Large-Scale Surveys in Measuring Flexible Employment in the UK - Essay Example

EFFECTIVENESS OF LARGE SCALE SURVEYS TO MEASURE FLEXIBLE EMPLOYMENT IN THE UK Over two decades or so, the nature of the employment in the UK has been transformed from regular jobs to work, which is more of a flexible nature. There are no assurances of job stability. It is a generally accepted view that this change is now widespread. Driven partly by the US model, tomorrow' new work environment will take in the flexibility of a "knowledge driven" IT economy with really no guarantees of life time employment. To provide insights into the possible forms this new employment model will morph into, large-scale surveys have been carried out. The claims being made are verified against the present situation. The future is unpredictable. The stupendous growth of the Internet and of computing power was hardly foreseen. Similarly, it is difficult to see with any clarity how these present drivers of the "new economy" will be changing the world of work and related issues. All that is known for sure is that the changes will be equally unpredictable and diverse. Work in the new economy or the information age is fundamentally different fro the industrial economy. The world is shifting to the "New Wave" information technology led economy. However, regulatory environments, social norms or academic research have to cope with both industrial age and new economy at the same time. It is generally accepted through large-scale surveys on the changes in employment that, above all, flexible employment is here to stay. What is not clear from surveys is the definition of what such work should be. In any case, the present version of flexible employment fails to keep pace with fast changing technological environments in Britain. Surveys, government sponsored or funded by private bodies, do not show how trends in employment impact families, gender specific situations, and the work force in general. A flexible work force is paid normal rates to fulfil work, which is just adequate to require its services. The question is tied to fiscal and business issues. This deserves to be examined with the relevant perspectives in mind. Current research needs to adapt to changing situation. (Tones & Tilford, 2001) This is not merely an academic concern. An effective solution needs to be found for the problem of mismatch in skilled labour versus demand. The search for a solution merges academic and business based research bearing on fiscal and regulatory measures governing business, the needs and motivations of the labour force. The greatest problems are not technical. In fact, employees realize the imperatives for change and are open minded to it. The technology required is at hand and improves all the time. What is required is convincing academic research to support the business environment. What business will require at this point of time is guidance on how to implement and manage flexibility in the work place. Issues of social security and taxation within business remain firmly rooted in the industrial age. Clearly academic research is not keeping up with the pace of change experienced in the real world. Change is taking place in the world of work, which is indicated by a shift in emphasis from norms of permanent employment at one location. The academic community is equipped to face challenges at the macro level, and can influence governments, and suggest answers to questions raised about work in an emerging new economy. Nevertheless, ongoing research and surveys will be effective if the reality of the emerging work environments is accepted. We are already living the future. (King, 2005) The rise of services The traditional manufacturing sector measured as a share of GNP and in terms of numbers employed has declined in all mature industrial economies. On the other hand, the service sector has had a healthy growth, often complementing industrial processes. However, many of the new services are in fact industry-related services. For example, an in-house design team working for a manufacturer would be counted within manufacturing industry. A design consultancy providing the same services as an outsourced supplier would be part of the service sector. It is tempting therefore, to wish away the end of industrial society. Nonetheless, there has been a marked change in the way in which goods and services are purchased in the real world as well as a change in consumer behaviour already mentioned. In its present state, work is not restricted by territory or geography. More than ever, it is now less confined to fixed locations. The expansion in communications and developing technology implies that employees need not be based in one spot, nor even be present in the said location even if they work for the same organization or company location. Bigger volumes of work can be distributed as it becomes easier to cooperate on an information technology platform - work may be outsourced. (Lamb, 2004) Outsourcing The Conservative government's determination to privatize the public sector, and the combination of business school mantras, has resulted in organizations showing over recent years a developing interest in outsourcing. Private sector organizations have had to face greater intensity of competition, the growing speed and consequent cheapness of information transfer, increasing customer demands and the consequences of recession. These issues have encouraged outsourcing by generating questions about efficiency. Thus there has been : a realization that the costs of transactions between organizations may well be less than the benefits to be obtained by carrying out work internally, a need to meet higher quality standards and respond to the use of just in time (JIT) production methods, a requirement to be updated with the growing sophistication in office technology, a realization of priorities in dealing with structural change, including the necessity of deciding whether to dispose of or assimilate activities and growing desire to change attitudes, behaviour and values through organizational transformation. For those in the public sector, outsourcing largely conforms to the terms of Compulsory Competitive Tendering. Since 1979, governments have worked on the principle that services should be provided by the most cost effective supplier determined by competition in the market. (Peckham, 2003) Drawback of Research A very large portion of service work provided does not really demand co-ordination at a particular point of time. This enables more opportunities for flexibility in work. However, many academic surveys presume outdated notions of fixed hours work for a single employer and in a single location. It is costly, ultimately pointless to reverse trends deeply entrenched in the economy, and which are clearly part of wider changes across industrialized economies. The end of the 1970s did mark a structural shift away from very large manufacturing plants. It would be very difficult now to return. Particularly, to the labour market edifices set up almost thirty years ago. The truth is something that remains rooted in academic arguments. The notions of fixed work are already on their way out or have completely vanished in the world of work - witness the information technology sector. The principle working here is that work needs to be finished - and time is seamless, that is, divided into 24 effective hours of work -no fixed hours are prescribed. (Moon, 2000) The issue for surveys and research is how are norms changing, and, in perpetually changing circumstances, are present norms themselves normal An acceptable definition of the non-conventional or flexible workforce takes in its fold self employed people, part-time and temporary or 'temp' workers. Categories such as permanently employed teleworkers, where there is flexibility only in the location where functional work is carried out - do not necessarily form part of this definition. Using this broad definition, the 'flexible workforce' has, according to a UK Labour survey, increased steadily over the last three decades from less than 24% in 1979. Most of the growth in the first part of this period was in self-employment. Part-time workers increased in numbers while full-time workers hardly increased at all. For employers, only this portion of the work force undoubtedly increases labour flexibility. The traditional definition of factors of production now has to be reframed with this new category of work, rapidly increasing in numbers. Temporary workers increased only slightly in numbers during the 1980s, rapidly in the early 1990s, and now, into the new millennium, they are changing the face of industry in the UK. (Naidoo & Wills, 2001) Evolving model The 'flexible firm' is often described as one that chooses to work into two levels: a core team of permanent workers performing key tasks and a periphery of non-standard workers. Peripheral workers include casual and temporary employees, freelancers and other subcontractors. Those in the latter group protect the core group from changes in demand. The model was articulated by academics towards the end of the 1980's showing the essential roles maintained by core employees. To help determine its validity the Employment Department of the UK government commissioned a number of studies and a major survey - the Employers' Labour Use Strategies (ELUS) in the mid 90's. The ELUS project concluded that few employers were adopting a new flexibility strategy. Rather, most non-standard employment was used for traditional reasons, as a reaction to changes in demand levels or for non-permanent or recurring tasks or simply because sufficient full-time, permanent employees were unavailable. Reviews that are more recent have arrived at similar conclusions. There was no substantial evidence of a general trend moving consciously to a similar model, which would have explained the growth in non-standard employment. If the model has any validity, it is limited to the fact that, towards the end of the 20th century, flexible or temporary work was at the margin. This survey needs to be continued into the present years of the new millennium. There is enough evidence presently on view, suggesting that the flexible work model is evolving. A new survey would suggest that employers are increasingly taking a strategic rather than a tactical approach to flexible employment presently in the UK. (Naidoo & Wills, 2000) The Past is no guide Something that should be clear from the above when viewed from the present perspective is that the past is not a reliable guide to the future. Research is carried out in an increasingly uncertain environment. Factors responsible for this uncertainty are evolving social and industrial paradigms and above all, the pace of technological development. Communications and technology developments impact costs. What this means is that things considered expensive to do have become cheaper by the sheer magnitude of numbers within a single decade - take the Internet and mobile communications. Much of the research reviewed above was based on data collected before the internet was transformed by the adoption of HTML into the world-wide-web. In addition, the total number of email addresses in the UK now exceeds the number of households, which were then surveyed. Yet these tools and the prospect of low cost, high bandwidth digital networking, and high-speed internet access via mobile radio or GPRS or third generation mobile telephony (UMTS), indirectly influence the steadily growing trend toward flexible working through their effect on production processes. They also directly influence social networks and their application is changing faster than the research can record them. (Naidoo & Wills, 2001) The Future As the UK (and the world) moves from the second to the third industrial revolution- also known by labels such as the new economy, or information society or age - many employees will experience a work life very different to the norm of the past. There are related issues like training and skills development, which are in them subjects of research in the UK. Old economy working is a product of the industrial revolution and traditional economics. Like most fashion or trends, the fact that something new has now emerged which is capable of being labelled, studied and analyzed becomes apparent only at a distance. People and researchers alike are trying to grips with the new situations having to be confronted and maintained, for example, recent studies show the number of part time female employees rising due to work being seen as a major factor by women in maintaining family and domestic duties. Bibliography: KING, H; (2005) 2nd ed. Survey Today: Tools and Techniques. Dunedin: HBT & Brooks Ltd. LAMB, DAVIS; (2004) 3rd ed. Cult to Culture: The Development of Civilization on the Strategic Strata. Wellington: National Book Trust MOON JA (2000) Reflection in Learning and Professional Development, Kogan Page NAIDOO J. & WILLS J; (2000) 2nd Ed. Promotion; Foundations for Practice; London, Baillire Tindall NAIDOO J. AND WILLS J (2001) (eds.) Employment Studies: An Introduction Basingstoke, Palgrave. PECKHAM S (2003) Primary Survey Policies in the UK: Organisation and Management, Palgrave Macmillan TONES K., TILFORD S. (Eds) (2001) 2nd Ed. Employment in UK: Effectiveness, Efficiency and Equity. London, Chapman Hall Read More