Technology has driven new organisations of work and employment relationships, rendering changes that would have been unimaginable just a decade ago. The rise of digital platforms has not only enabled ...new forms of work activity but also transformed the way workers find new opportunities. This development, referred to as gig work, is distinct from traditional employment in that it is mediated through online platforms. While we can somewhat objectively designate traditional job characteristics as ‘good’ or ‘bad’, designating gig work itself as ‘good’ or ‘bad’ overlooks the fact that workers are inclined to evaluate the quality of their jobs according to their own individual needs, priorities, backgrounds and other circumstances—even if those jobs are objectively the same. Unlike previous scholarship on gig work, which has viewed job quality largely from a platform‐focused perspective, this article takes a worker‐centric approach and provides a typology of gig workers. The typology demarcates how gig work is used and indicates key attributes that differentiate how workers approach such jobs. Moreover, the typology reveals heterogeneity in gig workers’ motivations, characteristics and intentions. Consequently, platforms with ‘bad’ job quality characteristics can still offer work that some workers will see as ‘good’ and vice versa.
This paper is a comprehensive review of the research conducted over the past four decades in the domain of time-dependent scheduling, where variable processing times of jobs depend on when the jobs ...start. The paper is divided into four parts. The first part recalls some definitions and notions, introduces terminology, and defines the main models of time-dependent job processing times and the notation that is used throughout the paper. The second part summarizes four decades of time-dependent scheduling research, focusing on the computational complexity of time-dependent scheduling problems, and algorithms solving these problems. The results are divided into groups with respect to the machine environment and illustrated by examples. The third part concentrates on new topics in time-dependent scheduling, such as two-agent time-dependent scheduling, mutually related time-dependent scheduling problems, and time-dependent scheduling games. The last part discusses the most important time-dependent scheduling problems which still await solution. The paper is completed by bibliographic notes and an extensive list of references.
The aim of this study is to holistically synthesise the extent and range of literature relating to the employment of individuals with autism spectrum disorder. Database searches of Medline, CINAHL, ...PsychINFO, Scopus, ERIC, Web of Science and EMBASE were conducted. Studies describing adults with autism spectrum disorder employed in competitive, supported or sheltered employment were included. Content analysis was used to identify the strengths and abilities in the workplace of employees with autism spectrum disorder. Finally, meaningful concepts relating to employment interventions were extracted and linked to the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health Core Sets for autism spectrum disorder. The search identified 134 studies for inclusion with methodological quality ranging from limited to strong. Of these studies, only 36 evaluated employment interventions that were coded and linked to the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health, primarily focusing on modifying autism spectrum disorder characteristics for improved job performance, with little consideration of the impact of contextual factors on work participation. The International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health Core Sets for autism spectrum disorder are a useful tool in holistically examining the employment literature for individuals with autism spectrum disorder. This review highlighted the key role that environmental factors play as barriers and facilitators in the employment of people with autism spectrum disorder and the critical need for interventions which target contextual factors if employment outcomes are to be improved.
PurposeThe purpose of this study is to identify new psychosocial risk factors in the assessment of job demands and job resources in hospitality employment and to initiate the development of a ...psychosocial hospitality risk indicator (PHRI). The argument is underpinned by the findings from an exploratory study of health and safety representatives (HSE) in the hospitality sector.Design/methodology/approachUsing focus-group interviews with 15 HSE representatives from 13 hospitality companies in lodging, housekeeping, and food and beverage segments, this research explored perceived psychosocial risks in different hospitality jobs through the lens of the JD-R (job demands-job resources) model.FindingsThis study suggests that factors such as conditioned flexibility, technological requirements, multicultural workforce interactions, lack of support from customers and lack of emotion ventilation represent new risk factors in the psychosocial work environment if not properly managed. A list of items to assess these new psychosocial risks is provided, and a model of different knowledge sources for the further development of the PHRI is suggested.Originality/valueThis is the first paper to identify new psychosocial risks in hospitality employment through the lens of a health and safety work perspective. A key theoretical contribution of this research is the extension of the JD-R model with new variables representing service-specific job demands and resources and the development of items for future risk assessment in hospitality jobs.
•Tightness in markets for jobs for which an unemployed job seeker fully qualifies in terms of her task competencies is predictive of her unemployment duration.•The labour market is organized along ...jobs and their task content.•Task overlap across jobs is unimportant for worker mobility between job markets.•Adverse task-biased shocks have pronounced distributional consequences across workers with different task competencies.•Adjustment costs from automation are highly unevenly distributed across unemployed job seekers with routine versus non-routine task competencies.
We show that tightness in markets for jobs for which an unemployed job seeker fully qualifies in terms of her task competencies is predictive of her unemployment duration. This suggests that the labour market is organized along jobs and their task content. We also find that unemployed job seekers do not compete in markets where they possess only part of the required task competencies, suggesting that task overlap across jobs is unimportant for worker mobility between job markets. This implies that adverse task-biased shocks are likely to have pronounced distributional consequences across workers with different task competencies. To illustrate this, we quantify the impact of technological progress that automates routine tasks, showing that this imposes substantial adjustment costs that are highly unevenly distributed across unemployed job seekers with routine versus non-routine task competencies.
This article focuses on demands and interventions to improve or maintain job quality. There is a need for better understanding of what can be done, by whom, and with what impacts. The article ...provides a framework for reflection focused on interventions within and outwith the workplace. Drawing on secondary data, it outlines the renewed policy and academic interest in job quality, examines the multilevel reasons for intervention and the factors that shape this intervention, and evaluates the loci of intervention. On the basis of the evidence to date, it argues that there is scope for intervention and that intervention can be effective.
Drawing on sedentary behavior and Job Demands‐Resources theory, we developed a new scale for assessing office job sitting demand, conceptualized as job demand, and validated it using two independent ...samples. In Study 1 (N = 252), we developed the items and tested the Office Job Sitting Demand scales' factor structure through exploratory factor analysis. In Study 2 (N = 248), we tested the scales' factorial validity through confirmatory factor analysis. Indicators of measurement invariance showed no differences between participants who engage in leisure‐time sport and participants who do not. Moreover, we tested convergent, discriminant, and criterion validity. We found significant positive associations with exhaustion, work pressure, and musculoskeletal complaints. The construct was unrelated to proactive vitality management and relaxation. Our results illustrate the relation between this new job demand in the workplace with employee well‐being. Based on our findings, this newly developed instrument is valid and reliable and can be used to assess office job sitting demand to prevent burnout and health complaints.
A major focus of sociological research is on the role of the credential as a 'currency of opportunity', mediating the relationship between education and occupational destinations. However, the labour ...market has largely remained a 'black box' in sociological and education policy studies. This article draws on 'big data' from over 21,000,000 job adverts to explore how employers in the UK describe job requirements, with particular reference to the role of credentials. It challenges existing theories premised upon the notion that higher levels of formal education determine individual (dis)advantage in the competition for jobs. Although they have different views of the relationship between credentials, opportunity and efficiency, these theories assume that credentials largely determine occupational hiring. Our analysis suggests that formal academic credentials play a relatively minor differentiating role in the UK labour market, as the majority of employer's place greater emphasis on 'job readiness'. This raises a number of issues for sociological and policy analysis, including the future role of credentials in the (re)production of educational and labour market inequalities. Methodologically, the article highlights how the use of big data can contribute to the analysis of education, skills and the labour market.
PDF
