Bridges and barriers: globalisation and the mobility of work and workers

Ursula Huws Ursula Huws

doi:10.13169/workorgalaboglob.6.2.0001

Abstract

This article starts by discussing the global division of labour. To what extent can its spatial patterns be explained by simple economic logic and to what extent is it shaped by specific features of national and local environments and corporate strategies? What factors enable restructuring, and what are the barriers to the mobility both of capital and of labour? It then introduces the articles in this issue, which display the complexity of global value chain restructuring and the ways in which it differs from popular stereotypes, as well as the common patterns that emerge. They show that restructuring is generally an incremental process, rather than a one-off change, involving mutual adaptation and accommodation to local institutional and labour market contexts. These articles do not just explore the degree to which workers consent, or resist, these changes but also look at the impacts of these decisions on the subsequent careers of those who are drawn into new positions in the global division of labour and those who are left behind.

Highlights

The development of a global division of labour has two quite distinct, though interconnected aspects: the movement of jobs to people and the movement of people to jobs
In order to co-ordinate a global value chain in which interconnected tasks are carried out in different locations, or to simplify tasks so that they can be filled by casually-employed workers with no long experience, several preconditions must be in place: the tasks must be standardised and measurable; the quality standards to which they are performed must be clearly defined and transparent; the workers must be willing and able to work to these exacting standards; and the whole process must be managed as seamlessly as
Like Meil and Mayer-A|huja, Graham Hollinshead and Jane Hardy look at offshore outsourcing of software development, but in this case the location is Ukraine, a relatively ‘new’ destination in this sector. Their account provides further evidence of the strongly embedded nature of the spatial patterns that are emerging in the new global division of labour, with companies adopting a diverse range of strategies to access local skills whilst accommodating themselves to local conditions, conditions which include a very large informal economy and a legacy of oligarchy and corruption

Summary

Introduction

The development of a global division of labour has two quite distinct, though interconnected aspects: the movement of jobs to people and the movement of people to jobs. This issue of Work Organisation, Labour and Globalisation takes the bridges and barriers to these forms of mobility as starting points for an analysis of the new global division of labour and its impacts on workers’ working conditions, livelihoods and careers.

Results

Conclusion