Longitudinal Changes and Individual Differences in Perceived Work Competence During COVID-19: A Latent Basis Growth Modeling Approach from a Human Resource Development Perspective

This study examined longitudinal changes and individual differences in perceived work competence among Korean workers during the COVID-19 period from a human resource development perspective. Using four-wave data from 2020 to 2023 from the Human Capital Corporate Panel II, 830 workers who participated in all survey waves were analyzed. No-growth, linear growth, and latent basis growth models were compared. The latent basis growth model showed the best relative fit, indicating that changes in perceived work competence were not adequately explained by either no change or a constant linear pattern. Observed mean scores declined slightly from 3.354 in 2020 to 3.274 in 2023; however, the mean slope was not statistically significant. In contrast, significant variances in the intercept and slope indicated substantial individual differences in initial perceived work competence and subsequent change patterns. The intercept and slope were negatively associated, suggesting that workers with higher initial perceived competence tended to show relatively lower subsequent change rates. These findings suggest that human resource development should move beyond average trends and provide differentiated learning opportunities, feedback, mentoring, and career development support according to individual patterns of adaptation.