ABSTRACT

The contexts, spaces and practices of non-permanent work mediate the learning and development that take place, simultaneously facilitating and/or undermining the learning, development and work performance of non-permanent workers. In the context of non-permanent worker development, this perspective translates into policy arguments which assume that developing ‘transferable’ competences will bring greater likelihood of a sustainable working life, moving between short-term contracts and tasks. Researching the learning and development of non-permanent workers takes each of these analytic and theoretical perspectives to the limits of their explanatory and exploratory power. The experiences of non-permanent workers have to be understood as part of a wider, social, highly dynamic context, keeping in view interdependencies within and beyond the workplace institutional and policy environments. Development opportunities for such capabilities are denied to these non-permanent workers given the task-based nature of their work. For non-permanent workers undertaking solely task-based work, their entrepreneurial identity reflects issues around the quality of their work.