Are Bad Jobs Inevitable?: Trends, Determinants and Responses to Job Quality in the Twenty-First Century

Description

An edited book in the Critical Perspectives on Work and Employment Series that is associated with the annual International Labour Process Conference, it focuses on job quality: debates, developments, issues and trends; workplace practice and interventions. Written by world-leading academics, it contains cutting-edge research.

CHRIS WARHURST Professor of Work and Organisational Studies at the University of Sydney, Australia. FRANCOISE J. CARRE Research Director at the Center for Social Policy at the John W. McCormack Graduate School of Policy & Global Studies, University of Massachusetts Boston, USA. PATRICIA FINDLAYProfessor of Work and Employment Relations at the Department of Human Resource Management at the University of Strathclyde Business School and Director of the Scottish Centre for Employment Research, University of Strathclyde, UK. CHRIS TILLY Professor of Urban Planning and Sociology and Director of the Institute for Research on Labor and Employment at the University of California Los Angeles, USA.

'If we care about the type of societies we live in, then the issue of job quality is of critical importance. This book makes an important contribution to our understanding the issue by bringing together new and high quality scholarship from around the world to help us understand how bad jobs can be made better.' - Dr Andy Charlwood, University of York, UK 'This new book cuts through the speculation and hyperbole which has characterised much of the debate over job quality and the changing nature of work, to focus in on the 'bad jobs' which are becoming increasingly important across the globe. It provides valuablee new evidence on the number of bad jobs and their growth, and offers clear explanations for their increase in recent years. Most importantly, it moves the debate forward by questioning the inevitability of bad jobs and sets out strategies for making jobs better. The book makes an important contribution to current debates over job quality in sociology, HRM, economics and social policy. It is essential reading for students, academics, practitioners and policy makers with interests in job quality and the question of how to make bad jobs better' - Dr Chris Forde, University of Leeds, UK 'These essays on poor quality jobs are essential reading for their unique contributions to methodological issues in the study of job quality and to the study of job quality in international comparative perspective. They are noteworthy for their rich discussions of institutions and social norms in producing low-wage work, and should be required reading for anyone interested in changing the incentives that shape employers' business strategies.' - Dr Eileen Appelbaum, Center for Economic and Policy Research, USA 'At an aspirational level job quality does matter, but the real question is can it be achieved and if so how? This book makes a significant contribution on both some of the issues that can help answer the question in the positive and on some of the issues that need to be solved ... I strongly recommend reading this excellent book: Are Bad Jobs Inevitable? Trends, Determinants and Responses to Job Quality in the Twenty-First Century. When I read it I found serendipity all over the place. I hope that you get as much out of it as I did.' - E-Journal of International and Comparative Labour Studies