The uneven regional geography of labour precariousness: the case of Greek design industry

Abstract

ABSTRACTThe paper attempts to unveil the precarious working conditions of the design industry and the ways that precariousness is distributed throughout space. In more details, the paper researches the working conditions of graphic, web, interior and industrial designers in the Greek design industry and contributes to the understanding of the uneven regional geography of precariousness. We use a large dataset that was produced through an online questionnaire (Avdikos et al, 2015) and through descriptive statistics, we analyse the working conditions of three occupational categories: freelancers; full-time employees and owners of mainly very small design sector enterprises. The analysis shows that Greek designers work in particularly precarious conditions, considering their annual income, their working hours and their work-related injuries, especially compared with other service sectors of the Greek economy. Moreover, the spatial distribution of precariousness is highly uneven, especially for the full-time employees between the capital region of Attiki and the other 12 Greek regions.