Employer Strategy and the Labour Market

The frenzied pace of industrial restructuring and the emergence of new employment policies have focused attention on the role of employers in determining the quantity and quality of employment. Drawing on important new data, the authors test, modify, and challenge many of the current determinants of employer policy and how these influence employment structures and individual employment opportunities. The study effectively synthesizes debates on labor market segmentation, flexibility, post-Fordism, deskilling, the gendering of work, and industrial relations. In their extension of these debates, the authors make significant progress on three fronts: they suggest that the determinants of employer policy are complex and are also strongly related to product market conditions; they find that employee attitudes and perceptions are critical to the implementation and effectiveness of employer policy; and most importantly they explore the interdependency between internal employment policies and external labor market conditions.