The name is absent

Flexibility and security: an asymmetrical relationship?

Thus, depending on the institutional context and their business strategy, flexibility allows com-
panies and organizations to vary the quantity of their workforce and of the total hours worked, to
choose between a variety of employment contracts, to determine the take-home pay of their em-
ployees, and to affect the overall level of security and protection these are entitled to. On the other
hand, workers, depending on their bargaining position and their labour market status, enjoy a varied
degree of employment and social security rights (job security, access to training, job search assistance,
unemployment benefits, social benefits, work-life balance, pension rights, etc.), ranging from a high
level for the core workforce to none at all for the marginal or casual workers. Security, thus, assumes
a different connotation and content for the different segments of the workforce, but also for the
individual worker during his/her lifetime course. At the aggregate level, security can take 4 different
forms: job security, employment security; income security; and combination security. The first three
types of security are associated with a different degree of vulnerability, whilst the fourth, with work-
life balance (see Diagram 1 for a detailed representation).

Page • 11

<<   8   9   10   11   12   13   14   >>

More intriguing information