Work, Occupations, and the Economy in the 21st Century

• Neoliberalism


  Free market capitalism characterized by: Deregulation, Privatization, Trade liberalization, Shrinking of the state, Cutbacks to social spending, Individualism
• Work and Labour in the New Millennium

  • Apply theoretical tools from the sociology of work to understand and think critically about current events and personal experiences related to work and labour
• Non-standard work


  Lacks stability and fringe benefits enjoyed by career employees in the social welfare era; often temporary, part-time, or can refer to the self-employed or housework
• Precarious work


  Uncertain, low-paying, impermanent, and limited in entitlements and social benefits
• Precariat


  Precarious and polarized employment systems
• Precarious, part-time, temporary employment has been increasing
• Young Canadian men have been affected most: full-time employment dropped from 90% in 1976 to 80% in 2017
• Groups most vulnerable to precarious employment

  • Young workers
  • Recent immigrants
  • Indigenous and First Nations workers
  • Women
  • Persons with disabilities
  • Those with low levels of education and training
• Workforce is also increasingly polarized: both supply- and demand-side solutions
• Gig economy


  Procurement of contract labourers for short-term assignments, often aided by technology
• Sharing economy


  Hybrid system of exchange where consumers interact with one another online and in-person to exchange goods at optimal savings and efficiency
• While increasing flexibility, opportunities for worker exploitation remain as viable as ever
• Automation poses a threat to the existence of many jobs
• Gig Economy Composition


  • Platforms
  • Precarity
  • Recognition Struggles
• Transformation of work means there are also transformations in education
• Transformations in education


  • Most good jobs require post-secondary credentials
  • More education required for many jobs
  • Occupations have become more competitive
  • Some occupations have raised credential requirements
  • Many occupations have increasing levels of specialization
• How much education do jobs really need?
• Despite more education, future economic prospects are uncertain
• Traditional division of labour

  Male breadwinner, female homemaker
• Second shift


  Women are in the paid workforce but still do more household labour
• Motherhood penalty and fatherhood premium


  Women are penalized in wages for having children, men are rewarded
• New non-standard work arrangements can have positive impact on integrating work and family
• Intersectionality


  Work is shaped by the complex interplay of our class, gender, race, ethnicity, age, sexuality, parental status, and ability; we need an intersectional analysis
• Glass escalator


  Men in female-dominated careers tend to get fast-tracked to promotions, e.g., male nurses
• However, an intersectional lens reveals that race matters: Black male nurses did not experience the glass escalator in the same way as their white male colleagues
• Summary


  • Precarious work is on the rise across employment sectors
  • Effects of precarity go beyond the economy: the precarity penalty
  • Precarity affects our mental health, our capacity to form intimate relationships, have children, and our sense of belonging in our communities
  • Precarity is felt most greatly by those who hold the least economic, social, and cultural resources
  • Solutions to precarious employment need to address how multidimensional and intersectional its impacts are