This unique, cross-disciplinary collection of essays explores claims that an insecure workforce imposes wide economic and social costs through lower rates of skill formation, reduced consumer confidence and family instability.

For the past two decades employment in Britain has been marked by a search for greater flexibility in the availability and use of labour. In recent years, however, there has been mounting concern at the costs of this trend and an appreciation that the consequence of a flexible labour market may be an insecure workforce, vulnerable to exploitation.

Table of Contents List of illustrations List of contributors Acknowledgements Introduction 1 1 More pressure, less protection 8 2 Flexibility and the reorganisation of work 39 3 The prevalence and redistribution of job insecurity and work intensification 61 4 Disappearing pathways and the struggle for a fair day's pay 77 5 Job insecurity and work intensification: the effects on health and well-being 92 6 The intensification of everyday life 112 7 The organisational costs of job insecurity and work intensification 137 8 Stress intervention: what can managers do? 154 9 What can governments do? 172 Appendices 185 Notes 189 References 206 Index 222.

This volume is about why ‘work’ changed to become more precarious around the turn of the century. This happened not just in the developed world but also inside sectors that were demarcated as organized and modern within developing countries like India. In these sectors, unlike the greater part of the Indian economy, insecure jobs were uncommon before winds of change made them normal. This shift had occurred before the great global financial crisis of 2008. Between 2005-8 a survey based on over thousand structured interviews with workers in offices, factories, shops and establishments (below the supervisory rank) in Mumbai was undertaken. This is the innovative segment of the book which tries to measure and quantify some of these changes and their associations. It is designed to investigate the central proposition of the ‘Insecurity Hypothesis’ (IH), which is that the economic risk of increased and global competition was being progressively passed on from the employer to the employee. This was happening through shortened job tenure, erratic remuneration, variable work, contingent employment, and institutional changes that remove or reduce protection, bargaining power of employees in the work place everywhere. The corollary is that widespread and unremitting work (and income related) insecurity is an expedient competitive strategy but a damaging socio-economic phenomenon. Please note: Taylor & Francis does not sell or distribute the Hardback in India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka

In Europe, as well as in other industrialized economies all over the world, employment relations have undergone profound transformations over the last decades. Large numbers of workers have been displaced, involuntarily employed part-time, or hired on temporary employment contracts. The increasing flexibility in the staffing of organizations is experienced, by many employees, as a threat to the continuation of their employment relationships. A growing body of research suggests that such job insecurity can be of fundamental importance from the occupational health perspective as well as the managerial, due to its effects on employees' work attitudes and well-being. This book addresses the nature of job insecurity and investigates its consequences for individuals, the organizations they work for, as well as their labor unions. It also examines whether factors associated with union membership help employees to cope with employment uncertainty. The book is based on a European project involving Belgium, Italy, the Netherlands, and Sweden. Both individuals and organizations alike are harmed by the increased insecurity that prevails in working life today. By identifying and explaining those factors which result in job insecurity, and examining how the experience affects individuals, organizations, and unions, the authors wish to expand the body of knowledge concerning job insecurity. Such knowledge can lead to a greater focus on this phenomenon within working life, and result in greater effort being put into understanding how preventative measures can be implemented in the future.

This volume contains empirical analyses of European psychologists and sociologists on the impact of job insecurity on trade union membership, activism and upon the attitudes of individual workers towards unions. Little is currently known about the impact of job insecurity on the union participation of workers, which is significant given the importance of trade unions in European collective bargaining systems. This volume reports innovative and pioneering research on this research gap. It answers questions such as: do workers more easily join unions because of job insecurity, or does it make them leave the union? Does it influence participation in work's council elections or affect the intention to become a union activist? And are workers less satisfied and less committed to their unions when they experience job insecurity? The book contains recommendations for policy makers, social partners and practitioners in the field of work and organizations.