Precarious Work Essay

Young people in precarious work

This essay will evaluate young people in precarious work, which has been a topic of controversial debate for several decades. Precarious work is the uncertainty as to the duration of employment, which often leads to multiple possible employers or an ambiguous employment relationship; as well as a lack of access to social protection and benefits associated with employment, low pay, and substantial legal and practical obstacles to joining a trade union and bargaining collectively (Zink, 2014, p. 130). There has been a widespread change in these work and employment relations since the 1970s, with a steady growth in job insecurity, long-term unemployment, non-standard work arrangements and contingent work. I will thus be arguing that
these issues surrounding precarious work are stemming from the governments lack of sufficient policies being in place to counteract this growing problem. This is having a direct impact on young people’s lives and self-esteem and are as a result experiencing mental, psychological and financial uncertainty due to the instability that is being offered by employers. Research and studies conducted by Martin (2011), Kalleberg (2009) and Zink (2014) will be used in support of my argument.

Precarious jobs allow for employers to shift risks and responsibilities on to workers. It is work performed in the formal and informal economy and is characterised by variable levels and degrees of objective (legal status) and subjective (feeling) characteristics of uncertainty and insecurity (Kalleberg, 2009, p. 7). This is most commonly experienced by long-term unemployed young people who suffer economic and psychological hardships as a result from this uncertainty; a study conducted by Martin (2011, p. 11) confirms this from the participants in his study where he found it has led to depression, as well as not being in a financial position to attend social gatherings with friends. It was further concluded from this study that these low rates of job growth and challenges are faced by young workers in industries where there is a skills shortage. People particularly affected are young people aged between 16 and 21; coming from a generation where there is a growing percentage of low-skilled workers due to having limited access to further skills and educational opportunities; this creates implications for them to be able to gain meaningful employment. This is problematic as people in this age group are at an age where they are trying to establish themselves and create a stable future. It is clear that a skills shortage is a common problem, which is consequently leading to precarious and is a contributing factor in an economic and psychological burden that these young people just do not need. To counteract this issue, the government needs to implement policies to assist people in obtaining or furthering their skills.

Employers have sought to easily adjust their workforce in response to supply and demand conditions by creating more nonstandard work arrangements, such as contracting and temporary work (Zink, 2014, p. 14). This has led to a rise in young people obtaining work in the informal economy, which is a system whereby people are forced into ‘cash in hand’ type jobs, which offers them no job security or benefits (Zink, 2014, p. 16). Jobs of this type can be cancelled hours before a shift is supposed to commence and is often on call, this is pervasively common in the hospitality industry. The outsourcing of such jobs has also consequently led to a rise in the casualisation and the temporary nature of such jobs, with the institutionalisation of the temporary work industry it increases precarious work because it makes everyone potentially replaceable. Research conducted by Zink (2014, p. 18) found through an analysis on temporary employment young workers and fixed term young workers, that temporary young workers are more often in painful and tiring positions and are thus more prone to the physiological effects of perceived loss or gain of job insecurity over time. Results further stressed that young people working in jobs of that nature, self-reported job insecurity as acting as a chronic stressor. Government policies and funding are urgently required to address this growing widespread problem.

Precarious work has a wide range of consequences for young individuals internal and external to the workplace.
The unregulated operation of markets dislocates young people physically, psychologically and financially. The impact of uncertainty and insecurity on young individuals’ health and stress is well documented, as can be seen from the study conducted by Martin (2011) precarious work creates insecurity and hinders young people’s ability to sustain a comfortable lifestyle, while trying to establish a stable future. Moreover, precarious work affects communities, as this often leads to a lack of social engagement, this is indicated by declines in membership in voluntary associations and community organisations, trust, and social capital more generally. This may lead to changes in the structure of communities, as young people who lose their jobs due to factors such as being made redundant, may not be able to afford to live in the community. Furthermore, a young person’s education level has the potential to determine their vulnerability to precarious work, for instance younger workers are more likely to suffer from the effects of ‘cash in hand’ type jobs due to their lack of education and skills
level.

In conclusion, young people in precarious work was evaluated in regards to the issues that have stemmed from the governments lack of sufficient policies being in place to counteract this growing problem. Long-term young unemployed people were found to be more vulnerable to precarious work as often they are the ones with limited access to further job and educational opportunities, however at the same time their job skills and education levels are not in line with the job requirements to be able to obtain meaningful long-term employment. This is having a direct impact on young people’s lives and self-esteem and are consequently experiencing mental, psychological and financial uncertainty due to the instability that is being offered by employers. Further, internal to the workplace temporary young workers faced similar impacts due to the uncertainty and instability nature of their work. This also directly impacts on their ability to participate in the community due to the financial constraints, which has led to depression and their inability to attend social gatherings with friends due to financial constraints. This stresses that the governments’ participation in the implementation of policies and funding is urgently required to help address this growing and widespread problem.