We investigate the impact of different types of training on the mobility expectations of workers, using three surveys. Most training episodes produce some transferable skills, and most transferable training is paid for by employers. Overall, training has no impact on mobility in three out of...

Places of work constitute processes of management by facilitating 'visibility' (the possibility for supervisors and others to observe workers) and 'presence' (the ability for workers to participate in relations with co-workers and others). Working at home creates problems for both these aspects...

The 2004 Workplace Employment Relations Survey (WERS 2004) is the fifth in a series that spans almost a quarter of a century. This paper reflects on the history of this series, examines some of its key limitations and speculates on what future directions it might take. Copyright (c) Blackwell...

This paper presents evidence on trends in work pressure in late twentieth-century Britain. The main findings are: (1) Average hours of work levelled off at the start of the 1980s, following a long historic fall, but have not increased since. However, the dispersion of hours has increased, and...

The Trade Boards Act 1909 was a landmark in the development of minimum wage regulation in Britain and around the world. Although their powers were limited, the trade boards had immediate and tangible effects in terms of raising living standards, and over time they became a core part of the...

Trends in job satisfaction in Britain and Germany are described, and potential explanations investigated. Contrary to what might be expected from popular commentary, changing job insecurity does not explain the fall in job satisfaction in either country. It is found that intensification of work...

This article examines the factors underlying task discretion from an economist's perspective. It argues that the key axis for understanding discretion is the trade-off between the positive effects of discretion on potential output per employee and the negative effects of greater leeway on work...