The standard employment relationship in the information society

2004 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 231-248 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gerhard Bosch

In the view of most authors, the long-established standard employment relationship (SER) has little future in the information society as external structural change comes to replace internal structural change. This article shows that, contrary to these beliefs in most industrialised countries, employment relationships have tended to become more stable in recent years, particularly among skilled workers, for the reason that spatial proximity and close social communication is gaining increasing importance in knowledge-based work. The author identifies the following six different causes underlying improvements or deterioration in the SER: (1) Flexibilisation of product markets, (2) rising female employment rates, (3) combination of education/training and work, (4) rising educational levels among the working population, (5) labour market regulation and deregulation, and (6) the employment situation. Changes in the SER are not being driven solely by the computerisation of production but also by other, very different forces which are at least as significant as technological change. The article concludes with an alternative paradigm taking as its starting point a new balance of internal and external mobility. As an alternative to the "Anglo-Saxon" model of the deregulated labour market, the author proposes a revitalisation of internal and occupational labour markets.

Author(s):  
Wayne Lewchuk

This chapter explores why employment rules and norms took the form they did, the prevalence of precarious employment in the labour market today, and the social implications of the era of Increased Precarious Employment. The employment norms associated with the era of Increased Precarious Employment represent one component of a broader shift to a neoliberal form of social organization. The chapter begins by reviewing the factors that led to the transition from the Standard Employment Relationship and the forces that shaped the employment relationship in the era of Increased Precarious Employment. It then examines debates over how to measure the prevalence of the precarious workforce, before considering the impact of precarious employment on households, families, and communities. The chapter looks at the findings of the Poverty and Employment Precarity in Southern Ontario research group.


Just Labour ◽  
2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wayne Lewchuck ◽  
Stephanie Procyk ◽  
Michelynn Lafleche ◽  
Dan Rosen ◽  
Diane Dyson ◽  
...  

This paper examines the association between incomeand precariousemployment, how this association is changing and how it is shaped by gender andrace. It explores how precarious employment has spread to even middle incomeoccupations and what this implies for our understanding of contemporary labourmarkets and employment relationship norms. The findings indicate a need to refineour views of who is in precarious employment and aneed to re-evaluate the natureof the Standard Employment Relationship, which we would argue is not onlybecoming less prevalent, but also transitioning into something that is less secure.


2018 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 317-336 ◽  
Author(s):  
Olivier Giraud ◽  
Arnaud Lechevalier

In this article, we define the ‘grey zone’ as the proliferation of categories of employment and the growing dissonance between those categories and the realities of the labour market. Against the background of the weakening of the standard employment relationship, and going beyond the dualism of the labour market, there are three processes by which the employment norm is differentiated: the institutionalisation of new employment categories by public authorities, the influence of collective norms on the framing of employment categories by organised groups such as unions and employers’ associations, and the uses of those norms by social actors such as companies. In this article, we first describe the evolution of the German labour market over the past 20 years. We then shed light on the dynamics of the grey zones of employment in Germany by drawing on two strands – self-employment and traineeships – and by distinguishing the three differentiation mechanisms.


2018 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 163
Author(s):  
Ejvis (Shehi) Gishti

In the course of the still ongoing transition process the country has performed major structural and economic reforms. The Albanian economy, the labour market and individuals’ aspirations have undergone fundamental changes in the past years. The Vocational Education and Training (VET) system has generally not been in a position to keep pace with these developments. Good practice examples exist only in certain institutions and programmes that have benefited from sustained national, donor and/or private sector support. Numerous analytical and strategic papers have concluded that more systemic efforts are needed at this point to bring VET provision better in line with identified labour market demands. There is no sense of offering education and training for young people or adults, which is of little value for them in terms of becoming skilled workers or progressing on in education to develop higher levels of skills. Within this context, the definition of social partnership in VET is still unclear for both governments and the social partners themselves and is presently not seen as a mechanism for supporting decision making. Social partner organizations are poorly structured to deal with their new roles in VET. A combination of several factors still limits the effective participation in VET systems of social partners. In the conclusions of this study, it is important to know that the governance and decision-making capacities of social partners need to be improved, as well as their technical and operational knowledge of the vocational training sector. It is important to ensure that all potential misunderstandings and overlapping functions in this complex plethora of advising bodies are clarified as soon as possible. Careful revision of the roles and responsibilities of social partners that participate in a number of different councils can be a good starting point for acquiring a clear picture of potential overlaps.


Author(s):  
Kristin Jesnes

The past decade has seen an increase in ‘platform companies’ functioning as the intermediary between workers and customers.The way these companies structure the labour process has significant implications for working conditions. In this article, we ask: In what ways does platform work in Norway differ from standard employment relationships? And do different employment strategies of platform companies put workers in precarious situations? The article builds on qualitative interviews with CEOs of platform companies in Norway, and aims to contribute to the literature by formulating a typology of the employment models of platform companies emerging in the Nordic countries. The platforms’ employment models are compared to the standard employment relationship and precariousness. Finally, the article suggests that institutions matter for why some platform companies adopt elements of the standard employment relationships as they appear in the Nordic labour market models, and discusses the implications of this.


2020 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
pp. 347-363
Author(s):  
Peter Waring ◽  
Azad Bali ◽  
Chris Vas

The race to develop and implement autonomous systems and artificial intelligence has challenged the responsiveness of governments in many areas and none more so than in the domain of labour market policy. This article draws upon a large survey of Singaporean employees and managers (N = 332) conducted in 2019 to examine the extent and ways in which artificial intelligence and autonomous technologies have begun impacting workplaces in Singapore. Our conclusions reiterate the need for government intervention to facilitate broad-based participation in the productivity benefits of fourth industrial revolution technologies while also offering re-designed social safety nets and employment protections. JEL Codes: J88, K31, O38, M53


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