Exploring the Benefits of Boundarylessness: Pathways From Boundaryless Career Orientation to Insecurity and Engagement

The increasing demand for flexibility and adaptability among workers underscores the necessity to explore the outcomes of enhanced proactivity in employees. This study explores the role of job crafting and career competencies (i.e., knowing why, knowing how, and knowing whom) in the relationship between boundaryless career orientation and opposite indicators of subjective career success (i.e., work engagement and job insecurity). Data collected on a sample of 1431 Italian workers (75.5% females; Mage = 37.95) were tested using nested models via Structural Equation Modeling. The results provided support for a significant serial mediation pathway from boundaryless career orientation to work engagement and perceived job insecurity through the subsequent role of job crafting and career competencies. This study sheds light on the protective role of a boundaryless career orientation in fueling a proactive attitude to navigate the progressive fading of traditional career paths and employment stability while sustaining workers’ engagement.