First published in 1997. Politicians of all shades argue that the labour market should be more flexible and workers more mobile. But what does this mean in reality? How flexible and mobile are workers likely to be? Is there an ideological base to the language of flexibility? These are some of the issues covered in this book. Data from a large factory and office is used to argue that the macro labour market consists of non-competitive work groups where strongly held views and values represent a substantial barrier to simplistic definitions of flexibility and mobility. The analysis takes place in three chapters, dealing with recruitment for work, skills used in work and perceptions of different types of work and workers. The findings suggest that non-economic forces (such as institutional, social, historical and political phenomena) strongly influence the creation of separate work cultures. Furthermore, it is argued that the reason for differences between work groups being articulated in a defensive fashion reflects the climate of fear in the labour market, where flexibility is associated with a loss of the (often limited) power, control and influence workers have over their position in the labour market.

This ebook examines different aspects of labour market flexibility, spatial mobility of workforce and its effects on labour market flexibility, and factors influencing both labour market flexibility and spatial mobility. Some papers also deal with integration and wage gains of migrant employees. Our intention is to elaborate research mainly in two relatively broad fields with existing research gaps. There is still little research on interactions between spatial mobility and labour market flexibility, despite the fact that some authors (e.g. Monastiriotis, 2005; Paas, Eamets, 2007) find that labour mobility is an essential part of labour market flexibility.

Report on four issues raised by the current debate on labour market flexibility: labour costs, external and internal labour market mobility, and concealed employment. Examines the argument that high labour costs and wage inflexibility have priced workers out of the labour market, concluding that while wages are important in explaining unemployment, other factors are also significant. Discusses external labour market mobility (job mobility, geographic mobility and occupational change) as a means of adjusting to structural change, but finds that the link between mobility trends and labour market efficiency is difficult to ascertain. Looks at enterprise level flexibility, covering numerical and functional flexibility of the work force, and, finally, considers the phenomenon of concealed employment as a perverse form of labour market flexibility.

This title presents carefully selected articles that are at the ultimate forefront of professional studies on 'transitional labour markets' and 'flexicurity'.

Flexibility is an ambiguous concept. This book contributes to expounding the importance of clearer concepts in the debates on economic systems, labour markets and work organization. The authors place 'flexibility' in a new theoretical context as juxtaposed to 'stability'. Much terminological confusion and is resolved by this suggestion.

Estudio donde se examinan las razones para la gran persistencia e incremento del desempleo en España a partir de los primeros años de la década de los setenta, centrándose particularmente en la flexibilidad como principal razón para la ineficacia del mercado laboral.

With labour markets across the world and even in social democratic Europe in a state of unprecedented flux, this exhaustive study addresses the problem of how to balance job market demands, personal career interests and private life becomes a central issue for millions of employees. So how do modern work and employment arrangements restructure individual careers and what is required of individuals in order to manage career transitions successfully over time? This is one of very few in-depth empirical studies to analyze how labour market trends, organisational change and the subjective work orientations of individuals interact. The author’s detailed assessment is based on a comparison of the structural contexts, work orientations and employment histories of nurses and ICT technicians in Germany and the UK. These two core service occupations, as well as the national contexts of the two European nations, have quite different working environments and vocational traditions. Nursing is an institutionalized semi-profession with clear criteria of qualification and career continuity, while information and communication technology (ICT) is a new, evolving field with varied skill backgrounds and high job mobility. To arrive at an understanding of how individual career trajectories are changing, this book closely examines the interplay of labour market demands, employees’ work and career orientations and the development of their skills. It records the ways in which employees adapt to increased labour market flexibility, which, on the one hand, induces discontinuities of careers, employment and work, and on the other, generates new skill requirements and learning expectations, as well as unforeseen opportunities.

Moderne Arbeitsmärkte erfordern ein hohes Maß an Flexibilität von Arbeitskräften und insbesondere von Arbeitslosen. Dabei kommt der Bereitschaft zur regionalen Mobilität im Zuge der tiefgreifenden Hartz-Reformen des deutschen Arbeitsmarktes eine zentrale Rolle zu. Vor diesem Hintergrund untersucht diese Forschungsarbeit die Bedeutung überregionaler Mobilität im Stellensuchprozess von Arbeitslosen. Basierend auf innovativen experimentellen Forschungsdesigns, reichhaltigen administrativen und Befragungsdaten und unter Verwendung aktueller ökonometrischer Analysen leistet Sebastian Bähr einen wichtigen Beitrag zur aktuellen Debatte über die Wirkung von Flexibilisierung auf soziale Ungleichheit am Arbeitsmarkt.