General rightsThis document is made available in accordance with publisher policies. Please cite only the published version using the reference above. Full terms of use are available: http://www.bristol.ac.uk/pure/about/ebr-terms The experience of early career researchers Abstract This paper explores the experiences of 24 Early Career Researchers working in interdisciplinary and precarious employment conditions in which they are managing collaborations with multiple partners beyond the university as part of the AHRC's 'Connected Communities' Programme. These conditions emerge from conflicting sources -from critical and emancipatory moves in knowledge production as well as from globalising neoliberal education policies. The paper draws on Archer's concept of reflexive identity to identify four different reflexive orientations developed by ECRs in these conditions: the disciplinarian, the freelancer, the worker bee and the social activist.
5The world of work continues to change. Labour markets in most countries are increasingly 6 shaped by policies of neoliberal deregulation while strategies of flexibility dominate public 7 policy and corporate strategy across an array of sectors. At the forefront of these changes are 8 the myriad labour market intermediaries that are used by workers and employees to enhance 9 their ability to navigate ever more complex and volatile labour markets. For some, mediated 10 employment, recruitment and work practices mean greater career progression and profit 11 making ability, but for many others it means increased precarity, vulnerability and insecurity. 12This paper critically reviews existing literature within geography on three types of private 13 labour market intermediary, namely; temporary staffing agencies and contract brokers; 14 executive search firms and headhunters and; informal intermediaries such as gangmasters. 15The final section addresses the future for research in labour geography and, in particular, 16 suggests new ways in which to broaden our understanding of labour market intermediaries 17 and their impact on worker agency. 19 Introduction 20Since the 1970s labour market deregulation and flexible employment practices have led to a 21 "frenzy of academic and populist speculation about the future of work" (Wills 2009, 442). 22Recently described by the Labour Party leader as "nasty, brutish and short-term" (Wintour & 23 Topping 2012) the contemporary UK labour market, and indeed that of many other countries, 24 2 is fundamentally characterised by the increasingly individualised nature of work and the 25 growing 'contractualization' of employment (Standing, cited in Allen & Henry 1997, 180). 26For workers at the lower-end of the labour market this means increased risk and insecurity 27(Allen & Henry 1997) whereas, for the "desirably qualified" it can mean enhanced career 28 development (Wills 2009, 443). Nonetheless, for employees of all types their future success 29 and security increasingly depends on their ability to navigate ever more complex and volatile 30 labour markets (Benner 2002). As such, employers and employees across an assortment of 31 sectors and skill sets are using labour market intermediaries (LMIs) to help them do just that. 40Labour market intermediaries comprise a broad range of organisations that help match people 41 looking for work with employers. The existence of these organisations is not a new 42 phenomenon; public sector employment services, union hiring halls, and temporary 43 placement agencies for example, have been around for a long time (Benner et al. 2007 order to "effectuate a fair regime of regulation for these formidable players in the labour 66 relations arena" (Freedland 2003; Freeman & Gonos 2005, 295). 67The experiences of workers at all levels of the labour market can depend on the 68 organisational structure and remit of the intermediaries they interact with. Benner (2002) 69 identifies three broad types of LMI; private sector, member...
This paper outlines the strategic alignment of modes of emotional and psychological governance characteristic of 'brain culture' with intensified forms of workplace performance management within specifically neoliberal organisational cultures. We introduce the recent emergence of positive psychology-based workplace training programmes in the UK human resources field as a new empirical site for the study of cultural geographies of education. Such programmes promote a culture of optimism and optimal functioning, focussing on the cultivation of positive emotions amongst individual workers and in workplace cultures. This emphasis on wellbeing sits somewhat uncomfortably in the context of the global financial crisis, the UK's recent recession and the diminishing role of the UK state in the provision of welfare, but is wholly concurrent with the neoliberal promotion of 'lifelong learning' and the spread of individualised practices of performance management in UK workplaces. The paper draws on in-depth interviews with trainers and practitioners who variously use positive psychology, mindfulness training and strengths-based competencies in workplaces in the UK, and outlines their connection to the development of positive psychology as a new academic discipline in the USA. In outlining the importance of context for understanding changing workplace cultures and worker subjectivities, a cultural geography analysis of rapid advancements in psychological knowledge provides a useful new perspective on the links between neoliberalism, behavioural change and brain culture.
This paper examines the increasing complexity of interactions between temporary staffing agencies and their client firms within the local labour market of Birmingham, UK.Temporary Staffing Agencies have been identified as active and influential agents in local, national and international labour markets. Their influence on local labour market functioning, national labour regulation and international regulatory frameworks is growing. Existing literature demonstrates the power of large multinational temporary staffing agencies in both established and emerging temporary staffing markets. Such analyses also contend that multinational agencies operate in very different ways to smaller independent 'back-street' temporary staffing agencies, with different types of clients and at different ends of the market. However, the research conducted in Birmingham, UK suggests that the reality is more complex. It is argued that there can be more subtle and intricate nuances of relevance to the temporary staffing industry in respect of the relationships that exist between large and small temporary staffing agencies, as well as between such agencies and their clients. We highlight how smaller agencies in Birmingham are utilising a variety of strategies and tactics to creatively 'bolt-on' to more formalised national agreements established by multinational agencies with their clients. Moreover, smaller agencies -in some instances -are able to exploit their knowledge of local labour markets to subvert, sabotage and / or infiltrate the activities of multinational agencies in increasingly astute ways. In turn, this generates a series of questions for understanding the nature of 'market making' associated with the temporary staffing industry more broadly.Keywords: Temporary Staffing Industry; local labour markets, subversion; sabotage 2 IntroductionThis paper provides a number of new insights into the way in which the temporary staffing industry operates and the role and function of temporary staffing agencies in 'market-making' activities. In particular, through analysing the temporary staffing industry at a local level, rather than at a national or international level, the research -conducted in Birmingham, UKhighlights a number of previously undocumented ways in which temporary staffing agencies may operate in the local labour market. Temporary staffing agencies (also known as temporary help firms or temporary work agencies) act as intermediaries between workers and employers. They facilitate the outsourcing of jobs to 'temps' (workers) on open-ended contracts, thus providing an alternative to direct employment. They are commonly used by employers to make quick alterations to employee numbers in response to fluctuations in demand, to cover short term absenteeism, when (non-firm-specific) expert skills are required, for seasonal agricultural work or unsociable shifts patterns, for example.Temporary staffing agencies are increasingly integral to how public and private organisations recruit new employees, who gets employed and how...
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