Labor Force Fragmentation in Contemporary Cyprus

Abstract

The concept of segmentation is mainly used to describe division in the labor market and the formation of primary and secondary markets, or division within the firm into a core and a peripheral labor force. This theoretical formulation that focuses on employment terms and conditions, although valid at a general level, becomes inadequate once the researcher observes closely actual workplace conditions. I argue that there is a multiplicity of segmentation factors and levels, social as well as work‐related, which produce identifications and differentiations and social cleavages, which reflect and sustain differentials of power resulting in labor force fragmentation. Gender, ethnicity, and age may combine with skills and occupational positions leading into the construction of formal and informal hierarchies. Drawing on data from Cyprus, this article illustrates the basic institutional, economic, cultural, and social factors producing labor force fragmentation contributing to the relevant literature with new empirical findings.