Within Australia and in Europe. there is evidence of growth in the incidence of non¬standard forms of employment such as part-time and casual work. Part of this growth can be attributed to changes in the structure of the economy and the increasing importance of service industries where non-standard forms of employment proliferate. There is also evidence, however, that employers at the firm level are progressively expanding their use of non-standard employment and reducing their reliance on full-time labour. One explanation for this organisational-level phenomena has been suggested by Atkinson (1987) in his account of the flexible firm. Atkinson claims that employers are increasingly attempting to divide the workforce into two major segments: a skilled, full-time core labour force and an unskilled, non-standard segment. This thesis examines Atkinsons flexible firm model through a study of labour-use practices of three acute hospitals in Queensland. A main finding of this thesis is the generalised and substantial growth of non-standard employment in all types of Queensland hospitals. The growth of non-standard hospital labour is not as, Atkinson would suggest, largely the result of demand-side strategies of employers but is also conditioned by supply-side factors. Gender, rather than skill, is found to be an important determinant of the proliferation of non-standard employment. Non-standard employment is not the major labour adjustment mechanism in all sectors of the hospital industry. Labour intensification is a critical and overlooked form of labour adjustment in the public sector. Overall, this thesis concludes that employers labour-use practices need to be conceptualised within the context of the opportunities and constraints imposed by the interaction of demand and supply-side factors.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ADTP/194861 |
| Date | January 1996 |
| Creators | Allan, Cameron, n/a |
| Publisher | Griffith University. Griffith Business School |
| Source Sets | Australiasian Digital Theses Program |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Rights | http://www.gu.edu.au/disclaimer.html), Copyright Cameron Allan |
Page generated in 0.0354 seconds