Corporate Restructuring and Employment Flexibility

Sandra Lundin

Paul Wymenga

Table of Content

Corporate Dimensions of Restructuring Dual Economy Theory Flexible Labour and Geographical

Strategies

Corporate Dimensions of Restructuring Labour Production and Technology Organisation Product Markets

Dual Economy Theory

Averitt and Galbrait Fordist Sector Competitive Sector

Dual Economy Theory (2)

Doeringer and Piore Primary Segment

Independent Segment Dependent Segment

Secondary Segment

Dual Economy Theory (3)

Atkinson Core Workers Peripheral Workers

Flexible Labour and Geographical Strategies Four Strategies Example: GM and Volvo

Peripheral workforces in new locations: the importance of women peripheral workforce: passive, low-waged,

hard working and stable suburbanization non-metropolitan industrialization offshore leaps to poor countries

search for female workers (some cases child labour)

the importance of women cont.

Female labour: lower wages less likely to be unionized easier to control

Women play a bigger role in jobs that are considered numerically and financially flexible

Married women and the suburbian option WWII-> women could perform the same

tasks as men 1950s-1960s: labour shortages.

Factory-skilled and low-cost women were available Society’s values:

men= breadwinners women’s labour= secondary/temporary

Support firms to pay less to women

Married women and the suburbian option cont. Why the Suburbs?

land costs land availability taxes find supply of married and single women (jobs

within walking distances)

Married women and the suburbian option cont. Spatial entrapment hypothesis

Women are entrapped within peripheral labour markets and spatially entrapped within distinct female labour markets

Critics:

-more complex view?

Single women and the Export Processing Zone option Developing countries:

greater availability of female workers lower wages and non-wage benefits Export Processing Zone (EPZ): provides low-cost

labour and tariff-free imports for export activities workers generally female, young and single the rights of the workers in EPZs are limited -> unprotected

by unions extremly low wages: (1991) Mexico: US$ 1.10-1.25 per hour Small non-wage benefits

Tapping child labour

largest amount in India, official count: 15,5 million (in reality: 50-100 million)

Pakistan: 20 million wages: as low as $8 /month Hand-stitched soccer balls Begin work at the age of 6

usually employed by local organizations MNCs tap into child labour through

subcontracting linkages

Nike’s overseas leaps

virtually all of Nike’s production has been subcontracted in pursuit of numerical and financially flexible labour

Developed Partners Volume Producers Developing sources

In Situ change and flexible labour

more difficult process than at new locations, especially in unionized factories where fordist labour relations are entrenched in tradition and law

Examples: NUMMI MacMillan Bloedl’s sawmill in Chemainus

Maintaining peripheral workforces in situ economic-wide increases in part-time and

temporary workers in the US and UK flexibility is a cause of declining union

power

Skill formation of doubly peripheral workforces Entreprise-specific skills:

acquired by workers over time increases in worker skills= increases in

worker productivityworker experienceability to deal with problemson-the-job-training (OJT)