Research strategies for precarious employment

Past decades have been characterized by technological changes and globalization of the economy, which has led to a change in employment conditions worldwide. Flexible labor markets and decreased impact of trade unions have contributed to the increase and emergence of insecure ‘non-standard’ forms of employment, such as temporary agency jobs and zero-hour job contracts. During the past ten years, there has been an increase, albeit slight, in precariousness of work in developed countries (1). Although precarious employment is a societal issue with potential adverse eff ects on health, the majority of research activity has focused on proximal psychosocial working conditions within the workplace, which however, represents a small aspect of a complex system involving labor markets, employment and working conditions, psychosocial working conditions, and the relationsh ip with health. While an internationally accepted scientific definition is lacking, precarious employment can be conceptualized as accumulated unfavorable aspects of employment (contract) quality. These unfavorable aspects may include temporary job contracts, job insecurity, vulnerability, lack o f control and employee rights, nonstandard or substandard working time arrangements, limited training and employability opportunities, and low salary (2). The point is that while any single dimension does not necessarily indicate precariousness, accumulating adversities result in precarious employme nt (3). Young pe...
Source: Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment and Health - Category: Occupational Health Tags: Editorial Source Type: research