Flexible Employment Strategies in British Industry: Evidence from the UK ‘Sunbelt’

Abstract

PINCH S., MASON C. and WITT S. (1991) Flexible employment strategies in British industry: evidence from the UK ‘sunbelt’, Reg. Studies 25, 207–218. A study of industrial restructuring in forty manufacturing firms and forty-seven private sector service firms in the Southampton city-region between 1981 and 1987 shows that, while changes in numerical flexibility and subcontracting in both services and manufacturing are similar in form and magnitude to those discovered elsewhere in Britain, there have been fewer major shifts within manufacturing towards increased functional flexibility. This is explained by the fact that the Southampton city-region lacks three factors that have facilitated the introduction of increased functional flexibility into manufacturing plants in peripheral regions: greenfield sites; plants under threat of closure; and changes in ownership. PINCH S., MASON C. et WITT S. (1991) Strategies d'emploi souples dans l'industrie en Grand-Bretagne: des preuves provenant de la zone ‘ensoleillee’...