Labor Perspective Research Articles

Construction labor’s physiological workload based on labor’s perspective

Construction craftwork is a physically strenuous and demanding occupation. Physically demanding work leads to physical fatigue which is associated with decreased productivity. This paper investigates the feasibility of measuring in situ physical demands based on a labor perspective. In that case, physiological measures of energy expenditure data were collected from 110 construction workers performing typical construction work, in this case, is an ironworker. The measurement of energy expenditure during physical work activities is considered a measure of the physiological workload experienced by construction workers. The measured data were evaluated against published guidelines for acceptable levels of physical performance. The result shows that the working load of ironworkers in Jakarta is very heavy on 3.0925 Kcal/minute energy expenditure by labor perspective. This paper developed for further applied research regarding the physical demands of construction work.

The toll of service climate on employees: an emotional labor perspective

PurposeThe existing research on service climate emphasizes its benefits for customers, employees and organizational outcomes. Service climate translates into organizational expectations from service employees to continuously show appropriate emotions when engaging with clients. However, these expectations may also take a toll on employees, who need to regulate their emotions using emotional labor strategies in order to conform to the organization’s expectations. Hence, the purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between the service climate and employees’ use of emotional labor strategies, and investigate how service employees’ service knowledge, skills, abilities and other attributes (KSAOs) affect this relationship.Design/methodology/approachIn two separate studies, one with a sample including 100 nurses working in 15 wards, and the other comprised of 244 luxury hotel chain employees working in 39 departments, participants were surveyed about their perceptions of the service climate and their use of emotional labor strategies. In addition, each participant’s direct manager assessed his/her service KSAOs.FindingsResults demonstrated a positive association between the service climate and the use of surface emotional labor strategies for employees who had limited service KSAOs.Practical implicationsOrganizations may choose to hire service employees based on their service-related KSAOs and develop training and development programs for those who have fewer capabilities in these areas. In addition, organizations may want to rethink the traditional climate-induced emotional display rules and emphasize instead more authentic service encounters in order to lessen the toll that service climate takes on certain employees.Originality/valueWhile service climate depicts the core values and beliefs of the organization about service, and helps employees to translate them into behaviors that promote high service performance, the current paper points to a potential toll it may have on employees well-being due to their use of surface emotional labor strategies.

Identification of the inhibiting factors for skilled labour in the construction sector to obtain competency certification

The purpose of competency certification can be seen from two complementary aspects, namely to assess a person’s ability and expertise in his profession and convincing the user about the competency of the labour which fulfills the requirements in carrying out the task. However, the number of construction labour certified is only about 3% of all construction labour in Indonesia. This study aims to identify inhibiting factors of competency certification in the perspective of construction labour, especially skilled labour. This study uses a quantitative model with descriptive analysis. This research was conducted on skilled labour in three high-level building projects. The method of collecting data by survey through questionnaires, observation, and literature study. The results of this study indicate several factors which interfering skilled labour to obtain competency certification: 1) the complexity of competency certification implementation, 2) The expensive cost to get the competency certification, 3) There is no difference in wages between certified labours and uncertified labours, 4) The certificate does not guarantee the work quality of labours.

New Divisions of Digital Labour in Architecture

As architecture intersects with computer science to engage with large-scale data sets and informational systems, this demands new skills, competencies and commitments. Informed by the findings of an online survey, this article explores how, who and to what extent those in the profession of architecture are investing in technology knowledge and skills, and under what material conditions this occurs. Survey data collected from five large-scale architecture practices in Sydney, Australia finds that while technology-related skills are highly valued in the profession, more men than women are engaging with computationally intensive software and technology skills building remains a largely unstructured and often self-directed enterprise. Drawing on feminist technology studies and digital labour perspectives, it is argued that the drive to computationalise the profession of architecture rests heavily on discretionary, aspirational and invisible labour practices that disadvantage employees with lesser reserves of economic and social capital, and particularly women. This further contributes to revealing neo-liberalism’s influence on the concrete practices of the architecture workplace and highlights how the diminished structural role of employers breeds uneven opportunities and inequitable working conditions.

Investigating Force-Feedback in Mid-Air Sketching of Multi-Planar Three-Dimensional Curve-Soups

Abstract In this paper, we report on our investigation of haptics-enabled mid-air interactions for sketching three-dimensional (3D) curve-soups—collections of three-dimensional multi-planar curves. We study pen-based mid-air interactions for free-form curve input from the perspective of manual labor, controllability, and kinesthetic feedback. We specifically study the role of kinesthetic feedback for two aspects of mid-air sketching, namely, drawing curves on planar surfaces and spatial rotation of 3D curve-soups. For this, we implemented a simple haptics-enabled workflow for users to draw and compose collections of planar curves on a force-enabled virtual canvas. The qualitative and quantitative analyses of our study-tasks show that there is a rich interaction design space of kinesthetic feedback methods for mid-air sketching beyond physically currently prevalent models.

GenSyth: a new way to understand deep learning

GenSyth: a new way to understand deep learning

La reversión por la administración de las contratas: perspectiva desde el derecho del trabajo

El presente trabajo analiza la actual dinámica de los procesos de reversión o remunicipalización de servicios públicos, si bien desde la perspectiva laboral de la cuestión y respecto de la principal de las posibles consecuencias que pueden producirse en este ámbito: la subrogación empresarial, por la que se incorporan a las Administraciones Públicas personal procedente de empresas privadas. Se estudian los principales supuestos que dan lugar a la subrogación como consecuencia de que la reversión pueda ser calificada como sucesión de empresas; y se señalan cuáles son los principales problemas jurídicos que se plantean, especialmente desde el punto de vista del respeto a los principios constitucionales de igualdad, mérito y capacidad; así como la evolución normativa más reciente por la que se pretende limitar los efectos de la incorporación de este personal a las Administraciones Públicas.

Various perspectives of labor and human resources challenges and changes due to automation and artificial intelligence.

The constant technological changes and its impact in the labor force are causing a domino effect that can change corporate culture, laws and workers in upcoming years. The importance of Artificial Intelligence for companies is also a mayor subject that may cause conflicts among cities around the world. Seasonal workers, 24 hours contracts, and informal methods of employments are reducing the possibilities of collective agreements and job satisfaction. Consequently, the so-called “Information Society”, labor modifications and role transformations have played a key role and have had an ascending evolution. There are different jobs that have been relegated to a substantial change in different industries due to all the information technology advances and robotics innovations. This process will increase in upcoming decades by establishing new types of jobs to sustain this changing economy. The controversy starts when this “macro” and “micro” vision collide with those people who have been dismissed due to the automation process. Because of the facts mentioned and current market trends, we can confirm that digital changes and transformations will continue to increase.

Variaciones neoliberales en la reproducci�n de los cuerpos: mercado, trabajo y cuidados

The main purpose of this paper is to study the reproduction of bodies under neoliberalism from a wide labour perspective (inside and outside the wage relation). First, we draw a brief genealogy of the different reproductive norms from fordism to welfare states’ crisis (taking account of wage, consumption and unpaid housework configurations). Then, neoliberalism is analyzed in its diverse labor policies and in its ideological and theoretical discourses as a privatization process of reproduction at various levels.

THE AGENCY SEARCH: THE MEANING OF WORK FOR APP DRIVERS

ABSTRACT Purpose: This study aims to investigate how app drivers are giving meaning to their work, taking as a theoretical assumption the model proposed by Rosso, Dekas, & Wrzesniewski (2010). Originality/value: Internationally, the volume of empirical research involving digital labor markets is considered to be low. Nationally, research in the context of Sharing Economy rarely focuses on the labor perspective. Despite being a growing phenomenon, no studies were found on the production of meanings and meaningfulness of work by app drivers. Design/methodology/approach: This qualitative and exploratory research was carried out with 37 app drivers between May and September 2017, in Porto Alegre (RS, Brazil). Randomly selected, respondents were called to a work route by the transport application. The interviews’ content was categorized and analyzed according to the framework of Rosso et al. (2010). Findings: Elements that refer to all the model quadrants were found: “self-connection”, “individuation”, “contribution”, and “unification”. The predominant meaning, however, is desire, seeking and valuing by the agency, in the mechanisms of self-efficacy and self-management, especially in the financial, autonomy and flexibility perspectives. This research contributes to the intersection of the study of the labor world transformations and the construction of meanings and meaningfulness, using a framework little used in Brazilian research. It also collaborates to broaden the understanding of digital labor markets, especially their impact on workers.

Economic and Labor Sizes from the Brazilian Timber Housing Production Sector

Abstract Brazilian timber housing producers were evaluated through a survey, which was based on face-to-face interviewing supported by a semi-structured questionnaire. Derived from expansive research, this paper aimed to identify labor size and to characterize economic size from this production sector. The sampling process evaluated 50.95% (n = 107) of all producers (n = 210) whose performance was considered close to ideal. This sector is mostly concentrated in micro and small-scale companies, though a small portion of medium-sized companies owned by sole proprietors, families, or small groups of entrepreneurs does exist. Due to compact sizing, no producer was classified as an industry or a large corporation. The main contrast was indicated by the number of direct jobs, whose estimation was about 3,700 workers for the whole studied sector, representing 1% of the overall Brazilian timber industry. Around 95% of timber housing producers are considered micro or small from a labor perspective. Unprecedented information could support discussions for the creation of assertive public policies.

Emotional Dimensions in Integrated Care for People with Multiple Complex Problems

Cross-boundary collaboration, both multiprofessional and interorganizational, is needed when providing integrated care for people with multiple problems, who need services at the same time from diverse care providers. Multiple problems of clients also pose extra challenges for interaction between care professionals and clients. Emotional dynamics are always present in everyday interaction between human beings, but seldom explicitly addressed in research on integrated care. The aim of this reflective paper is to illustrate the emotional dimensions of integrated care in light of the experiences of care professionals in the context of care for people with multiple complex problems. The paper draws on a Finnish study on integrated care reflecting its findings from the perspective of emotional labor. The difficult life situations of people with multiple complex problems form an emotional burden, which is mirrored in the interaction between clients and professionals and affects relational dynamics among professionals. Professionals’ fear of emotions and the different ‘feeling rules’ of care professions and sectors pose extra challenges to professionals’ collaboration in this emotionally loaded context. Alongside the structural and functional aspects of integrated care, it is important that emotions embedded in everyday cross-boundary collaboration are recognized and taken into account in order to ensure the success of integrated care.

Decoupling and decomposing analysis of construction industry’s energy consumption in China

The construction industry is one of the key industries for driving energy conservation in China. Decoupling of the construction industry development from energy consumption has become the focus of the green economy. This study applied an elastic decoupling model to explore the decoupling status between energy consumption and output value in China’s construction industry. Log-Mean Divisia Index was utilized to explain the factors influencing decoupling from the perspectives of labor, efficiency, and investment. Results indicate that weak decoupling is the main status during 2000–2015. This means Chinese construction industrial development is no longer occurring at the expense of faster energy consumption growth. The labor factor is the dominant factor in the appearance of the decoupling status, and its cumulative increase impact on energy productivity is 230%, followed by efficiency factors (135%). Investment factors fail to drive the construction industry to a decoupling development state in most years, but there have been improvements during the 12th “Five-Year Plan.”

The differential impact of interactions outside the organization on employee well‐being

We examine two different perspectives of interactions outside the organization: the relational work design perspective and the emotional labour perspective. The relational work design perspective suggests that interactions outside the organization have favourable outcomes for employees, whereas the emotional labour perspective suggests that such interactions have adverse outcomes for employees. Our goal is to reconcile findings from these two research streams. In Study 1, using data from employees working in diverse occupations, we find that interactions outside the organization have a positive indirect effect on employee well‐being via task significance, and a negative indirect effect on employee well‐being via surface acting. In Study 2, using data collected across two time points, we replicate these findings. In Study 3, we further extend these results and illustrate that interactional autonomy and interactional complexity are influential moderators that shape the strength of the mediated relationships. Our results aid in reconciling and extending findings from two different research streams, and enhance our understanding of the role of interactions outside the organization.Practitioner points Managers should consider that employees’ interactions outside the organization have the potential to improve their well‐being. Organizations could redesign jobs to enable employees in customer‐facing roles to have greater discretion in how they interact with their customers and also increase the variety of these interactions.

The Fortification Wall of Tel Erani: A Labour Perspective

During the EB 1B1 in the southern Levant, in a cultural horizon locally known as the ‘Erani C Phase’, a massive fortification wall ca. 8 m wide was erected around the site of Tel Erani. By determining the tell's natural resources, the manpower available at the time of construction and the man-days required to build the fortification wall we are able to theorize about the society that built it. Based on previous research that focused on mudbrick construction, three options regarding the amount of labour required for building the wall are presented; all suggest that the erection of the wall required tens of thousands of work days. These options are examined in terms of the potential of the site's workforce, providing a scenario for the construction process, division of labour and bureaucratic management. This demonstrates that a major portion of the site's population contributed labour taxes towards the wall's construction and that perhaps there was also a need for an additional workforce drafted from Tel Erani's satellite settlements. The calculation and analysis of the labour needed for construction of the fortification wall of Tel Erani strongly points to a centralized political power with a sophisticated bureaucratic system, representative of the urbanization process.

Does intensive land use promote a reduction in carbon emissions? Evidence from the Chinese industrial sector

Human land use activity is an important contributor to the growth of CO2 emissions. Thus, reasonable land use is an effective method of reducing CO2 emissions. Based on an extended STIRPAT (Stochastic Impacts by Regression on Population, Affluence, and Technology) model, the impacts of population size, wealth level, technology level, and four representative indicators of intensive industrial land use (IILU) on CO2 emissions in China from 2006 to 2015 were estimated. The results showed that research and development (R&D) investment intensity is negatively related to CO2 emissions in all three regions (east, central and west) of China; labor intensity is negatively related to CO2 emissions in the eastern region; and capital intensity is negatively related to CO2 emissions in the western region. We further calculated the contribution of changes in each driving factor to the growth of CO2 emissions in the study period, and the results showed that changes in R&D investment intensity contributed the most to CO2 emissions reductions, whereas the decrease in the labor intensity in the central region and the increase in the capital intensity in the western region show weaker but similar effects. Targeted policy implications are proposed to adjust the mode of IILU from the perspectives of labor, energy, capital and R&D investments in the three regions across China.

I Encuesta sobre Seguridad y Salud en el Trabajo en Quito: siniestralidad laboral

The objective of this article is to describe the occupational accident profiles from a socio-demographic and labor perspective through the results of the First Survey on Occupational Health and Safety Conditions conducted in Quito, Ecuador. The variables on work accidents included in the occupational health dimension are analyzed from the descriptive and inferential point of view (chi-square). 13% of the surveyed workers reported having suffered an accident at work in the last year, mainly men between the ages of 25 to 55 and more than 9 years in the company. Agriculture, livestock, forestry and fishing are the economic activities with greater occupational accidents. Men from the age of 35 years have greater accidents recidivism. The results of this first study show the need to formulate new policies on occupational safety and health.

An expert system to minimize operational costs in mixed-model sequencing problems with activity factor

One of the major issues in industrial environments is currently maximizing productivity while reducing manufacturing cost. This can be seen clearly reflected in mixed-model assembly lines based systems, where obtaining efficient manufacturing sequences is a key to be competitive in a dynamic and globalized market. However, this continuous cost reduction and productivity growth should not penalize the welfare of employees. This work is intended to address this lack of compatibility between the economic and social objectives through the study of the mixed-model sequencing problem from both the business and labor perspective. This is done by considering the possibility of reducing or increasing processing times of operations by varying the work pace of line's operators within the permissible legal boundaries. Thus, depending on this flexible activation time of operators, the amount of completed work and idle time will be one or the other and, consequently, the productivity of the line will also improve or get worse. In this regard, we propose new approach to the sequencing problem without incurring cost increases and providing a safe working environment, in accordance with applicable law. This new approach leads to obtain efficient manufacturing sequences, in terms of both productivity and labor conditions. Specifically, the objective of the new problem is minimizing the unproductive costs of the line by incorporating the possibility of increasing production through the variation of the work pace of line's operators. Increasing the work pace of operators, the amount of non-completed work or the preventable idle time can be reduced and therefore, their associated costs too. In addition, and without losing sight of the effort involved in working with a work pace above the normal, we propose several economic criteria to compensate the activation of workers where necessary.

Formalization of the Informal Economy: Perspectives of Capital and Labour

Informality takes various forms in countries and new forms over time. Hence, there can be no “one size fits all policy” to regulate or improve the conditions of informal workers. Governments tend to regulate to its advantage, for example to gain revenue through taxes. We call this the capital view of formalization. Workers need to benefit from moving from informal to formal arrangements. The labour view of formalization is that the fundamental right of workers and entrepreneurs must be recognized. In this paper, I discuss the journey of the concept of informality in the labour market in developing and developed countries. The debate on formalizing the informal economy can be seen from the lens of capital or the lens of labour. We argue that the capital view is only normalizing the enterprises, while the labour view is actually formalizing, with inclusion of workers in formal systems. The Indian debate on formalization to overcome the formal/informal divide has mainly taken the capital view.

Indianness, Revolutionary Music and National Identity: Songs of a Nation

Though Indian courts at present are riddled with issues concerning music on the copyright front, significance of another aspect of music based on its essence is largely lost and unexplored. Though courts refer to popular songs in judgments, they are few and far in between. The understanding is that law today is neither poetic nor musical. Music, however, expresses mankind’s faith, hope and aspiration. The use of popular music by Indian courts to write creatively, though not necessarily improve the judgment is restricted and largely unexplored. This paper proposes to explore the dimensions of labour movement through music and the role of law in the making of India as a nation. The association of political dissent through music and the determination of the nation state to procure a stake in the management of the popular music that is sought to belong to itself will be the key theme for understanding the songs that make a nation. Beginning from the struggle for India’s independence to modern day labour movements using music for critique and promoting the vernacular culture are the essence of the paper. Historically, the role of music is central for workers in any labour movement worldwide and is now explored in the Indian context, beginning from the early years of struggle in the nineteenth century to the year of independence in 1947. Recent movements including the protests against profiteering and displacement of persons will also form part of the discussions in this paper. The roles of music and the law have periodically been addressed in the scholarly legal arena but the topic has seldom been explored in-depth from a labour perspective, as paper ventures to do.