilize resources to address contemporary digital risks, as every country is equally vulnerable to them. Overall, this article can be considered to be one of the initial works that focus on cross-national comparison across different meta-welfare regimes.

Analysis of the Determining Factors of Informal Micro Entrepreneurs, 2016-2020

The objective of this research is to offer a trajectory of the factors that determine that Mexican heads of families decide to participate in the most visible informal microenterprise sector;before and during COVID-19. The data from the National Household Income and Expenditure Survey (ENIGH) and prepared by the National Institute of Statistics, Geography and Informatics (INEGI) of Mexico have been used and a Heckit model has been applied for its treatment and analysis. The findings show that income is the main cause of the informal economy of the heads of family, thus confirming the choice as a solution to economic difficulties. In addition, it is shown that there is a labor supply that excludes the demand with a higher educational level. In addition, informal enterprises are identified by higher remuneration for time spent, flexibility and reduction in working time, participation of more household members, and lower remuneration for women.

Physical to virtual: challenges and opportunities for a neighbourhood-based employment support initiative

PurposeThis paper aims to explore challenges and opportunities of shifting from physical to virtual employment support delivery prompted by the Covid-19 pandemic. It investigates associated changes in the nature and balance of support and implications for beneficiary engagement with programmes and job search.Design/methodology/approachThe study draws on longitudinal interviews conducted with beneficiaries and delivery providers from a neighbourhood-based employment support initiative in an English region with a strong manufacturing heritage between 2019 and 2021. The initiative established prior to the Covid-19 pandemic involved a strong physical presence locally but switched to virtual delivery during Covid-19 lockdowns.FindingsMoving long-term to an entirely virtual model would likely benefit some beneficiaries closer to or already in employment. Conversely, others, particularly lone parents, those further from employment, some older people and those without computer/Internet access and/or digital skills are likely to struggle to navigate virtual systems. The study emphasises the importance of blending the benefits of virtual delivery with aspects of place-based physical support.Originality/valuePrevious studies of neighbourhood-based employment policies indicate the benefits of localised face-to-face support for transforming communities. These were conducted prior to the Covid-19 pandemic and the more widespread growth of virtual employment support. This study fills a gap regarding understanding the challenges and opportunities for different groups of beneficiaries when opportunities for physical encounters decline abruptly and support moves virtually.

Formation of Digital Skills of Personnel in the Cooperative Sector of the Economy in the Face of New Challenges

Industry 4.0 is the central topic of numerous publications by foreign and Russian scientists, most of which are conceptual in nature. The current labor market requires the formation of new competencies and skills demanded in the digital economy. Digital reality dictates the need to develop new competencies—digital skills. Knowledge of computer technology, the use of software, and programming have become essential. For most organizations worldwide, the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the digitalization and adoption of digital ways of working. The development of new forms of employment (remote and combined) using digital technology will contribute to positive changes in the labor market. Based on these trends in the digital transformation of current society, the research aims to examine the digital skills of employees in the cooperative sector of the economy and their demand in the labor market in the context of Industry 4.0. The authors use descriptive statistical methods to process official data from the Federal State Statistics Service of the Russian Federation and the Higher School of Economics. The research indicates that the transformation of the labor market and forms of employment requires the development of new competencies demanded in Industry 4.0. In the digital economy, employment opportunities increasingly depend on a person's digital skills and competencies. This paper is one of the first comprehensive studies of the changing labor conditions, working environment, and the emergence of new competencies in Industry 4.0. This research contributes to the problem of studying digital skills as a component of human capital and can be the basis for further research in this subject area. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

Labour market dualization and social policy in pandemic times: an in-depth analysis of private consumption services in Europe

PurposeThis article contributes to the debate on how social policies and labour market regulation have been used to limit the socio-economic consequences of the pandemic by focusing on one specific economic segment of European labour markets: private consumption services, such as trade, tourism, catering and other support services.Design/methodology/approachThe analysis combines mixed methods and a variety of sources. First, we built a set of indicators from the EU-LFS microdata for 2019 and the 2018 Eurostat "Structure of earnings survey” and performed a cluster analysis (k-means) on the dimensions and indicators considered. Second, we elaborated EU-LFS data covering 2019 and 2020 (by quarter) and OECD 2020 data, and finally we traced Covid-related policy reforms for the period March 2020–December 2021 and analysed documents and information collected in different policy repositories.FindingsThe paper shows the relevance and characteristics of private consumption services in different countries, demonstrating that so-called labour market "outsiders” are highly represented in this sector and illustrates the policies adopted to respond to the pandemic in different European countries. The paper asks whether this emergency has been a window of opportunity to redefine regulation in this sector, making it more inclusive. It demonstrates, however, that the common approach in Europe has been dominated by temporary, short-term and one-off measures, which do not represent major changes to the social security schemes that were in place before the pandemic.Originality/valueThis article builds on the literature on labour market dualization, but approaches the concept from a different perspective – one not centred on the nature of employment relations (stable/unstable) but on economic sectors/branches. This article does not, therefore, discuss in general terms what happened to labour market outsiders during the pandemic, but rather focus attention on a specific group of workers who are highly exposed to risks stemming from dualization: those employed in the private consumption services. The economic sector perspective is an integrative way of framing dualization which is still under-researched.

Igniting an Intersectional Shift in Public Policy Research (and Training)

Tout au long des années 2010, l'une des principales préoccupations en ce qui concerne les politiques publiques et les débats sur celles-ci était la compréhension des sources d'inégalité, de même que le rôle du gouvernement dans la lutte contre l'inégalité des revenus. Bien que des progrès aient été réalisés, d'importantes lacunes subsistent en matière d'inégalité – lacunes qui vont bien au-delà de l'inégalité des revenus et que la pandémie de COVID-19 a mises en évidence. L'expérience de la pandémie nous rappelle que les individus qui forment la société vivent des expériences distinctes et que l'attention à l'inégalité et à la diversité doit s'intégrer étroitement à des cadres stratégiques actualisés. Après la COVID-19, alors que les gouvernements s'engagent à ce que la relance soit équitable et dans le contexte d'un désir généralisé pour une société plus juste, une approche inclusive de l'analyse des politiques est nécessaire afin de remédier aux défaillances de longue date de l'économie et de la société. Les cadres stratégiques actualisés doivent être plus représentatifs des expériences et des luttes des populations marginalisées et sous-représentées, et leur accorder plus d'attention. L'intersectionnalité est un outil analytique ancré dans le paradigme de la justice sociale qui met au jour les liens entre les notions d'identité et les systèmes de pouvoir à travers lesquels elles se déploient. L'intersectionnalité tient compte de la façon dont nos identités se forment : à l'intersection de divers construits sociaux, tels que la race, la capacité, la classe et le genre, et dans des contextes et des structures de pouvoir plus vastes, comme le marché du travail et les institutions gouvernementales. L'intégration complète de l'intersectionnalité à l'analyse des politiques permettrait de mettre en place une structure d'analyse des politiques qui ferait avancer les programmes politiques centrés sur la diversité, l'inclusion et l'équité.Alternate :Throughout the 2010s, a major focus of public policy and public policy debates was about understanding the sources of inequality and understanding the role of government in addressing income inequality. While progress has been made, significant gaps in inequality remain-gaps that go well beyond income inequality and that were emphasized throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. The experiences of the pandemic have served as a reminder that individuals in society have distinct experiences, and that attention to inequality and diversity needs to be seriously incorporated into modernized policy frameworks. As governments commit to a fair recovery from COVID-19 amid a broad desire for a more just society, a more inclusive approach to policy analysis is required to address longstanding failures in the economy and society. Modernized policy frameworks need to be more representative of and attentive to the experiences and struggles of marginalized and underrepresented populations. Intersectionality is an analytical tool rooted in the social justice paradigm that makes clear the links between notions of identity and the systems of power through which they play out. Intersectionality considers the ways in which our identities are formed at the intersections of various social constructs, such as race, ability, class, and gender, and within broader contexts and structures of power, such as the labour market and government institutions. Fully integrating intersectionality into policy analysis could create a policy analysis structure that would advance policy agendas of diversity, inclusion, and equity.

Lessons Learned from Online Teaching and Their Implications for Students' Future Careers: Combined PLS-SEM and IPA Approach

As far as students are concerned, there is a well-founded relationship between academic performance and career management from which a special professional path can result, based on the multitude of knowledge, skills, and experiences acquired during the years of study. To this end, the presence and help of teachers participating in the learning process, the teaching activities they are involved in, and their own participation are determinant factors. This research aims to highlight the impact that the above factors have on the professional future of students. For this purpose, 395 respondents, including students in the bachelor's and master's cycles, were involved in the research process, to whom a questionnaire was given in electronic format during two stages: one where the didactic activity was carried out in online format and the other carried out face-to-face. Hypotheses testing was performed using partial least squares structural equation modeling. The present study focuses on two main directions regarding the results obtained. Thus, with respect to the acquisition of knowledge and the development of student skills, it emerged that the effect of the content in the didactic activities on student skills and the development of competencies is strengthened by the skills and degree of involvement of the teaching staff from the university environment. Related to the management of students' careers, the analysis showed that the effect of the content in didactic activities is complemented by the accumulation of knowledge and the formation of student skills. The rigorous economic training resulting from didactic activities constitutes a main pillar in the students' future, even more so depending on how much they perceive that the topics covered in the university courses are of interest to them. The results of this study can serve as theoretical support for future research that addresses the topic of student career management and the implications of university activities on knowledge and skills. In addition, the results can support decisions for the management of higher education institutions regarding the development and implementation of university programs and educational strategies with the aim of increasing the involvement of teachers and students in the teaching–learning process.

Dynamics of Teleworking and Impact on Stakeholders in the Current Pandemic Context

The exponential development of information and communication technology (ICT) through computer networks, Wi-Fi systems, wireless signals, and information storage systems has contributed to the transition to the so-called new economy, which is becoming increasingly digital and global. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, teleworking has begun to dramatically change the work dynamics for all stakeholders. The aim of this research was to identify the main impacting factors and their level of influence in relation to the macroeconomic context of teleworking, public policies, and the legal framework regarding quality of life, as well as the effects of teleworking on employees and employers. Through empirical research, we explored the perspectives of employees and employers as main stakeholders who had operated in the teleworking field within Suceava County in Romania during 2020. In this regard, we undertook exploratory research, the results of which were processed using SPSS v.20. The insightful results have practical implications for the labor market, where an obvious increase in the share of teleworking in the total forms of work has already occurred, and the relations between employer and employee are expected to become based more and more on cooperation and less on subordination. The results also revealed an important tendency of employees to appreciate the positive effects of teleworking on other aspects of life.