{"title":"Who You Know or What You Know? Job Search and Matching in the Presence of Network-Based Recruitment","authors":"Jamelia Harris","doi":"10.1177/09500170251404824","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/09500170251404824","url":null,"abstract":"This article analyses how employers and university-educated jobseekers behave when networks are overly used, and connections supersede merit in recruitment. It advances the debate by exploring the effects of networks on how the labour market for the university-educated functions, and how the normalisation of network-based recruitment affects this segment of the labour market. Using data from Sierra Leone, findings show that overuse of networks for recruitment can be harmful to the labour market, and is reminiscent of Schelling’s model where individual incentives lead to a collective result that is less desirable. Actions by firms promote perceptions of unfairness in the labour market. Jobseekers search based on the perceived probability of being recruited due to network membership, and not on the most compatible or desired job. The data show that some unconnected workers respond by limiting search, exiting the labour market, becoming underemployed, or attempting to build networks.","PeriodicalId":48187,"journal":{"name":"Work Employment and Society","volume":"81 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2026-02-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146260886","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":"The Labour Process under Worker Control: Organisational Tensions in Worker Cooperatives","authors":"Nicos Moushouttas","doi":"10.1177/09500170251412800","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/09500170251412800","url":null,"abstract":"The paper explores the organisational dynamics and production processes of worker cooperatives to analyse their potential as non-exploitative spaces of production within the capitalist economy. Drawing on qualitative data collected from five worker cooperatives in the United Kingdom, the paper argues that there are two major organisational tensions experienced by worker-members: the tension between democratic governing and surplus production, and the tension between empowerment and (self) discipline. Theorised as manifestations of broader contradictions stemming from the capitalist relations of production, the tensions are inevitable. Nevertheless, as the research suggests, the intensity and form of these tensions vary depending on the governance structure, division of labour, and nature of operations. Given this, worker-members are often able to collectively address and alleviate some of the pressures of production within capitalism through experimentation and organisational adaptation.","PeriodicalId":48187,"journal":{"name":"Work Employment and Society","volume":"18 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2026-02-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146198738","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}
Andrew Kozhevnikov, Wolfgang Mayrhofer, Katharina Chudzikowski
{"title":"Enhancing Career Studies with Realist Social Theory","authors":"Andrew Kozhevnikov, Wolfgang Mayrhofer, Katharina Chudzikowski","doi":"10.1177/09500170251408620","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/09500170251408620","url":null,"abstract":"This conceptual article contributes to the theoretical development of career studies by responding to calls for a robust social theory that would support the advancement of career research. While the theories of Bourdieu, Giddens and Luhmann (and some others) have had some resonance, alternative broad theoretical frameworks are still needed to tackle unresolved issues. Proposing Realist Social Theory (RST) as one such alternative, this article outlines four key contributions that this theoretical framework can offer to further advance career scholarship. The article explicitly invites a plurality of voices to further fuel conversations about the future theorisation of career studies and to take part in debates about suitable ways forward in this endeavour.","PeriodicalId":48187,"journal":{"name":"Work Employment and Society","volume":"4 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2026-02-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146198736","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}
Ladin Bayurgil, Valeria Pulignano, Stefan Kirchner
{"title":"Labour Governance of Platforms: Market-Making and Market-Shaping in Delivery and Care Sectors in Belgium","authors":"Ladin Bayurgil, Valeria Pulignano, Stefan Kirchner","doi":"10.1177/09500170251404819","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/09500170251404819","url":null,"abstract":"Scholarly work on labour platforms has primarily examined labour governance in relation to the role of algorithmic management in labour control. This article instead argues that platform labour governance involves organising and structuring the broader market environment to ensure a continuous and adaptable labour supply. We showcase the processes of ‘market-making’ and ‘market-shaping’ to explain how labour platforms in food delivery and care service sectors in Belgium engage with their market environments, which feature distinctive local regulations. While delivery platforms act as a <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">market-maker</jats:italic> by entering an emerging, yet-to-be-regulated market to organise a disposable and adaptable labour supply, care platforms act as a <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">market-shaper</jats:italic> by entering an established and formalised market to shift the workforce from formal employment relations to informal ones. This research thus explains how platforms’ strategies of labour supply as a form of labour governance account for how platforms actively engage with their service market environments.","PeriodicalId":48187,"journal":{"name":"Work Employment and Society","volume":"40 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2026-02-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146198737","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":"Social Class in the Post-Industrial Labour Market: Assessing the Contemporary Relevance of the Erikson–Goldthorpe–Portocarero Class Schema","authors":"Karin Kristensson","doi":"10.1177/09500170251403925","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/09500170251403925","url":null,"abstract":"This article examines whether the EGP (Erikson–Goldthorpe–Portocarero) schema and its reliance on employment relations remain relevant in today’s post-industrial labour market. Ongoing shifts in work structures and employment conditions may challenge the relationship between employment relations and class distinctions as defined by EGP. Prior studies have validated that employment relations correlate with EGP classes; however, they have not explored other class-defining factors, potentially overlooking important dimensions. Building on this, the present study employs Lasso regression – a machine learning method – and leverages indicators encompassing employment relations, work conditions, skills and socio-demographics to enable a comprehensive, albeit exploratory, analysis of factors underlying EGP class. The findings reveal that class distinctions may be shaped more by job characteristics, sector and gender than by the theoretically proposed employment relations. The results suggest a conflation of employment relations with tasks within the EGP schema, highlighting the need for re-evaluation as the labour market evolves.","PeriodicalId":48187,"journal":{"name":"Work Employment and Society","volume":"6 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2026-02-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146198735","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}
Monder Ram, Imelda McCarthy, Trevor Jones, Daniel Musa Mafulul
{"title":"Agency through Informality: How Bangladeshi Restaurant Owners Navigate Structural Constraints in Times of Crisis","authors":"Monder Ram, Imelda McCarthy, Trevor Jones, Daniel Musa Mafulul","doi":"10.1177/09500170251407522","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/09500170251407522","url":null,"abstract":"How do Bangladeshi restaurant owners exercise agency during periods of extreme uncertainty? This question matters most when resource-constrained businesses face existential threats. This longitudinal study examines Bangladeshi-owned restaurants across multiple crises, identifying three agency forms operating through informal practices: navigational (contextual adaptations), relational (social network mobilisation) and innovative (entrepreneurial repositioning). Despite facing similar structural constraints, restaurants exhibited divergent trajectories reflecting their differential deployment of these agency forms. The study advances mixed embeddedness theory by providing a dynamic account of how entrepreneurs actively engage with structural contexts rather than merely responding to them. It contributes to employment relations literature by reconceptualising informality not as a compensatory response to disadvantage but as a strategic resource through which entrepreneurs exercise agency during structural constraints while maintaining operational flexibility. This perspective shows how informal employment practices serve as sophisticated mechanisms for balancing worker needs with business imperatives in challenging conditions.","PeriodicalId":48187,"journal":{"name":"Work Employment and Society","volume":"24 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2026-02-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146198773","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":"Repressive Equality Regimes: How Diversity, Equality and Inclusion Initiatives Constrain Equality and Conceal Politics at Work","authors":"Celina McEwen, Alison Pullen, Carl Rhodes","doi":"10.1177/09500170251412770","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/09500170251412770","url":null,"abstract":"This paper examines how diversity, equality and inclusion initiatives (DEI) hinder better outcomes for the workforce labelled as diverse. Fieldwork in three Australian organisations demonstrated that the lack of progress towards equality was not just caused by the persistence of inequality but by how the practice of equality perpetuated a repressive status quo. Bringing together Joan Acker’s ‘inequality regimes’ and Herbert Marcuse’s ‘repressive tolerance’ explains how the understanding and enactment of equality constrain workplace change. From this, ‘repressive equality regimes’ is developed to explain how the ensemble of culturally organised sets of practices that seemingly promote DEI prevent achieving meaningful progress towards equality. ‘Repressive equality regimes’ registers the disassociating and segregating processes that create and maintain hierarchies of difference, limit the tolerance of ‘others’ and bound equality to an unchallengeable practice. To address structural inequalities and embed sustainable change at work it is essential to illuminate the political in DEI.","PeriodicalId":48187,"journal":{"name":"Work Employment and Society","volume":"176 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2026-02-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146196444","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: Peter Cappelli, Our Least Important Asset: Why the Relentless Focus on Finance and Accounting is Bad for Business and Employees CappelliPeterOur Least Important Asset: Why the Relentless Focus on Finance and Accounting is Bad for Business and EmployeesOxford; New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2023, £23.99 hbk, (ISBN: 9780197629802), 240 pp.","authors":"Unnar Theodorsson","doi":"10.1177/09500170251407089","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/09500170251407089","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":48187,"journal":{"name":"Work Employment and Society","volume":"29 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2026-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146098207","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}
Myra Hamilton, Marian Baird, Angela Kintominas, Alison Williams
{"title":"Ambivalent Inclusion: Older Workers, Diversity Agendas and the Persistence of the Ideal Worker","authors":"Myra Hamilton, Marian Baird, Angela Kintominas, Alison Williams","doi":"10.1177/09500170251386564","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/09500170251386564","url":null,"abstract":"This article explores how older workers experience inclusion and exclusion in two large Australian public sector organisations with strong diversity and inclusion (D&I) agendas. Applying detailed qualitative analysis and drawing on the concepts of the ideal worker and structured ambivalence, it examines how older employees navigate workplaces that promote inclusion while marginalising ageing workers. Participants benefited from certain policies but also encountered persistent age-based stereotypes that framed them as less capable and productive, based on chrononormative expectations and assumptions about older workers’ cognitive and physical capacities. These contradictions produced structured ambivalence – simultaneous experiences of inclusion and exclusion shaped by conflicting institutional norms. Consequently, the ideal worker norm, while more flexible for some groups, such as mothers of young children, remains stubborn for older workers, who may conceal their age or downplay their needs to maintain a viable worker identity. The findings call for age-inclusive D&I frameworks.","PeriodicalId":48187,"journal":{"name":"Work Employment and Society","volume":"55 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2026-01-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146098208","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}