Summaries
Variable perspectives at the lower end of the la bour market
P. de Beer
The high unemployment level of low educated people is often attributed to the destruction of low-skilled and low-paid jobs. However, on closer examination it turns out that the lower segment of the labour market is far less homo genous than is often assumed and the number of jobs has been quite stable over the last deca des. The lower segment falls into three catego ries. First, unskilled, low-paid and flexible jobs, second, 'traditional' low-skilled manual work, mainly permanent full-time jobs, and third, part-time service jobs. As a result of the transition to a post-industrial labour market the second category shrinks while the first and third category are growing. Low-skilled people who lose their job in the second category ei ther are not interested in a flexible or part-time job or are not eligible for those jobs because they lack the required socio-normative skills. Employment, unemployment and the vacuum between citizen and municipality
A.C.L. Romme
This article deals with the need for institutio nal renewal in order to substantially reduce unemployment levels in the (Dutch) welfare state. The key question here is : what is the pos sible contribution of the circular organization approach to the analysis and solution of the unemployment problem. This approach is par ticularly interesting in view of the idea that the current relationship between market mecha nisms and the social security system is based on construction errors which disturb the la bour market. A detailed analysis of these con struction errors is currently missing, which in turn makes it impossible to create effective
unemployment policies. In this respect, a key construction error appears to be the so-called institutional vacuum between the municipali ty and its citizens. The principles of circular or ganizing can be used to fill in this vacuum in an effective manner.
Success determining factors in the apprentice ship system
L. Borghans en W. Smits
A firm may employ apprentices because of di rect benefits or because of future benefits. It can be argued that the labour market position of someone who has completed an apprentices hip depends partly on the motives his training firm had for employing him. If the direct bene fits were the main reason to employ him, his labour market position will in general be worse than in the case that future benefits were of more importance. This is firstly, because in the case of future benefits, an apprenticeship place reflects a future need for skilled workers. Se condly, the quality of the training will also de pend on the firm's motives. Firms that expect to have future benefits from training will be more concerned with the quality of the trai ning than firms that are only interested in di rect benefits. In this article we examine the re lation between characteristics of an apprenti ceship place and the future labour market posi tion of the apprentice.
Qualification strategies in the agricultural sector
M. van Woerkom, R. le Riitte en L. Nieuwenhuis This article describes the results of a research on qualification strategies and bottlenecks in qualification supply in the agriculture sector. About 350 greenhouses, landscape gardening contractors and food industries were examined
Summaries by means of a questionnaire. The results show
that little thought is given to the position of employees in these companies. Managers do not regard employees as a strategic factor in which should be invested. Training and person nel management are used occasionally but are not related to company policies. Furthermore, the results show that many agriculture compa nies experience problems with both perma nent and temporary staff. Employees are insuf ficiently motivated, they do not have the requi red working experience nor the appropriate working pace. Finally, the article reports on the testing of a conceptual model which specifies relations between features of companies, featu res of the environment, bottlenecks in qualifi cation supply and qualification strategies. Labour in a consumer driven agriculture J.H.A Hillebrand, C. Lokhorst en H.W.J. Donkers To study labour problems that are related to changing market orientations, a model has been developed. The model describes the set up of an organisation. The external relations of an organisation with its surroundings, the pro duction market and the labour market, are de scribed. Within an organisation the relations
between the internally available labour, the production organisation, the production tech nique, the labour organisation, and the labour quality are described. Labour quality consists of labour contents, labour conditions, labour relations, and terms of employment. The m o del is used to describe the agricultural situation where the production was supply-driven. Orga nisations showed some Tayloristic characteris tics. Since the late eighties organisations are being transformed to a more consumer driven production organisation. This situation is also described, with emphasis on the team produc tion and the lean production approach.
Sociotechnical promises L. Bervoets
The modern sociotechnical system theory has developed itself as a superior design theory in the debate with sociotechnical and labour pro cess theory. This article supposes that scolarly success can be ascribed not only to theoretical en practical, but also to rhetorical qualities. The main conclusion of the article is that m o dern sociotechnical theory has more in com mon with taylorism as a theory and with the la bour process theory as shows at first glance.
