Hostname: page-component-745bb68f8f-d8cs5 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-01-20T20:57:02.480Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Precarious work and precarious workers: Towards an improved conceptualisation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2023

Iain Campbell  and
Robin Price
Iain Campbell*
Affiliation:
RMIT University, Australia
Robin Price
Affiliation:
Queensland University of Technology, Australia
*
Iain Campbell, Centre for Applied Social Research, RMIT University, GPO Box 2476, Melbourne, VIC 3001, Australia. Email: iain.campbell@rmit.edu.au
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Discussion of the implications of precarious work for individual workers remains hesitant and often confused. A clear conceptualisation would separate out five analytical levels: precariousness in employment, precarious work, precarious workers individually and as an emerging class, and precarity as a general condition of social life. To illustrate the need to avoid slippage between the concepts of precarious work and precarious workers, we present one ‘theory-relevant’ example – full-time secondary school students in Australia who hold part-time jobs in the retail sector. Their part-time jobs are indeed precarious but the negative effects on the student-workers are modest, both because participation in precarious work is limited (moderate weekly hours and intermittent work within the framework of a brief stage of the life course) and because many (though not all) of the associated risks are cushioned by structural forces such as access to alternative income sources and career paths. At the same time, however, a longitudinal perspective reveals that the same group of student-workers faces major risks in the future, as a result of increasingly insecure labour markets. Reflections on this example help to identify conceptual tools that can be applied to a wide range of other examples of precarious work.

Keywords

Employment conditionsjob qualitylabour market insecuritylife courseprecarious workretailvulnerable workersyoung workersJ490
Type
Rethinking Precariousness and Flexibility
Information
The Economic and Labour Relations Review , Volume 27 , Issue 3 , September 2016 , pp. 314 - 332
Copyright
© The Author(s) 2016

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Abhayaratna, J, Andrews, L, Nuch, H, et al . (2008) Part Time Employment: The Australian Experience. Melbourne, VIC, Australia: The Productivity Commission (Staff Working Paper).Google Scholar
Anderson, B (2010) Migration, immigration controls and the fashioning of precarious workers. Work, Employment and Society 24(2): 300–317.Google Scholar
Anlezark, A and Lim, P (2011) Does Combining School and Work Affect School and Post-School Outcomes? Adelaide, SA, Australia: NCVER.Google Scholar
Archer, M (1995) Realist Social Theory: The Morphogenetic Approach. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Arnold, D and Bongiovi, J (2013) Precarious, informalizing, and flexible work: transforming concepts and understandings. American Behavioral Scientist 57(3): 289–308.Google Scholar
Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) (2013) Employee earnings, benefits and trade union membership, Australia, August. Cat. no. 6310.0. Available at: http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/mf/6310.0 Google Scholar
Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) (2014) Australian labour market statistics (type of employment). Cat. no. 6105.0, July. Available at: http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/mf/6105.0 Google Scholar
Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) (2015a) Table 15: labour force status by sex and educational attendance – persons aged 15 to 19 years. Cat. no. 6202.0, June. Labour Force (time series spreadsheet). Available at: http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/DetailsPage/6202.0Jun%202015?OpenDocument Google Scholar
Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) (2015b) Table 22: underutilised persons by age and sex: trend, seasonally adjusted and original. Cat. no. 6202.0, August. Labour Force (time series spreadsheet). Available at: http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/DetailsPage/6202.0Jun%202015?OpenDocument Google Scholar
Australian Safety and Compensation Council (2007) Work-Related Injury Hospitalisations, Australia 2002–03 and 2003–04. Canberra, ACT, Australia: Commonwealth of Australia.Google Scholar
Australian Workforce and Productivity Agency (AWPA) (2014) Retail Workforce Study. Canberra, ACT, Australia: Commonwealth of Australia.Google Scholar
Bray, M and Stewart, A (2013) What is distinctive about the Fair Work regime? Australian Journal of Labour Law 26(1): 20–49.Google Scholar
Breman, J (2013) A bogus concept. New Left Review 84: 130–138.Google Scholar
Burawoy, M (2009) The Extended Case Method: Four Countries, Four Decades, Four Great Transformations and One Theoretical Tradition. Berkeley: University of California Press.Google Scholar
Burchell, B, Sehnbruch, K, Piasna, A, et al . (2014) The quality of employment and decent work: definitions, methodologies, and ongoing debates. Cambridge Journal of Economics 38(2): 459–477.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Burgess, J, Connell, J and Winterton, J (2013) Vulnerable workers, precarious work and the role of trade unions and HRM. The International Journal of Human Resource Management 24(22): 4083–4093.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Campbell, I (2004) Casual work and casualisation: how does Australia compare? Labour and Industry 15(2): 85–111.Google Scholar
Campbell, I and Chalmers, J (2008) Job quality and part-time work in the retail industry: an Australian case study. International Journal of Human Resource Management 19(3): 487–500.Google Scholar
Carnie, L (2012) Towards Fairness and Equality for Young Workers: Youth Wages and Minimum Shift Lengths (Student Working Paper No. 10). Melbourne, VIC, Australia: Centre for Employment and Labour Relations Law, University of Melbourne. Available: http://law.unimelb.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0008/1648871/Student-WP-No.-10-Final.pdf (accessed 1 April 2016).Google Scholar
Carré, F, Tilly, C, van Klaveren, M, et al . (2010) Retail jobs in comparative perspective. In: Gautié, J and Schmitt, J (eds) Low-Wage Work in the Wealthy World. New York: Russell Sage, pp. 211–268.Google Scholar
Chalmers, J (2013) Occupational standing over the life course: what is the role of part time work? In: Evans, E and Baxter, J (eds) Negotiating the Life Course: Stability and Change in Life Pathways. Dordrecht: Springer, pp. 191–214.Google Scholar
Clement, W, Mathieu, S, Prus, S, et al . (2009) Precarious lives in the new economy: comparative intersectional analysis. In: Vosko, L, MacDonald, M and Campbell, I (eds) Gender and the Contours of Precarious Employment. London: Routledge, pp. 240–255.Google Scholar
Cooke, G, Donaghey, J and Zeytinoglu, I (2013) The nuanced nature of work quality: evidence from rural Newfoundland and Ireland. Human Relations 66(4): 503–527.Google Scholar
Creighton, B and Stewart, A (2010) Labour Law. 5th ed. Sydney, NSW, Australia: Federation Press.Google Scholar
Cuervo, H and Wyn, J (2011) Rethinking youth transitions in Australia: A historical and multidimensional approach. Research report 33, Youth Research Centre, Melbourne Graduate School of Education, University of Melbourne. Available: http://library.bsl.org.au/jspui/bitstream/1/2759/1/Rethinking%20youth%20transitions%20in%20Australia.pdf (accessed 1 April 2016).Google Scholar
Edwards, P (2005) The challenging but promising future of industrial relations: developing theory and method in context-sensitive research. Industrial Relations Journal 36(4): 264–282.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eisenhardt, K (2002) Building theories from case study research. In: Huberman, A and Miles, M (eds) The Qualitative Researcher’s Companion. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE, pp. 5–36.Google Scholar
Fair Work Ombudsman (FWO) (2010) Chapter 5. An employer’s guide to employing young workers. In: Best Practice Guide. Canberra, ACT, Australia: Australian Government. Available at: https://www.fairwork.gov.au/how-we-will-help/templates-and-guides/best-practice-guides/an-employers-guide-to-employing-young-workers Google Scholar
Fair Work Ombudsman (FWO) (2011) National Retail Industry Campaign 2010–11 (Final Report). Canberra, ACT, Australia: Australian Government.Google Scholar
Fleetwood, S (2011) Sketching a socio-economic model of labour markets. Cambridge Journal of Economics 35(1): 15–38.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Frade, C and Darmon, I (2005) New modes of business organization and precarious employment: towards the recommodification of labour? Journal of European Social Policy 15(2): 107–121.Google Scholar
Fuller, S (2009) Investigating longitudinal dimensions of precarious employment: conceptual and practical issues. In: Vosko, L, MacDonald, M and Campbell, I (eds) Gender and the Contours of Precarious Employment. London: Routledge, pp. 226–239.Google Scholar
Furlong, A and Kelly, P (2005) The Brazilianisation of youth transitions in Australia and the UK? Australian Journal of Social Issues 40(2): 207–225.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
General Retail Industry Award (2010) MA000004. Melbourne, VIC, Australia: Fair Work Australia, Available at: https://www.fwc.gov.au/awards-and-agreements/awards/find-award/modern-awards-list (accessed 1 April 2016).Google Scholar
House of Representatives (Standing Committee on Education and Training) (2009) Adolescent Overload? Report of the Inquiry into Combining School and Work: Supporting Successful Youth Transitions. Canberra, ACT, Australia: Commonwealth of Australia.Google Scholar
Howe, B, Munro, P, Biddington, J, et al . (2012) Lives on Hold: Unlocking the Potential of Australia’s Workforce. The Report of the Independent Inquiry into Insecure Work in Australia. Melbourne, VIC, Australia: Studio Alto.Google Scholar
Hurley, J, Fernandez-Macias, E and Storrie, D (2013) Employment Polarisation and Job Quality in the Crisis: European Jobs Monitor 2013. Dublin: Eurofound.Google Scholar
Jany-Catrice, F and Lehndorff, S (2005) Work organization and the importance of labour markets in the European retail trade. In: Bosch, G and Lehndorff, S (eds) Working in the Service Sector: A Tale from Different Worlds. London: Routledge, pp. 211–236.Google Scholar
Johnson, B (2015) Equally dressed-up, unequally casual: different experiences of precarious work in designer fashion retail boutiques. Labour and Industry 25(2): 150–162.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kalleberg, A (2011) Good Jobs, Bad Jobs: The Rise of Polarized and Precarious Employment Systems in the United States, 1970s to 2000s. New York: Russell Sage.Google Scholar
Kalleberg, A and Hewison, K (2013) Precarious work and the challenge for Asia. American Behavioral Scientist 57(3): 271–288.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Knox, A, Warhurst, C, Nickson, D, et al . (2015) More than a feeling: using hotel room attendants to improve understanding of job quality. The International Journal of Human Resource Management 26(12): 1547–1567.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kretsos, L (2010) The persistent pandemic of precariousness: young people at work. In: Tremmel, J (ed.) A Young Generation Under Pressure? Berlin: Springer Verlag, pp. 3–21.Google Scholar
Lambert, S (2008) Passing the buck: labor flexibility practices that transfer risk onto hourly workers. Human Relations 61(9): 1203–1227.Google Scholar
Lewchuk, W, Clarke, M and de Wolff, A (2008) Working without commitments: precarious employment and health. Work, Employment and Society 22(3): 387–406.Google Scholar
Lewis, H, Dwyer, P, Hodkinson, S, et al . (2015) Hyper-precarious lives: migrants, work and forced labour in the Global North. Progress in Human Geography 39(5): 580–600.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McDonald, P, Bailey, J, Pini, B, et al . (2010) Social Citizenship and Employment for Secondary School Students: Report to Partner Organisations. Brisbane, QLD, Australia: Queensland University of Technology.Google Scholar
McDonald, P, Pini, B, Bailey, J, et al . (2011) Young people’s aspirations for education, work, family and leisure. Work, Employment and Society 25(1): 68–84.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McKay, S, Jefferys, S, Paraksevopoulou, A, et al . (2012) Study on Precarious Work and Social Rights (Report for the European Commission (VT/2010/084)). London: Working Lives Research Institute, London Metropolitan University.Google Scholar
Malinauskas, P (2013) 100% pay at 18+: it just makes sense. Available: http://workinglife.org.au/2013/04/10/100-pay-at-18-it-just-makes-sense/ (accessed 28 October 2015).Google Scholar
Masterman-Smith, H and Pocock, B (2008) Living Low Paid: The Dark Side of Prosperous Australia. Sydney, NSW, Australia: Allen & Unwin.Google Scholar
Mayer, K (2004) Whose lives? How history, societies, and institutions define and shape life courses. Research in Human Development 1(3): 161–187.Google Scholar
Mayhew, C (2005) The OHS ‘double whammy’: adolescent workers who are precariously employed. Journal of Occupational Health and Safety of Australia and New Zealand 21(2): 131–140.Google Scholar
Morgan, G, Wood, J and Nelligan, P (2013) Beyond the vocational fragments: creative work, precarious labour and the idea of ‘flexploitation’. Economic and Labour Relations Review 24(3): 397–415.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
NSW Teachers Federation (2007) ‘You’re Gold … If You’re 15 Years Old’: The Perceived Impact of WorkChoices on Youth Employment and Education in NSW. Sydney, NSW, Australia: NSW Teachers Federation.Google Scholar
Patton, W and Smith, E (2009) Part-time work of high school students and impact on educational outcomes. Australian Journal of Guidance and Counselling 19(2): 216–224.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pech, J, Nelms, L, Yuen, K, et al . (2009) Retail Trade Industry Profile. Canberra, ACT, Australia: Australian Fair Pay Commission (Research report 7/09).Google Scholar
Pocock, B and Charlesworth, S (2015) Multilevel work-family interventions: creating good-quality employment over the life course. Work and Occupations. Epub ahead of print. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0730888415619218.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pocock, B and Skinner, N (2012) Good jobs, bad jobs and the Australian experience. In: Warhurst, C, Carré, F, Findlay, F, et al . (eds) Are Bad Jobs Inevitable? Trends, Determinants and Responses to Job Quality in the Twenty-First Century. London: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 61–77.Google Scholar
Price, R (2015) Controlling routine front line service workers: an Australian retail supermarket case. Work, Employment and Society. Epub ahead of print. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0950017015601778.Google Scholar
Price, R, Bailey, J and Pyman, A (2014) Varieties of collaboration: the case of an Australian retail union. The International Journal of Human Resource Management 25(6): 748–761.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Price, R, Bailey, J, McDonald, P, et al . (2011) Employers and child workers: an institutional approach. Industrial Relations Journal 42(3): 220–235.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Productivity Commission (2011) Economic structure and performance of the Australian retail industry. Report no. 56. Canberra, ACT, Australia: Productivity Commission. Available: http://www.pc.gov.au/inquiries/completed/retail-industry/report/retail-industry.pdf (accessed 1 April 2016).Google Scholar
Rafferty, M and Yu, S (2010) Shifting risk: work and working life in Australia. A report for the Australian Council of Trade Unions. Sydney, NSW, Australia: Workplace Research Centre, University of Sydney. Available at: http://library.bsl.org.au/jspui/bitstream/1/2111/1/Shifting-Risk-report.pdf (accessed 1 April 2016)Google Scholar
Rodgers, G (1989) Precarious work in Western Europe: The state of the debate. In: Rodgers, G and Rodgers, J (eds) Precarious Jobs in Labour Market Regulation: The Growth of Atypical Employment in Western Europe. Geneva: International Institute for Labour Studies, pp. 1–16.Google Scholar
Rubery, J (2005) The shaping of work and working time in the service sector: a segmentation approach. In: Bosch, G and Lehndorff, S (eds) Working in the Service Sector: A Tale from Different Worlds.: Routledge, pp. 261–288.Google Scholar
Sargeant, M and Tucker, E (2009) Layers of vulnerability in occupational health and safety for migrant workers: case studies from Canada and the United Kingdom. Research Report no. 8. Osgood Hall Law School, York University. Available at: http://digitalcommons.osgoode.yorku.ca/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1123&;context=clpe (accessed 1 April 2016).Google Scholar
Sayer, A (2000) Realism and Social Science. London: SAGE.Google Scholar
Smith, E (2004) Teenage employability: views of employers. Youth Studies Australia 23(4): 47–53.Google Scholar
Smith, E and Patton, W (2009) School students and part-time work: workplace problems and challenges. Youth Studies Australia 28(3): 21–30.Google Scholar
Smith, E and Patton, W (2011) Employers’ management of part-time student labour. In: Price, R, McDonald, P, Bailey, J, et al . (eds) Young People and Work. Surrey: Ashgate, pp. 203–221.Google Scholar
Standing, G (2011) The Precariat: The New Dangerous Class. London: Bloomsbury Academic.Google Scholar
Stewart, A and Van der Waarden, N (2011) Regulating youth work: lessons from Australia and the United Kingdom. In: Price, R, McDonald, P, Bailey, J, et al . (eds) Young People and Work. Surrey: Ashgate, pp. 185–202.Google Scholar
Stones, R (2009) Theories of social action. In: Turner, B (ed.) The New Blackwell Companion to Social Theory. London: Blackwell, pp. 83–105.Google Scholar
Thompson, P and Vincent, S (2010) Labour process theory and critical realism. In: Thompson, P and Smith, C (eds) Working Life: Renewing Labour Process Analysis. London: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 47–69.Google Scholar
Underhill, E and Quinlan, M (2011) How precarious employment affects health and safety at work: the case of temporary agency workers. Relations Industrielles/Industrial Relations 66(3): 397–421.Google Scholar
Vickers, M (2011) Juggling school and work and making the most of both. In Price, R, McDonald, P, Bailey, J and Pini, B (eds) Young People and Work. Surrey: Ashgate, pp. 105–120.Google Scholar
Vosko, L (2010) Managing the Margins: Gender, Citizenship, and the International Regulation of Precarious Employment. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Vosko, L, MacDonald, M and Campbell, I (eds) (2009) Gender and the Contours of Precarious Employment. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Waite, L (2009) A place and space for a critical geography of precarity? Geography Compass 3(1): 412–433.Google Scholar
Watson, I (1994) ‘Music while you work’: teenage women in the Australian labour market, 1947 to 1992. Australian Journal of Social Issues 29(4): 377–406.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Watson, I (2005) Contented workers in inferior jobs? Re-assessing casual employment in Australia. Journal of Industrial Relations 47(4): 371–392.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Woodman, D (2012) Life out of synch: how new patterns of further education and the rise of precarious employment are reshaping young people’s relationships. Sociology 46(6): 1074–1090.Google Scholar
Wyn, J, Cuervo, H, Smith, G, et al . (2010) Young people negotiating risk and opportunity: post-school transitions 2005–2009. Research report 32, Youth Research Centre, Melbourne Graduate School of Education, University of Melbourne. Available at: http://web.education.unimelb.edu.au/yrc/linked_documents/RR32.pdf Google Scholar