Abstract:

Contemporary labour markets are shaped by intensifying demands for adaptability, multi‑skilling and mobility, yet individuals operate with shrinking buffers of security and time. The long‑anticipated reduction in working hours, once expected to provide a natural resilience mechanism, never materialised, leaving workers exposed to chronic stress and instability despite rising productivity. In Lithuania, this structural mismatch—high systemic demands combined with low individual slack—undermines labour‑market resilience and amplifies behavioural risks such as burnout, reduced adaptability and declining wellbeing. As the resilience function that shorter working hours were expected to deliver failed to emerge, the question arises whether income‑based instruments could compensate for this missing buffer. Universal Basic Income offers a potential mechanism for restoring baseline security by decoupling essential wellbeing from volatile labour‑market conditions, enabling individuals to maintain mental space, invest in skills and adjust to change without the destabilising pressure of unmet basic needs. By strengthening individual capacity to absorb shocks and navigate transitions, such an instrument would reinforce the broader resilience of the labour market itself. Using a mixed‑method approach combining regional labour‑market indicators with a quantitative survey of employed individuals, the analysis reveals strong aggregate performance coexisting with territorial disparities and persistent individual‑level strain. The findings highlight the need for policy frameworks capable of rebuilding foundational security and strengthening both structural and behavioural dimensions of resilience in an era of rapid and unpredictable change.

Please choose your submission type: Full Paper

Primary Track: Public Management and Governance

Keywords: Organizational behaviour and psychological state;Stress and well-being;Future of work, technology & Innovation

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Prof Laima Okunevičiūtė Neverauskienė