Employment: A Key Idea for Business and Society introduces a topic that many of us take for granted yet is central to how we understand business and management. Most people work for the majority of their lives and, in recent years, employment has become a topic of popular debate, particularly asking what the future of work could be. Much of this has focused on the role of technology and automation, as well as the growth of the gig economy and new forms of work.
This book provides new ways to think about our own experiences of work and debates on employment. The book covers the history of employment, key changes to work, and a global perspective. The major debates in employment are introduced, providing theories for readers to develop their own perspectives. In particular, the book reappraises management theory, the role of workers’ agency in changing work, surveys the state of current research and methods, and sketches out the key changes on the horizon for employment.
This book will provide students with a critical introduction to employment, equipping them with the resources to research, understand, and rethink the topic.
Introduction: What is Employment and Why Does it Matter?
What is Employment?
Chapter 1: A Critical History of Employment
The Beginnings of Work
The Industrial Revolution
Exploitation
Scientific Management
Labour Process Theory
Struggles Over Employment in Britain
The Employment Relationship Today
Chapter 2: The Global Division of Labour
Employment Across the World
Imperialism
Reshaping Global Employment
Unemployment
Informal Work
Unpaid Labour
A Global View of Employment
Chapter 3: The Management of Work
Human Resource Management
Recruitment and Selection
Pay and Rewards
Retention, Engagement, and Turnover
Employee Voice
Management in Practice
Chapter 4: Key Dynamics of Contemporary Employment
State Regulation and Employment Rights
The Public Sector and the State as Employer
Post-Industrial Employment
Emotional Labour
Precarious Work
Platforms and the Gig Economy
Trade Union Decline and Renewal
Chapter 5: Researching Employment
A Brief History of Researching Employment
Research Questions for Understanding Employment
Research Ethics
Collecting Data
Quantitative research
Interviews
Ethnography
Why Research on Employment Matters
Chapter 6: Future(s) of Employment
The Different Futures of Work?
Academic Exercises
Biography
Dr Jamie Woodcock is a senior lecturer at the University of Essex and a researcher based in London. He is the author of The Fight Against Platform Capitalism (University of Westminster Press, 2021), The Gig Economy (Polity, 2019), Marx at the Arcade (Haymarket, 2019), and Working the Phones (Pluto, 2017). His research is inspired by workers’ inquiry and focuses on labour, work, the gig economy, platforms, resistance, organising, and video games. He is on the editorial board of Notes from Below and Historical Materialism.
