How firms shape career inequality through (mental) health

The project conceptualizes firms as social environments that differ in authority structures, work intensity, technological change, and workplace culture. These organizational differences can systematically affect workers’ mental health, for example through exposure to stress, insecurity, or limited control at work. Mental health, in turn, shapes careers by influencing sickness absence, job mobility, and long-term wage growth. You will study when and for whom mental health functions as a mechanism linking firm contexts to unequal career trajectories.

Your research addresses a central theoretical question: how do differences between firms translate into persistent career inequality through workers’ (mental) health

Empirically, you will work with rich longitudinal linked employer–employee data combined with population-wide health registers, focusing primarily on the Netherlands and Norway. These data make it possible to follow workers and firms over long periods and to identify how firm-level conditions are associated with mental health outcomes and subsequent career inequality.

You will work closely with the principal investigator and the PhD team, combining life course theory with organizational and inequality perspectives to develop and test mechanism-based explanations using large-scale longitudinal data.

What are you going to do

Study how firms affect workers’ health outcomes and how these outcomes shape careers
Analyze longitudinal linked employer–employee and health register data in the Netherlands and Norway
Develop and apply advanced quantitative methods to identify firm effects
Write and submit articles to leading international journals
Collaborate closely within the FIRMS team and with international partners

What do you have to offer

You work and think at an academic postdoctoral level in sociology, economics, or a related field
You have extensive experience in analyzing longitudinal or administrative data
You have a theoretical background in studying labor market inequality and or health
You translate complex analyses into clear scientific arguments
You work independently while actively contributing to a research team

Must-have:

Experience with quantitative data analysis
A completed PhD by the start of the employment

This is what we offer you

We offer a temporary employment contract for 30,4 hours per week (0.8 fte) for a period of 35 months with a probationary period of two months. The starting date will be 1 September 2026. Depending on a suitable match between the candidate and department, the contract can be heightened with teaching duties.

The gross monthly salary, based on 38 hours per week and dependent on relevant experience, ranges between €4,728 and € 6,433. This does not include 8% holiday allowance and 8,3% year-end allowance. The UFO profile Researcher 3 is applicable. A favourable tax agreement, the ‘30% ruling’, may apply to non-Dutch applicants. The Collective Labour Agreement of Universities of the Netherlands is applicable.

What else do we offer you

You will work in a stimulating and supportive research environment with strong international visibility. We value intellectual exchange, collaboration, and independence, and you will receive close academic mentoring from the principal investigator (Thijs Bol). The position offers ample opportunities for methodological development, publishing in top journals, and building an international research profile through conferences and collaborations. You will be part of a team that values open science, constructive feedback, and work-life balance. Flexible working hours are possible, although it is important to be at the department for at least part of the week to facilitate good collaboration.

You will work here

You will join the FIRMS research team at the Institutions, Inequalities, and Life courses program group in the Department of Sociology, University of Amsterdam. You will also become part of the Amsterdam Institute for Social Science Research (AISSR) and the Interuniversity Center for Social Science Theory and Methodology (ICS). Together with the FIRMS team, we will study how firms shape careers and inequality across countries and over time, combining life course theory with large-scale data and innovative methods.

How do firms create unequal careers, and how is this linked to workers’ health?

The Department of Sociology has an opening for a postdoctoral researcher who will contribute to the ERC-funded research project FIRMS – Firms and Careers: How the Workplace Structures Career Inequality.

As a postdoctoral researcher, you will study how organizational contexts influence health outcomes and how these effects accumulate into long-term career inequality. Join an ambitious ERC-funded project and work with unique longitudinal data to answer pressing societal questions!

How firms shape career inequality through (mental) health

Your research addresses a central theoretical question: how do differences between firms translate into persistent career inequality through workers’ (mental) health

What are you going to do

Study how firms affect workers’ health outcomes and how these outcomes shape careers
Analyze longitudinal linked employer–employee and health register data in the Netherlands and Norway
Develop and apply advanced quantitative methods to identify firm effects
Write and submit articles to leading international journals
Collaborate closely within the FIRMS team and with international partners

What do you have to offer

You work and think at an academic postdoctoral level in sociology, economics, or a related field
You have extensive experience in analyzing longitudinal or administrative data
You have a theoretical background in studying labor market inequality and or health
You translate complex analyses into clear scientific arguments
You work independently while actively contributing to a research team

Must-have:

Experience with quantitative data analysis
A completed PhD by the start of the employment

This is what we offer you

What else do we offer you

You will work here

If you recognize yourself in this profile and are interested in the role, we look forward to receiving your application. You can apply online via the red button. Please submit your application as a single PDF, including a cover letter, curriculum vitae, and the contact details of two referees. The application deadline is 30 March 2026 (23:59 CET) . Interviews are expected to take place in the week of 13 April.

In case of equal suitability, the internal candidate is preferred over the external candidate.

Candidates who require a work permit should be aware that appointment is subject to the Dutch Employment of Foreign Nationals Act.

For questions about the position or more information on the FIRMS project, please contact Thijs Bol (t.bol@uva.nl).

No agencies please.

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Postdoc ERC Project FIRMS: How Firms Shape Career Inequality Through (Mental) Health