Developing or Degrading Young Workers? How Business Strategy and the Labour Process Shape Job Quality across Different Industrial Sectors in England
研究英格兰六个雇主的工作质量差异，发现先进制造业和创意数字行业工作质量高，而商业服务业低，工作质量取决于雇主需求，培训可改善但需需求侧干预。
This article explores variations in job quality for young workers by analysing six employers across three industrial sectors of Greater Manchester, an English city-region. Four aspects of job quality are examined because of their centrality in shaping how youth labour-power is deployed in the labour process: technological utilisation, work-rate, autonomy and discretion, and opportunities for training and career progression. Primary data were collected from 30 semi-structured interviews with business owners, managers, young workers and from workplace observations. Findings reveal job quality is high in advanced manufacturing and creative and digital sectors, but low in business services. Job quality is shaped by the nature of commodity production and accompanying labour process. Development or degradation of young workers in the labour process depends largely on the requirements of the employer, as few countervailing pressures exist. Training provision improves job quality, but demand-side interventions are required to generate sustainable good jobs for young workers.