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AGORA INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ECONOMICAL SCIENCES, 
AIJES, ISSN 2067-3310, E - ISSN 2067 – 7669, VOL. 16 (2022) 

Between Covering the Basic Needs and Self-fulfilment Jobs – Why We Need 

a Better EU Strategy for Employment 

Ana-Maria Coatu1,  

1Faculty of European Studies, Babeș-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania 

E-mail ana.coatu@ubbcluj.ro   

Abstract:  
This article tries to present two distinct concepts in relation to labour: basic-needs jobs and self-fulfilment jobs. 

Those two concepts should be taken into account when designing and envisioning EU work strategies.  

Keywords:  employment strategies, basic-needs job, self-fulfilment job 

 

1. Introduction 

Labour together with capital and resources constitute the primary factors of production. Of 

these, the labour force has the greatest dynamism, on which the accumulation of capital 

depends most, given that resources are limited. At the level of a country, the level of training 

of the labour force represents the mirror of economic and social development, respectively it 

contributes to the economic competitiveness of the country on the international level. Thus, 

investment in the training level of human resources contributes to increasing economic 

competitiveness from the smallest SME to the largest multinational. In this context, the 

professional training of young people is the first and most important step toward access to the 

labour market. The development of practical skills among young people, starting with the 

preparation of students in order to facilitate the transition from school to the labour market is 

the basis for having a balanced society, with a low unemployment rate and with a high added 

value regarding the services and goods that are produced. 

To be competitive a nation must have highly skilled labour rather than cheap labour. Beyond 

the fact that an unemployment rate as low as possible represents a desire at the level of any 

nation, access to the labour market represents a desire at an individual level starting from a 

certain age. At the individual level, access to the labour market does not only provide an 

income, that is, the person in question can satisfy his primary needs, but can also ensure the 

need for self-realization. On the opposite pole, the lack of a job can have negative consequences 

on a psychological and even physical level for the person concerned. Thus, facilitating the 

access of young people to the labour market should be a priority at the government level, as 

the young people of today are the adults of tomorrow who contribute to the development of 

society and the retirees of the day after tomorrow who must be supported to enjoy a decent 

living towards the end of life. 

Restricted/difficult access to the labour market can lead to alienation of the young person from 

his family or community, which is often associated with drug use, alcohol abuse and the 

adoption of violent, desperate behaviour [3].  Furthermore, the lack of a job can have a negative 

impact on the level of the young person, to the level of the whole society: low socio-economic 

and cultural participation, non-involvement in the decision-making process at the political 

level, there is a risk of drug abuse, alcohol, violence, become on social assistance, may live in 

squalid conditions, may affect the ability to start a family, as well as future earnings. A young 

person who is long-term unemployed or who fails to get a job that matches their skills or to 

keep it for a longer period of time can subsequently become a burden on society [3].  

 

mailto:ana.coatu@ubbcluj.ro


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2. Between basic needs and self-fulfilment jobs 

A job paid accordingly to professional education and experience is the first step towards 

financial independence, which is the basis of the transition to adult life and to a fulfilled life, 

with both material and spiritual satisfaction. Also, a young person who has a job that brings 

him satisfaction can contribute to the society of which he is a part, from participating in the 

decision-making process to involvement in socio-cultural life and, above all, at an economic 

level through taxes and the taxes he pays, as well as by the fact that he brings money to the 

local or national budget, especially in the conditions in which the state has spent on his 

education and training in many of the EU countries, such as Romania. Employment and 

training are interdependent and represent the foundation on which a young person, a family, a 

community, a society, or a nation develops. Therefore, the employment of young people is a 

complex field and of utmost importance for the development of society and the individual. We 

believe that having a job, an occupation is located both at the base of Maslow's pyramid by 

providing primary needs: food, a roof, etc., but also at its peak by covering the need for self-

fulfilment. 

According to Maslow's theory, it makes sense for an employee to place an initial emphasis on 

satisfying the basic-needs of ensuring security and physiology. A person just starting their job 

will typically be particularly concerned about physiological demands like appropriate pay and 

regular income as well as security needs like benefits and a secure workplace. Everyone wants 

to work in a stable atmosphere and earn a respectable wage to support their families. 

The employees who do not have their basic needs satisfied will choose their jobs based on 

factors like pay, stability, and safety. Additionally, when their lowest-level needs are not 

supplied or are in danger, employees will resort to meeting those needs (such as during an 

economic downturn) [2]. 

What no strategy or plan of action takes into account is the fact that for a young person once 

he has secured his primary needs, the need for self-actualization, for self-fulfilment, becomes 

more important, consequently prompting him to seek another job that satisfies this need. Thus, 

at the level of the Europe 2020 Strategy, we believe that it was not enough to set a target 

regarding employment, but, above all, regarding the quality of employment. In fact, it is the 

same mistake that happened with the previous European strategy, the Lisbon Agenda. We 

consider that is necessary to establish a delimitation between having a job that pays the bills 

and a job that is fulfilling. The first type of job we will name basic-needs job and the second 

one is a self-fulfilment job.  

By basic-needs job, we mean a job that ensures the fulfilment of primary needs: food, a rooftop 

etc. and which is usually present early in a person's career. A self-fulfilment job is defined as 

an occupation that satisfies the highest need in the hierarchy of needs, namely, self-

actualization, self-fulfilment, and self-esteem, and occurs later in a person's career, after 

reaching a certain social status and after having ensured a greater degree of financial 

independence. However, we consider that the two types of employment can be interspersed 

during a person's career: at first, he is an employee who covers his basic needs, then he 

identifies a job that he feels fulfils him, that it offers him certain professional satisfactions (self-

fulfilment job), but then, due to an economic crisis, for example, he ends up again in the initial 

situation where he survives from day to day. 

Basic-needs employment, in our view, refers to the situation in which an employee, perhaps 

because of the economic situation, perhaps because of the low level of education or because 

they are at the beginning of their professional career or, most of the time, also because of low 

aspirations career, he manages to cover some of his basic, security and physiological needs, as 

they are presented in Maslow's hierarchy of needs [4].  

 



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Employment for self-fulfilment, in addition to covering basic needs through the salary, gives 

to the employee a certain social status as a professional in a certain field, and a certain degree 

of financial independence - the employee manages to save, the salary covers his basic needs, 

but above all, through this workplace, the employee feels that the daily activities bring him 

satisfaction, the successes at the workplace are part of his person, define him, and now he can, 

including, contribute to the development of the community from which is a part (through 

donations, volunteering or even through the work they do). 

The employment for self-fulfilment, proposed by us through this article, becomes the 

aggregator of these desired and the foundation by which the European Commission can 

recommend to member countries to develop measures to encourage the quality, not just the 

quantity of job creation and development. 

Among the targeted education measures, we propose the development of mandatory career 

counselling and guidance programs at pre-university and university education levels. A young 

high school student should be guided in choosing a career path, to understand the advantages 

and risks of a certain trade/profession, the connection and evolution between the demand and 

supply of the workforce in that field, as well as the sacrifices they would resort to in order to 

he gets where he wants to go. 

A young student should be able to discern between the need to obtain a qualification/ diploma 

in the field in which he wants to work, the multitude or, on the contrary, the limited fields in 

which he can work and the need to equip himself not only with fundamental knowledge through 

studies university but also the compulsion to acquire practical skills through internships or 

volunteering programs to carry out consistently and with dedication. 

The key concepts for envisioning better work strategies in the European Union are human 

capital, career counselling, self-fulfilment jobs, personal needs, professional potential, work 

experience, better matching of skills and competencies, and the need to meet the skills and 

interests of the employees. 

The new EU work strategy should focus on the development of abilities and skills of the youth 

that will enable them to find better jobs, jobs that contribute to their filing of self-fulfilment.  

A report by Eurofound emphasizes that the role of the workplace lies not only in ensuring 

decent living conditions but above all in offering citizens the right mechanisms to achieve their 

potential and goals in life. A job is not only a source of income to survive, but offers a certain 

social status and a role in society to the one who holds it. Thus, people who have a job are more 

satisfied with their lives, resulting in employment being a milestone for development and well-

being [1]. And in our research conducted to write this article, we have come to the conclusion 

that what is missing from the theoretical and conceptual research on employment policies, is a 

breakdown by types of employment beyond a dimensioning of employment by seasonal 

activities, part-time or full-time, etc. The practical applicability of the two concepts defined 

earlier lies in the fact that once named and characterized, they can represent the foundation that 

shows the direction of employment measures. Thus, for those who are in the category of the 

active population, but not employed, the measures should be of a nature to stimulate basic-

needs employment, and for those who have a job, measures should be thought through so that 

they acquire a certain sense of personal accomplishment, that is, measures should be created to 

stimulate employment for self-fulfilment. It is true that when a nation struggles to provide 

minimum decent working conditions or when there is fairly high unemployment, the goal of 

government can only be to provide as many jobs as possible for as many people as possible, to 

ensure a decent living and to be/ become responsible taxpayers. 

 

3. Conclusions  

The distinction between a basic-needs job and a self-fulfilment job is a complex matter. There 

are different aspects of them, such as:  



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 the situation when a country has a shortage of personnel; 

 the situation of over-qualified personnel and low-paid jobs; 

 the situation of inexperienced and unskilled workers at the beginning of their careers 

who lack formal education as well. 

And this list can continue. These are just some of the aspects that a new EU work strategy 

should take into account when defining work measures, directions and priorities. 

In this article, we have presented some considerations regarding the concepts that we have 

proposed to the scientific community and that we have tried to define and justify as best we 

could. 

 

REFERENCES 

[1] Eurofound, The gender employment gap: Challenges and solutions, Publications Office of the European 

Union, Luxembourg. Research report, 2016, pp. 62-67 

[2] How to Apply Maslow’s Theory to the Workplace. Lower Level Needs 

https://managementisajourney.com/motivation-applying-maslows-hierarchy-of-needs-theory/#maslow-

how 

[3] Mascherini, Massimiliano; Ludwinek, Anna; Ledermaier, Stefanie, Social Inclusion of Young People, 

Eurofound, 2015 

[4] Poston, Bob, An Exercise in Personal Exploration: Maslow`s Hierarchy of Needs, 2009 

http://www.ast.org/pdf/308.pdf 

 

https://managementisajourney.com/motivation-applying-maslows-hierarchy-of-needs-theory/#maslow-how
https://managementisajourney.com/motivation-applying-maslows-hierarchy-of-needs-theory/#maslow-how
http://www.ast.org/pdf/308.pdf

