ABSTRACT
Unease about the direction of labour market change pervades a wide range of opinion today and it is now commonplace for the workforce of the developed economies to be described as increasingly insecure. This view is global in scope and embraces international agencies and commentators in a range of countries (Barker and Christensen 1998; OECD 1997; Standing 1997) and is apparent across a spectrum of interests which, in Britain, includes government (DTI 1998:13), policy makers (Fabian Society 1996; IER 1996), trade unions (TUC 1996) and management organisations (IPD 1996). For some, we live in an ‘age of insecurity’ (Elliott and Atkinson 1998; cf. Beck 1992) and risk and instability have become defining features of contemporary social life. Underlying this viewpoint is a coherent set of statements about the nature, causes and effects of recent change in employment relations which can be labelled the ‘insecurity thesis’. This thesis informs a great deal of contemporary debate and commentary and includes amongst its key propositions: that economic risk is being transferred increasingly from employers to employees, through shortened job tenure and contingent employment and remuneration; that insecurity is damaging to longterm economic performance, through its promotion of an employment relationship founded on opportunism, mistrust and low commitment; and that the emergence of an insecure workforce imposes severe costs on both individuals and the wider society. These and associated claims constitute a deeply critical assessment of current labour market change, and adherents of the thesis have proposed a variety of radical reforms to reverse or mitigate the perceived slide towards insecure employment.
