Job and Organisational Level Aspects of Work in Slovenia

Marginalised groups of workers in Slovenia are traditionally most affected by labour market uncertainty, but increasingly middle-class and upper-class workers are experiencing the same. Furthermore, new work forms have given rise to ethical, psychological and legal dilemmas. In this paper, we examine the concept of decent work and focus on job-related and organisational aspects of work in Slovenia. In the empirical part of the paper we therefore focus on working time, work organisation and co-operation within teams, work-life balance, health and stress, and overall satisfaction with working conditions. Our results evidence that new work forms increase insecurity and consequently diminish worker well-being; and this is most experienced by younger, agency and self-employed workers in Slovenia. This suggests that the development of multilevel and multifaceted measures which take into account socio-psychological and legislative factors to address labour market segmentation is necessary, especially when addressing the needs of those forced to work atypically.

Labour Market Segmentation within Ethnic Economies: The Ethnic Penalty for Invisible Kurdish Migrants in the United Kingdom

Despite the extensive literature on the labour market outcomes of migration, little attention has been given to labour market inequalities within ethnic economies containing internal ethnicity. This article, using a field-study, multi-segmented labour market approach and the enclave hypothesis, contributes to the literature by demonstrating the key roles of different migration patterns and ethnic disparities in shaping labour market segmentation. It focuses on how and why Kurdish migrants are located in the lower segments of the labour market in their shared ethnic (migrant) economy in London. It argues that the Kurds’ underprivileged position associated with an ethnic penalty for them in the UK results from their relatively recent migration history, (un)documented asylum status and the ongoing persecution against them in Turkey. The article concludes that different migration histories, particular motivations for migration and ethnic disparities stratify migrants into distinct segments of the labour market in the country of destination.

Constructing the nation through immigration law and legal processes of belonging

The aim of this critical literature review is to define the connection between immigration policies and the construction of a national identity, and to discuss what the implications of such connections may be. Tracing how the legal subjectivity of the migrant has developed throughout time and through policy reveals how messages about the nation and Others are created, sustained, and circulated through legal policies. What values are implicit within Canadian immigration policy? How does the migrant ‘other’ help ‘us’ stay ‘us’? How do nationalist ideologies construct the Other and how is this reflected in labour market segmentation? Constructing a national identity involves categorizing migrants into legal categories of belonging, a process in which historical positions of power are both legitimized and re-established through law. Discourses about temporary foreign workers provide examples of how the Other is framed in limited terms and in opposition to that of legitimate members of Canadian society. Key Terms: Citizenship, discourse, subjectivity, immigration law, identity, power, humanitarianism, temporary foreign workers, labour market segmentation.

Constructing the nation through immigration law and legal processes of belonging

The aim of this critical literature review is to define the connection between immigration policies and the construction of a national identity, and to discuss what the implications of such connections may be. Tracing how the legal subjectivity of the migrant has developed throughout time and through policy reveals how messages about the nation and Others are created, sustained, and circulated through legal policies. What values are implicit within Canadian immigration policy? How does the migrant ‘other’ help ‘us’ stay ‘us’? How do nationalist ideologies construct the Other and how is this reflected in labour market segmentation? Constructing a national identity involves categorizing migrants into legal categories of belonging, a process in which historical positions of power are both legitimized and re-established through law. Discourses about temporary foreign workers provide examples of how the Other is framed in limited terms and in opposition to that of legitimate members of Canadian society. Key Terms: Citizenship, discourse, subjectivity, immigration law, identity, power, humanitarianism, temporary foreign workers, labour market segmentation.

Two worlds of online labour markets: Exploring segmentation using finite mixture models and a network of skill co-occurrence

Technological innovations have enabled the emergence of online labour market platforms, empowering individuals to penetrate the world of traditional offshoring and challenging localised labour market dynamics. A great number of workers thrive at online platforms and embrace these tools to find customers for their businesses, to counterbalance market fluctuations, and earn wages above the local average. However, online labour market workers are also known to suffer numerous drawbacks, such as precarious working conditions, unpaid work, and severe fragmentation of jobs into tasks that limit skill use and development. Yet, our understanding of what causes this divergence in experiences is limited. Adopting propositions from the labour market segmentation literature, I show that, similarly to offline markets, online labour markets are composed of structurally delimited segments with different social processes governing the allocation of work. Using unsupervised clustering techniques from network science, I show that the clustered skill topology constrains mobility between segments in online platforms. I also show that this segmentation explains large differences in the earnings potential of individual workers. Together, these results provide a new explanation for the persistence of diversified experiences in online labour markets and inform strategies for future research of online platforms as highly segmented labour markets.