ABSTRACT

This chapter opens with an analysis of quantitative material illustrating the changing patterns of employment at a national and local level. This is followed by an examination of data on the degree of occupational and industrial mobility and a description of Bristol’s economy. It is then argued that while quantitative material is useful for contextualising debate a fuller analysis of labour markets is possible by complementing statistical data with qualitative material. Interviews were conducted in two case study firms - a large insurance company and a large manufacturing company, both located in Bristol. In order to preserve anonymity, neither the real names of the companies nor the real names of any of the people interviewed are used. In any such exercise there is bound to be some overlap but the aim was to split data into the three emergent categories and then further subdivide these categories by issue and by firm.