{"title":"Bubbles of Belonging at Work: Redrawing Boundaries of Inclusion and Exclusion in UK Restaurants during Brexit","authors":"Laura J Reeves, Emma Bell","doi":"10.1177/09500170251350063","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/09500170251350063","url":null,"abstract":"This article examines how Brexit affected EU migrants’ sense of belonging at work by drawing on empirical data from a study of workers in the UK restaurant sector. Brexit was a political project of belonging that led to the formation of new communities at work based on citizenship and national identity. These ‘bubbles’ provided a sense of belonging for EU migrant workers during a period of heightened socio-political tension about migration. However, these bubbles were ruptured by conflict between EU migrants and other workers and managers, and by interactions with customers who become a conduit for socio-political issues to enter the workplace. The article highlights the problems with workplace community building as a strategy of solidarity in political contexts where societal belonging is disrupted. While bubbles of belonging create temporary safe spaces at work, by raising awareness of difference between groups they become a divisive approach to managing employee relations.","PeriodicalId":48187,"journal":{"name":"Work Employment and Society","volume":"34 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2025-08-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144766103","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Gender Role Attitudes and the Reproduction of Occupational Sex Segregation: An Analysis of Attitudes towards Women’s Voluntary Childlessness in Europe","authors":"Valeria Insarauto, Danilo Bolano","doi":"10.1177/09500170251348821","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/09500170251348821","url":null,"abstract":"This article contributes to the literature on gender role attitudes and the reproduction of occupational sex segregation by investigating how attitudes towards women’s voluntary childlessness relate to the embeddedness of individuals in sex-typed occupations. While previous studies have found that more favourable attitudes are more common among women than men, they have not established why this is so. We argue that the differing allocation of men and women to sex-typed occupations carries gender-specific pressures towards gender-role congruence, which are likely to shape the perceived costs of motherhood and, hence, attitudes towards female childlessness differently. We test this argument by drawing on European Social Survey data. Findings show that women with more favourable attitudes are most likely to work in male-dominated occupations and hold high-status positions, highlighting the enduring force and differentiated saliency of gender beliefs across sex-segregated occupations. We discuss the implications for the reproduction of occupational sex segregation.","PeriodicalId":48187,"journal":{"name":"Work Employment and Society","volume":"25 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2025-07-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144766108","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Computer Use and Digital Frustration in German Workplaces: Is There a Gendered Part-Time Gap?","authors":"Yvonne Lott, Andreas Hövermann","doi":"10.1177/09500170251351265","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/09500170251351265","url":null,"abstract":"The digital transformation may disproportionately disadvantage female part-time workers, as they are affected by the flexibility stigma and career penalties. In this article, we ask: Is there a gendered part-time gap in work-related computer use and digital frustration in Germany? Latent class analysis and multivariate analysis, based on data from Wave 12 (2019/20) of the German National Educational Panel Study (NEPS) Starting Cohort 6 – Adults, showed that women – and part-time working women in particular – were less likely than men to be classified as ‘advanced users’. Furthermore, part-time working women felt least well prepared for using networked digital technologies at work and were thus more at risk of experiencing digital frustration. These findings suggest that the triadic association between technology, power and masculinity postulated by feminist technology theory should be extended to include full-time work.","PeriodicalId":48187,"journal":{"name":"Work Employment and Society","volume":"37 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2025-07-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144748167","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Organizational Intersectionality: Do Gender and Migration Status Inequalities Reinforce or Offset Each Other in French Workplaces?","authors":"Olivier Godechot, Mirna Safi, Matthew Soener","doi":"10.1177/09500170251348848","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/09500170251348848","url":null,"abstract":"This study examines whether organizations with significant pay gaps along one dimension (gender, migration status, class, etc.) tend to exhibit similarly high inequalities along other dimensions, or whether there is a trade-off between inequality dimensions. Using French administrative data, it estimates correlations between class, gender and migrant workplace earnings gaps, and studies how these gaps also relate to a fourth measure of intra-categorical inequality. To ensure robust results, this article introduces innovative methods to address measurement biases that may distort the relationship between earnings gaps. It establishes three key patterns. First, the gender gap is higher in more unequal workplaces. Second, the migrant gap is higher in more equal workplaces. Third, gender and migrant earnings gaps are negatively correlated within workplaces. These results suggest that workplace inequality regimes are shaped by both reinforcing and trade-off dynamics. Finally, this article explores factors influencing these patterns and highlights the role of industries.","PeriodicalId":48187,"journal":{"name":"Work Employment and Society","volume":"56 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2025-07-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144766112","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Theo Nichols: A Personal Tribute","authors":"Peter Armstrong","doi":"10.1177/09500170251359966","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/09500170251359966","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":48187,"journal":{"name":"Work Employment and Society","volume":"32 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2025-07-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144715285","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Robotisation and Workforce Dynamics: Analysing Employment and Wage Effects within Manufacturing Establishments","authors":"Michael Otto, Martin Abraham","doi":"10.1177/09500170251351260","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/09500170251351260","url":null,"abstract":"This article explores the effects of increasing robot adoption on workforce composition, wages and wage inequality in the manufacturing sector. Using longitudinal data from the German Institute for Employment Research (IAB), industrial robot sales data and survey data from the IAB Establishment Panel, we examine the impact of robots on total employment and wage structures at the establishment level from 2008 to 2017. We find that while robotisation contributes to overall employment and wage growth, its effects vary across worker groups. High- and middle-skilled workers benefit more from employment and wage increases, whereas low-skilled and routine-intensive workers experience fewer gains. In contrast to skill-biased and task-biased technological change theories (SBTC and TBTC), robots do not significantly increase wage inequality within establishments. Instead, firms mitigate inequality, suggesting that organisational policies play a key role in shaping distributional outcomes. Works councils also influence wage dynamics, benefiting middle-skilled more than low-skilled workers.","PeriodicalId":48187,"journal":{"name":"Work Employment and Society","volume":"34 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2025-07-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144712164","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Change and Resistance in the Royal Mail: Dispatches from the 2022/2023 Postal Workers’ Strike","authors":"Daniel Evans, Karl Jones","doi":"10.1177/09500170251336938","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/09500170251336938","url":null,"abstract":"This article presents the experiences of ‘Karl’, a veteran postal worker and trade union organiser. Karl’s story outlines the impact of the myriad changes that have happened to the postal service and to the working life of postal workers since the privatisation of the Royal Mail in 2013. Karl highlights how new technologies – typically associated with the ‘gig economy’ – have permeated a formerly ‘low tech’, ‘traditional’ sector and have been used to intensify the labour process and discipline the workforce. Karl outlines the profound impact these changes have had on the postal workforce: eroding their autonomy, destroying their ‘leisure in work’ and affecting their physical and mental health. Karl’s story also demonstrates the persistence of the ‘public service ethos’ in the Royal Mail despite privatisation. Workers argued that the ‘modernisation’ of the postal service had in fact led to the neglect of the universal mail service and the attendant erosion of the historic community function and status of the postal worker.","PeriodicalId":48187,"journal":{"name":"Work Employment and Society","volume":"23 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2025-07-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144693951","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Book Review: Roland Erne, Sabina Stan, Darragh Golden, Imre Szabó and Vincenzo Maccarrone, Politicising Commodification: European Governance and Labour Politics from the Financial Crisis to the Covid Emergency ErneRolandStanSabinaGoldenDarraghSzabóImreMaccarroneVincenzoPoliticising Commodification: European Governance and Labour Politics from the Financial Crisis to the Covid EmergencyCambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2024, $39.99 pbk, (ISBN: 9781009054362), 411 pp.","authors":"Ian Greer","doi":"10.1177/09500170251359134","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/09500170251359134","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":48187,"journal":{"name":"Work Employment and Society","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2025-07-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144677246","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Book Review: Alan Middleton, The Informal Sector in Ecuador: Artisans, Entrepreneurs and Precarious Family Firms MiddletonAlanThe Informal Sector in Ecuador: Artisans, Entrepreneurs and Precarious Family FirmsNew York: Routledge, 2023, £42.99 pbk, (ISBN: 9781032570723), 308 pp.","authors":"Bishnuprasad Mohapatra","doi":"10.1177/09500170251350070","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/09500170251350070","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":48187,"journal":{"name":"Work Employment and Society","volume":"706 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2025-07-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144612864","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Developing a Standard Measure of Job Quality","authors":"Chris Warhurst, Angela Knox, Sally Wright","doi":"10.1177/09500170251325774","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/09500170251325774","url":null,"abstract":"The UK government is concerned about job quality. However the lack of scientific consensus about measuring job quality hampers policy efforts to improve the quality of jobs. To address this problem, a standard measure was developed and adopted to report job quality by the UK’s Office for National Statistics. This article outlines a replication study using a new dataset to assess the reliability and validity of this standard measure. The dataset comprises 75 empirical studies that examine job quality in the UK and elsewhere. Using this dataset, the standard measure is confirmed, encompassing six dimensions of job quality. Subsequently, this study establishes both the reproducibility of the measure and the replicability of the methods used to develop that measure. In doing so, the findings will facilitate improved research and policy development along with greater conceptual clarity regarding job quality, long called for by social scientists.","PeriodicalId":48187,"journal":{"name":"Work Employment and Society","volume":"24 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2025-06-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144515327","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}