The situation of employment within the world is fast changing in all aspects. New sectors are emerging daily and the ones previously thought as stable are dying out. Permanent types of employment have become challenging and are now replaced by insecure and uncertain self-employment and contract work. Based on the works of Lewchuk and other authors in the book ‘The Precarity Penalty’ (2015), the transformation happening within the nature of work and employment has a significant impact in the lives of the individual, their household and the communities. There is, therefore, need to define the situation and from it draw proper conclusions that would help tackle the situation better. The paper will define the previously known standard form of employment, introduce the new age precarious employment and define the ways in which employment has transformed over the years.
Standard Employment Relationship
The standard employment relationship is best defined as the presence of permanent and pensionable full-time employment within the dominant sectors of the economy that provides a good salary catering for household needs and has benefits that are sufficient to cover health and unexpected costs (Lewchuk, 2015). The origin of this employment structure was after World War 2 when the manufacturing sectors were booming and could afford to offer well-paying white-collar professional jobs; the family structure thence consisted of an employed man, breadwinner, who supported the whole family from this employment. The situation was safe and comfortable for any worker as they were protected by government policies, human right legislation, labor standards, insurance, and pension. Effectively, the people had a chance to live well with their families and even support community activities and indulge in politics. The working conditions were ideal and stable, which are the main defining elements of the standard employment relationship.
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Precarious Employment
Precarious employment is the opposite of the standard employment: it bears the features of poor pay, lack of stability and security, unprotected by outside bodies and the government and the income is not enough to support a household. After the World War II, precarious employment was for the immigrants and the women but the transition came in the 1970s where it started creeping into the whole employment scene (Drucker, 2017). Precarious employment is currently the dominant employment from within several sectors. The statistics can confirm currently that one in five people are in temporary employment or are self-employed. Further, barely half of the people aged between 25 and 65 are in permanent employment that pays for benefits above the basic wage. Standard employment relationships have reduced year after year while the precarious one is growing exponentially.
How Standard Employment Has Transformed
Changing Terms of Employment
One of the main characteristics of standard employment is consistency in terms of employment. The terms included permanence in the type of work, positions, work periods and employers. The terms have changed consistently over time and are now introducing newer terms (Ravelli & Webber, 2012). Contract or project-based jobs have come into play where someone is employed at a specific rate of pay for a specific period of time or until the project is done; after that, the employment is over. Other people are working in irregular hours or on-call basis and thus have to wait to get called upon. The result is that people are no longer fixed on positions and may end up working for different employers.
Income Instability
The changing terms of employment introduce the situation of income instability. Precarious employment introduces the aspect of an employed person having income variations from time to time. In the example of the contract or temporary worker, they earn the fixed income for the period they are within the contract and after that, the income is suddenly cut. Those who work on-call basis or for multiple employers cannot be certain of their specific wage as it changes depending on the prevailing circumstances. The report by Lewchuk, (2015) further reveals that some workers have to deal with the period of unemployment as long as six months even in the wake of reports showing that the number of paid hours is still decreasing. The new ways of earning are becoming more unstable and thence people are not able to support their households with instability. The situation further presents a paradox; the economies are growing and incomes should also grow, but the middle and the lower classes are not experiencing any of these gains. The younger generations thence are starting jobs at lower salaries that they were previously.
Reduction in Benefits and Pensions
There are numerous pluses that come with standard employment and it includes the benefits and pension plans. The employees were entitled to health, insurance, education, leave among other benefits and their companies provided secure pension-related benefits (Ravelli & Webber, 2012). Currently, most employers are less likely to foot all these benefits to their employees. All this has been attributed to the stiff competition within the economy and companies are looking for ways of cutting costs (Drucker, 2017). Effectively, they reduce the employee benefits, and in some cases, offer very minimal. Employees in precarious employment are heavily affected by this as most of their contracts do not add the benefits.
Reduced Training Opportunities
The previously common habit of companies training employees to match up their growing need is now dying off. Standard employment meant a long-lasting relationship with the employee and therefore they trained them consistently to accrue the benefit in their firm. The training costs were enormous but from the fact that the employees would use the knowledge back in the company, it made it worth it. The current situation with precarious employment is that the companies are now not offering the same. Permanence is replaced by contract or project basis employees and therefore they are not worth the training costs. The companies, therefore, go to the open market to seek people with the required skills (Lewchuk, 2015). Most of the employees today have to go back to their pockets to advance their education to be relevant within their fields; this was previously catered for by the employer in the standard employment relationship.
Conclusion
The standard form or employment was ideal for every person within the white collar, professional field. It was sufficient to cater for household needs and also offer protection to the individual from any damages. The people in the ideal employment had a booming life and even had time to live within their communities. The situation is changing fast and the standard employment is now facing income instability, changes in terms of employment, reductions in benefits and the lack of training. Precarious employment is fast creeping in and it introduces so much uncertainty to the employed people and the coming generations.
References
- Drucker, P. (2017). The Age of Discontinuity: Guidelines to Our Changing Society. Routledge.
- Lewchuk, W. (2015). The Precarity Penalty: The Impact of Employment Precarity on Individuals, Households and Communities - and What to Do About It. Poverty and Employment Precarity in Southern Ontario.
- Ravelli, B., & Webber, M. (2012). Exploring Sociology: A Canadian Perspective. Pearson Education Canada.
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