Surviving precarious work: differing forms, tactics and strategies

Abstract

PurposeThis article explores differentiation in the responses of precarious workers to the instability and uncertainty imposed on their work by employing organizations. Our focus is on the ways in which different workers respond to precarious working conditions, with a particular interest on marginalised groups who have been especially overlooked by studies of workforce precarity.Design/methodology/approachEmploys an approach akin to grounded theory in an exploratory research design and utilizes in-depth, semi-structured interviews of 56 precarious workers.FindingsFinds that different precarious workers, with divergent characteristics and resources, facing differing working conditions, and diverse structural constraints vary in the ways in which their strategies of surviving precarious work are manifested. Uncovers three differing forms of precarious workers who each employ a different range of tactics and strategies in work.Originality/valueGenerates insights into differentiation of precarious workers in their responses to the ambiguous, challenging and, in many ways, subjugating conditions of their working conditions.