Varieties of flexibilisation? The working lives of information and communications technology professionals in the UK and Germany

Kinsella, P., Williams, S., Scott, P. and Fontinha, R. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2390-098X (2021) Varieties of flexibilisation? The working lives of information and communications technology professionals in the UK and Germany. New Technology, Work and Employment, 36 (3). pp. 409-428. ISSN 1468-005X doi: 10.1111/ntwe.12204

Abstract/Summary

One feature of ‘flexibilisation’ concerns the growth of more individualised employment arrangements and career trajectories less connected to employing organisations. Informed by the Varieties of Capitalism approach, which emphasises the embeddedness of employment practices within discrete types of capitalist market economy, and based on rich qualitative data from interviews with 32 self-employed and directly-employed ICT professionals in the UK and Germany, we investigate comparative variation in their experience of flexibilisation. The research findings indicate some commonality, particularly in respect of perceptions of independence, but also highlight notable differences with regard to work pressures and insecurity. The paper advances theory by characterising two discrete varieties of flexibilisation, a ‘liberalised’ form evident in the UK, and a more ‘regulated’ type apparent in Germany, contributing to a better understanding of comparative differences in flexibilisation.

Item Type	Article
URI	https://reading-clone.eprints-hosting.org/id/eprint/97948
Identification Number/DOI	10.1111/ntwe.12204
Refereed	Yes
Divisions	Henley Business School > International Business and Strategy
Publisher	Wiley
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