Good Jobs, Bad Jobs, No Jobs: The Quality and Quantity of Work in Global Context Arne L. Kalleberg Department of Sociology University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill RECWOWE State of the Art Conference Warsaw, Poland June 13, 2007

What is the Quality of Work Experience? Quantity of work Having a Job at All Working as much as one wants (part-time or full-time) Quality of job Overall Specific job facets/components

Dimensions of “Quality of Work” (European Commission 2003) Characteristics of the Job Intrinsic job quality Skills, life-long learning and career development The Work and Wider Labor Market Context Gender equality Health and safety at work Flexibility and security Inclusion and access to the labor market Work organization and work-life balance Social dialogue and worker involvement Diversity and non-discrimination Overall Work performance

Importance of Quality of Work Experience For individuals For organizations For society

Quality of Work Experience is becoming increasingly problematic in industrial societies Macro-level changes have led to greater uncertainty and insecurity Globalization Technological Change Increased product market competition People have become more diverse in the needs and wants that they expect to fulfill through their work Job quality on a number of dimensions has declined for many people

Questions How has QWE changed in past 30 years in different countries? How have institutional and cultural differences among countries influenced changes in QWE? How have the various components of QWE (quantity and quality of work) changed?

Globalization and Technological Change Increased competition More pressure to reduce labour costs Impact on the quality of work experiences

Changing Work (Varies among countries) Tendencies toward polarization between high- and low-skilled jobs (especially in liberal market economies) Growing importance of knowledge work and “symbolic analysts” Continued expansion of personal service sector (low-wage in the U.S., better paid in some European countries) Declining value of routine work (often outsourced) What’s happening to the middle-tier occupations?

Labor Force Demographics: Changing Workers (Varies among countries) Patterns of labor force participation among women Growth of dual earner families in some countries Growth in formal education among workforce Immigration Aging of the workforce Low birth rates in some countries

Changes in Quality of Work Experience in Advanced Capitalist Societies: Country Differences?  Universalist Theories of Convergence (Market forces, universal best practices) Country Differences in Organizational Responses to Uncertainty and Insecurity Neo-Institutionalist Theories of Country Differences Production regime theories, “varieties of capitalism” Coordinated market economies (Scandinavia, Germany) Liberal market economies (U.K., Ireland, U.S.) Quantity vs. Quality trade-off: Unemployment vs. growth of low-wage employment Trade-off among dimensions of job quality: Greater wage inequality vs. greater inequality in job security

Model of the Quality of Work Experience Quality of Work Experience Employment Relations Work Values Work Structures & Contexts Demographic Characteristics

Unemployment rates, 2004

Part-time employment by gender in the EU, 2005

Job Quality: Concepts and Dimensions Dimensions of Job Quality Job Security Economic (Earnings, Benefits) Autonomy/Discretion Over Work Tasks Work Intensity Individual Differences Overall Job Quality (Job satisfaction)

Theories of Job Quality: “Good Jobs” Stories  “Post-Fordist” Theory: Fordism/Taylorism is obsolete; competitive advantage is achieved via “high road” forms of work organization that elicit participation of workers  New work systems enhance especially the intrinsic/job control aspects of jobs  “Knowledge Society”: Gowth of Professional/Technical employment and general occupational skill upgrading  Workers become “free agents” who can maximize the returns to their skills on the labor market

Theories of Job Quality: “Bad Jobs” Stories  “Neo-Fordist” Theory: Employers continue to respond to price competition by adopting “low road” strategies such as cutting costs and downsizing; employment relations between management and labor remain adversarial  Increase in contingent work and nonstandard work arrangements has led to pervasive job insecurity  Growth of service sector has created “McJobs”: low wage, insecure, dead-end jobs  Bad jobs are a structural feature of labor market

Good Jobs and Bad Jobs: Polarization in Job Quality  Economic inequality has increased, especially between: (a) managers, professionals & high skilled workers vs. (b) less skilled workers  Employers’ search for flexibility has led to growing gap between protected (core) and unprotected (periphery) workers  Technological change has routinized/replaced mid-level skilled jobs, leaving mainly high skill vs. low skill jobs

The Changing Employment Relationship OLD  Social Contract (Business and Labor Have Mutual Obligations and Duties)  Psychological Contract: Exchange of Loyalty for Security  Secure, “Permanent” employment  Relative Certainty about future  Employer Obligations (Health Insurance, Pensions) NEW  Market Mechanisms Prevail  Psychological Contract: Employer provides “Employability”  Job Insecurity  Greater Uncertainty about future  Shift Risks to Employees

Non-standard employment in the European Union,

Nonstandard Employment Relations, United States

Job Insecurity: Job Loss United States

Job Instability in the U.S.: Employer Tenure

EU 15 average: , ,74 (Japan +12, USA 6,6) Job Tenure in the EU, Source: Peter Auer (2006)

Perceptions of Job Insecurity, United States

Perceptions of Insecurity, 1989 and 1997 Source: Francis Green (2003)

Perceived risk of job loss, Britain Source: Francis Green (2003)

Coefficients are significant at 5% level; worried = percentage worried about the future of their company, unsure = percentage unsure of a job with their company even if they perform well.Note: job insecurity is the average percentage among worried and unsure people. Source: OECD Low High Labour Market Policies and insecurity Source: Peter Auer (2006)

Changes in Wages, United States, s

Changes in Earnings Inequality, , by Gender

90:10 Wage ratios for United States and Selected European Countries Source: Thomas DiPrete (2005)

Wage inequality vs. Security inequality Trade-offs (1995) Source: Eric Maurin and Fabien Postel-Vinay (2005)

Production Regimes, Varieties of Capitalism Liberal market economies  U.K., Ireland, (U.S.)  Coordination via hierarchies and markets  Product market strategies (technological innovation vs. cost cutting) lead to highly polarized skill structure  Weak vocational training Coordinated market economies  Germany, Scandinavia  Rely more on nonmarket arrangements  (High quality) Product market strategies depend on highly skilled workers  (Initial) Vocational training

Task Discretion in EU countries Source: Duncan Gallie (2007)

Extent of autonomy in the workplace, by country

“My work is too demanding and stressful”

Autonomy over Working Time, by Groups of Countries

Work Satisfaction, by Country (%)

Changes in Job Satisfaction in Britain Source: Francis Green (2005), “Job Satisfaction in Britain and Germany”

Changes in Overall Job Satisfaction, for 7 countries Source: Andrew Clark (2005)

Changes in Job Rewards in Britain Source: Andrew Clark (2005)

Why Hasn’t Job Satisfaction Changed Much in the United States, 1970s-2000s? No overall trend due to two offsetting trends: New labor force cohorts tend to be less satisfied with their jobs People become more satisfied as they get older

Some unresolved questions about the Quality of Work Experience What accounts for the patterns of change in quantity and (especially) quality of jobs in different countries? Trade-offs between quantity and quality of jobs? Trade-offs between inequality in earnings and security? Polarization of job quality? Differences by gender, race, age, etc.? QWE in developed vs. developing countries? Changing patterns of job mobility and careers?