Emerging Forms of Precariousness Related to Autonomy at Work: Toward an Empirical Typology.

Louis Florin,François Pichault

doi:10.3389/fsoc.2020.00034

Abstract

Societal, technological, and economical changes in the last decades have led to the development of new work arrangements located in a ≪ gray zone ≫ between standard employment and classical self-employment (Cappelli and Keller, 2013a; ILO, 2016; Katz and Krueger, 2016). Official labor market statistics must be adapted to provide researchers and policymakers with relevant data on this population (Gazier et al., 2016; National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine, 2017; ILO, 2018). Cappelli and Keller (2013b) point out that new work arrangements are characterized by changes in the management of the work relationships (with a growing intervention of labor market intermediaries) and in the way the work is supervised (from work processes to outcomes). The concept of autonomy thus becomes a central feature of new work arrangements leading to specific configurations of risks and opportunities for individual workers concerned. Autonomy can be divided in three main dimensions: work status, work content, and working conditions (Pichault and McKeown, 2019). International surveys such as the European Working Conditions Survey (EWCS) provide valuable data covering these dimensions of autonomy. Our paper is focused on a specific category of workers experiencing the ambiguities of autonomy at work: Independent Professionals (Ipros). Ipros provide various forms of intellectual work in the service sector through self-employment and are often regarded as a highly autonomous workforce (Leighton and Brown, 2014; McKeown, 2015) while they can also be subject to precarious situations regarding their economic dependency or freedom of choice (de Peuter, 2011; Standing, 2011; Bergvall-Kåreborn and Howcroft, 2013). The objectives of this paper are, first, to build a set of indicators likely to measure the various dimensions of autonomy, and, second, to provide an empirical typology of new work arrangements by using cluster analysis methods. Through the application of this analytical framework on the EWCS 2015 data, we observe various situations in terms of risk and opportunities related to autonomy, shedding light on unexpected precarious situations where Ipros face the risks of autonomy without getting the associated benefits. Our results provide a nuanced typology of empirical situations, overcoming such a dichotomic vision of non-standard work arrangements.

Highlights

Technological, and economical changes in the last decades led to the development of new employment arrangements that sits in a ≪ gray zone ≫ between classical statuses of self-employment and salaried work (Cappelli and Keller, 2013a; Eurofound, 2015; International Labor Office (ILO), 2016; Katz and Krueger, 2016)
To understand the experience of autonomy by Independent Professionals (Ipros) through the various dimensions of our matrix, we looked at distributions
While most IPros enjoy high levels of autonomy on the different dimensions of our grid, our univariate analysis of indicators pointed that there is a non-negligible part of this population with lower scores on some dimensions

Summary

Introduction

Technological, and economical changes in the last decades led to the development of new employment arrangements that sits in a ≪ gray zone ≫ between classical statuses of self-employment and salaried work (Cappelli and Keller, 2013a; Eurofound, 2015; ILO, 2016; Katz and Krueger, 2016). New forms of employment are commonly reported as employment arrangements that differ from the traditional openended salaried contract: fixed-term contract, part-time work, and self-employment (Everaere, 2014; Schmid, 2015; ILO, 2016). This classical approach allows statisticians produce regional or international comparisons, but fails to make visible the diversity of new forms of employment. Under the self-employed status for example, we find arrangements going from economically dependent one-client subcontracting to multi-client and completely autonomous independent contracting or intermediated work relations This approach fails in capturing the gray zone of working arrangements that share characteristics of both traditional statuses: self-employed and salaried work.

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusion