Flexible Work Arrangements: Conceptualizations and International Experiences

In the world of work, traditional standards of fixed hours and location have been substantially weakened. Most employers, in fact, prefer to maintain a flexible system of work arrangements that gives them more control over rate of production, assignment of tasks, and economic circumstances. The global development of these new and extensive conditions of employment - variously characterized as non-standard, alternative, peripheral, contingent, or atypical - has reached a point at which its significance for both employers and employees (as well as for society in general) can be fruitfully analysed. Such analysis is the purpose of this book. Twenty-six scholars present findings from a wide range of national experiences, including those of Australia, Canada, Finland, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Although the bulk of the study is empirical, the conceptual approach with which the book opens pervades the entire analysis, so that important questions are raised frequently in differing contexts.