Job Quality in an Era of Flexibility

1Job quality in an era of flexibility

Introduction

Julia Kubisa and Pedro Mendonca

Throughout the most part of the last 20 years, flexibility has been viewed as a defining feature of relations in the labour and economic markets. The challenges of a globalising economy, the race for lower costs of production and the pressure to limit public spending have created a constant need to answer and to adapt to changes – by companies in the private sector and by public enterprises. This brought a prevalence of ‘no long term’ relationships, a short-term perspective and acceptance of risk that have become perceived as a norm in an everyday life shaped by the managerial discourse.

What about the working lives? While flexibility is increasingly recognised ...