Projects / Programmes
The segmentation of non-standard employment in Slovenia
| Code |
Science |
Field |
Subfield |
| 5.03.00 |
Social sciences |
Sociology |
|
| Code |
Science |
Field |
| S210 |
Social sciences |
Sociology |
| Code |
Science |
Field |
| 5.04 |
Social Sciences |
Sociology |
segmentation of non-standard employment, precarious work, lawful/unlawful work, formal/informal work
Researchers (7)
Organisations (2)
Abstract
In the context of the general liberalization/flexibilization of employment regimes, the traditional divisions into the primary and secondary segments within the internal and external labour markets (Loveridge in Mok, 1979) have been changing. Non-standard employment relations are rapidly expanding and becoming internally segmented. The economic situation of those included in the secondary (internal and external) labour markets, that is, of those employees with ‘secondary’ standard and non-standard jobs, has a tendency to deteriorate, while the competition and polarization of interests amongst those groups of employees continue to exist.
Our project proposal proceeds from the results of three previous research projects (the fundamental research Prospects for Desegmentation of the Labour Market, PRECARIR, and PRECARIOUS international projects). The main finding of those studies was that the split on the labour market in Slovenia grew in the wake of the economic crisis. Between 2015 and 2016, the proportion of full-time employees indeed increased slightly (SURS, LFS), but at the same time the cumulative share of various types of non-standard employment relations also increased while the unemployment rate dropped.
This finding exposed two unresolved issues concerning the labour market segmentation theory and public policy. First, why the segmentation of non-standard employment in Slovenia continues, and second, why the situation of some groups of workers in low-income standard employment relations is nearing the situation of the most disadvantaged group of workers in non-standard employment relations?
The subject of our research project is the segmentation of non-standard employment in Slovenia across four sectors. Accordingly, various types of non-standard employment relations will be studied within the manufacturing, the retail sector, the information and communication sector and the scientific sector.
The main goal of the project is to describe and explain the inter-sectoral segmentation of the labour market in Slovenia. The research will focus on the analysis of the sector-specific traits of non-standard employment relations and on the sector-determined combination of standard and non-standard types of employment.
Within this framework, we will focus on several research questions:
The extent of (non)standard employment and related trends within various sectors, presented longitudinally and in comparison with international (EU) data.
The common and sector-specific factors of (non)standard employment in the four sectors covered by the study.
The sources of power available to workers with standard and non-standard jobs viewed from the perspective of worker substitutability on the one hand and institutional environment on the other.
The characteristics of interest-based (trade union) organizations and institutional mechanisms which enable (or prevent) the articulation of interests of workers with (non)standard jobs and their realization. The ways in which the presence (or absence) of trade union organization of employees with non-standard jobs influences the organizational capacity of regular employees.
The socio-economic impacts of standard/non-standard employment in four selected sectors.
The research team plans to achieve the said goals using two research approaches:
Quantitative data analysis – the analysis of data on (non)standard employment relations within four sectors in Slovenia (longitudinal comparison and comparison with the EU data)
Qualitative research – case studies of (non)standard employment relations in various companies in four sectors. The fieldwork will encompass 8 companies (two in each sector). The data will be collected using semi-structured in-depth interviews.
Significance for science
Non-standard work and reforms aimed at preventing the segmentation of the labour force market are the issues of ever-increasing importance in social sciences. However, a review of literature has shown that contemporary research studies have been relying on descriptive notions and existing legal categories, so the resulting interpretations are dichotomous and research of precarious work is invariably set against its antipode, that is, standard employment relations (SER). This is a serious conceptual obstacle that exacerbates (theoretical and empirical) research on the de-standardization of work, prevents assessment of the real extent of precarious work and its distribution across sectors, and last but not least, hampers the preparation of efficient measures and policies targeted at restricting the precarious work.
Our study will contribute to the development of the social science in several ways.
It will develop and operationalize a new conceptual apparatus which will take the research of precarious work beyond the limits of SER-centrism, which will enable us to analyse actual employment relations.
It will identify the acceptable (and in some cases privileged) types of non-standard employment as well as differentiation and segmentation processes within the area of precarious non-standard employment relations;
It will make a quantitative assessment of various types of precarious work in Slovenia and its distribution across sectors (along the transversal dividing lines of formal/informal and lawful/unlawful employment).
It will ensure the scientific basis for the statistical monitoring of precarious work that will reach beyond the binary opposition standard/non-standard employment.
It will analyse the causes for the expansion of precarious work.
Social dialogue is necessary to achieve a compromise between companies' need for greater flexibility and workers' needs for greater protection (the flexible security approach) on all levels of collective negotiations (Ibsen and Mailand, 2011; Marginson and Galetto, 2016). Our research project will change the traditional perspective commonly used when assessing the potential of the social dialogue in the regulation of the labour market, because it will also analyse the counter effects, that is, the impact of employment de-standardization on the ability of social partners to conduct a social dialogue on the sectoral and national levels. The research project will therefore:
deepen the knowledge about the social effects of employment de-standardization and precarisation of work in various sectors of the economy;
extend the study of the immediate effects of non-standard employment to assess the impact of employment de-standardization on the potential of social partners to efficiently contribute to the regulation of the labour force market;
redefine the guidelines for measures to restrict precarious work while not obstructing the development of acceptable (flexible) types of non-standard employment, and provide the tools for their evaluation.
Significance for the country
Non-standard work and reforms aimed at preventing the segmentation of the labour force market are the issues of ever-increasing importance in social sciences. However, a review of literature has shown that contemporary research studies have been relying on descriptive notions and existing legal categories, so the resulting interpretations are dichotomous and research of precarious work is invariably set against its antipode, that is, standard employment relations (SER). This is a serious conceptual obstacle that exacerbates (theoretical and empirical) research on the de-standardization of work, prevents assessment of the real extent of precarious work and its distribution across sectors, and last but not least, hampers the preparation of efficient measures and policies targeted at restricting the precarious work.
Our study will contribute to the development of the social science in several ways.
It will develop and operationalize a new conceptual apparatus which will take the research of precarious work beyond the limits of SER-centrism, which will enable us to analyse actual employment relations.
It will identify the acceptable (and in some cases privileged) types of non-standard employment as well as differentiation and segmentation processes within the area of precarious non-standard employment relations;
It will make a quantitative assessment of various types of precarious work in Slovenia and its distribution across sectors (along the transversal dividing lines of formal/informal and lawful/unlawful employment).
It will ensure the scientific basis for the statistical monitoring of precarious work that will reach beyond the binary opposition standard/non-standard employment.
It will analyse the causes for the expansion of precarious work.
Social dialogue is necessary to achieve a compromise between companies' need for greater flexibility and workers' needs for greater protection (the flexible security approach) on all levels of collective negotiations (Ibsen and Mailand, 2011; Marginson and Galetto, 2016). Our research project will change the traditional perspective commonly used when assessing the potential of the social dialogue in the regulation of the labour market, because it will also analyse the counter effects, that is, the impact of employment de-standardization on the ability of social partners to conduct a social dialogue on the sectoral and national levels. The research project will therefore:
deepen the knowledge about the social effects of employment de-standardization and precarisation of work in various sectors of the economy;
extend the study of the immediate effects of non-standard employment to assess the impact of employment de-standardization on the potential of social partners to efficiently contribute to the regulation of the labour force market;
redefine the guidelines for measures to restrict precarious work while not obstructing the development of acceptable (flexible) types of non-standard employment, and provide the tools for their evaluation.
Most important scientific results
Interim report
Most important socioeconomically and culturally relevant results
