Digital technologies make significant impact on labor market, primarily by complementing or by substituting workers. This has triggered a change in the set of skills that are required from workers, by putting stronger focus on problem-solving skills, creativity, socioemotional skills, functional literacy and technical skills related to the use of digital technologies. The effects of digitalization on the labor market and economic performances of a particular country in the future depend on the workforce adaptability, industrial and occupational structure, the skills mix, organization of work and current state of digitalization. The aim of this paper is to evaluate the degree of workforce skills adaptability in 30 European countries, using the OECD data on achievement in reading, math and science, as well as the data on digital competencies, inclusion in lifelong learning and subjective perception on ability to find a new job. Our results suggest positive relationship between adaptability and PISA results. Using the principal component analysis, cluster analysis and LCCA (latent class cluster analysis), we find that European countries can be grouped into three clusters, in terms of adaptability: high performing (North and Western Europe), medium performing (Central Europe and Baltics) and low performing (South and South-eastern Europe). For some countries, low levels of adaptability of the workforce can pose an important obstacle for future growth and development.

As part of an interdisciplinary approach, this qualitative research highlights, in some corporate cultures, the existence of common features between Brownian motion and internal mobility managers in some large French companies. The analogy with the theory of Brownian motion provides a new framework that highlights the role of the environment and chance in intra organizational mobility. [googletranslate_en]

While the financial crisis of 2008 highlighted the crucial role of risk management in banking and the global financial system, risk trades sector suffered to date in France of a deficit of attractiveness. Research shows that the main reluctance is lost in "bonus" and external employability, which could reflect a shift towards more transactional psychological contracts than in the past. [googletranslate_en]

Jobs are susceptible to computerization depending on the tasks involved. The existing literature documents the impact of computerization on labor market outcomes in highly developed countries and it also raises awareness about the future of IT-saturated societies based on the experience of advanced countries. In 1966, Michael Polanyi observed that “We can know more than we can tell... The skill of a driver cannot be replaced by a thorough schooling in the theory of the motorcar...” and almost fifty years later David Autor explains how the IT revolution is a cause for an accelerated labor market polarization (a simultaneous increase of jobs requiring high-education and offering a high wage and of jobs requiring low-education and paying a low-wage) as an expression of Polanyi’s paradox. This paper will present, assuming an intensifying IT revolution globally, an overview of the concepts and the empirical results that warn about the possibility that an IT-bounded Romanian labor market where Polanyi’s paradox and the productivity paradox are at work could increase inequality through digital divide, job polarization and wage polarization

This article explores women's work orientations, and how these vary between social classes. Empirically it focuses on women who do not (yet) have dependent children. The first part of the article reviews debates about women's work orientations, including the extent to which women's labour market behaviour is shaped purely by individual preferences or structural constraints. It then examines the factors that influence the development and expression of work orientations. The second part of the article explores the work orientations of 20 young white women aged 20-30, living in the city of Oxford in the UK. Analysis of in-depth interviews with these young women indicate a range of attitudes towards paid work, which varied between social classes. While women in professional/managerial occupations were more likely to value intellectual stimulation and the intrinsic nature of the work they did, women in routine/manual occupations emphasised the importance of financial reward, routine and social interaction.

To understand the opportunity and specificity of work collectives today and adjoining forms of management, they should be rethinking their long history. Unlike traditional collective work, their novelty seems to lie in their ability to integrate specific persons with multiple allegiances. The forms of organization of work adapted to the new group must allow the recovery of collaboration by associate members in the form of voluntary and custom cooperation. [googletranslate_en]

The author outlines three scenarios for the future of industrial relations in Europe. The first – perhaps the most realistic – projects continuing erosion of national industrial relations systems and conditions of employment, in line with current trends. The second envisages that “elite reform” from above will succeed in re-engineering industrial relations and workers’ protection according to an ideal social policy agenda – an unlikely prospect given the overriding importance of financial considerations and globalized competition. The third scenario centres on a countermovement from below which presents trade unions with the daunting challenge of mobilizing the discontented far beyond their traditional constituency.

We document and attempt to explain the recent decline in employment dynamics in the U.S. We have four major empirical findings. First, each measure exhibits a “stair step” pattern, with the declines concentrated in recessions and little increase during subsequent expansions. Second, changes in the composition of workers and businesses can explain only a small amount of the decline. Third, any explanation for the decline in job creation and job destruction will account for no more than one-third of the decline in hires and separations. Fourth, the decline in hires and separations is driven by the disappearance of short-duration jobs.

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to examine employee satisfaction with an employer-imposed compressed workweek (CWW) schedule within a US municipality (City). Design/methodology/approach - The study utilizes an employee survey (n=779) to test factors related to employee satisfaction with the CWW, a four-day, ten-hours/day workweek (4/10 schedule). Findings - Employee satisfaction with the schedule is influenced by previous 4/10 pilot experience, work schedule preference, and happiness with the 4/10 schedule’s implementation. Additionally, sick leave figures and survey results regarding informal substitute work schedules suggest that worker fatigue may limit the overall organizational value of the 4/10 schedule. Research limitations/implications - The study is opportunistic in nature and therefore constrained by the City’s HR Department concerns for survey length and respondent anonymity. This meant an inability to collect demographic data or to utilize validated scales. Practical implications - Analysis suggests that the potential work-life benefits of flexible work schedules may not apply equally to employer-imposed vs employee-chosen compressed work schedules. Further, CWWs engender greater fatigue despite employee satisfaction, an issue manager should consider when weighing schedule costs and benefits. Originality/value - The study highlights the importance of employee choice in conceptualizing flexibility and for capturing CWW benefits, namely: an initiative’s voluntary or involuntary nature should be considered when determining whether it is likely to be beneficial for employees.