Abstract
While there is a wide body of research examining changing patterns of work in the early twenty-first century, little attention is paid to the ways in which such patterns have differential effects across generations. Understanding the generational implications of workplace and labor market change—particularly the spread of precarious employment, increasing levels of unemployment, and neoliberal approaches to labor market policy—is the aim of Generations at Work and Social Cohesion in Europe, a collection edited by Patricia Vendramin. In addition, the text also questions the impact of such changes on broader forms of social cohesion, as the contributing authors query whether growing insecurity in labor markets may provide a recipe for generational tension and conflict. The empirical research for the book was carried out by researchers from six European countries between 2006 and 2008, who undertook individual narrative and group interviews with respondents from three age cohorts (under 30, 30–50 years old, and over 50). This highly detailed text is well suited for advanced researchers studying the generational impacts of changing labor markets, as well as those interested in the social dynamics of European employment patterns.
The text is divided into three sections. Part I provides an overview of key sociological concepts to the study of generations and work, and identifies major patterns of workplace and generational change in the European context. In the opening chapter, Patricia Vendramin and John Cultiaux note that growing unemployment and employer demands for flexibility are common experiences across many European labor markets, meaning that work patterns are destabilized and in flux. Young workers, who are increasingly well educated, face prospects of employment that do not fully reflect their credentials, while older workers face growing precariousness due to the erosion of longstanding forms of stable employment. Recognizing the central role that work has played historically in providing meaning to peoples’ lives, Lucie Davoine and Dominique Méda examine the ways in which these forms of workplace change have instigated a shift in the value placed on work. They find that while work remains an important and valued part of life for most, this is less so among younger generations. Moreover, a significant number of Europeans are expressing a desire that work should occupy a less central role in their lives, quite possibly due to the erosion of job security and working conditions, as well as the need to create a balance between work and non-work spheres of life.
Part II of the book examines these issues through six country-specific studies. In a study of Belgium, John Cultiaux and Patricia Vendramin note extensive differentiation in attitudes and relationships to work both across and within generational groups. In particular, conditions that may be quite disruptive for older workers (e.g., insecurity) are considered much more normal by younger workers. A noted commonality between generations, however, is an increasing demand for greater balance between work and life outside of work. Götz Richter uses results from both a series of existing surveys and the project interviews to suggest that there is “no explicitly generational consciousness” in Germany (p. 125). Nevertheless, the younger generation expressed a strong desire for the attainment of a high degree of social security, while the older generation not surprisingly expressed a strong orientation toward retirement. Presenting a French perspective, Béatrice Delay, Dominique Méda, and Marie-Christine Bureau discuss the benefits of inter-generational cooperation, particularly through older workers aiding newly hired younger workers with integration into a workplace. Nonetheless, they also identify the potential for conflict between generations, particularly when younger workers are not given sufficient autonomy. Katalin Füleki, Orsolya Polyacskó, and Júlia Vajda contextualize their Hungarian case study in relation to the changing political regime at the end of the Cold War. Through this transition, older workers found themselves in a situation where the knowledge and experience they gained in the communist era no longer had the same relevance, while younger workers were more suited to the emerging economic practices. All generations faced the prospects of rising unemployment and insecurity, however. Looking to Italy, Adele Lebano, Maria Teresa Franco, and Silvana Greco describe the labor market situation as a competition between younger and older workers. During the 1990s, the experience held by older generations gave them an advantage, while in more recent years, the “flexibility” of younger workers, as well as their willingness to accept a lower wage, made them more preferable to employers. Finally, a study of Portugal by Ana Margarida Passos, Paula Castro, Sandra Carvalho, and Célia Soares notes that employers often view older workers as experienced but inflexible, while younger workers are perceived as more likely to promote innovation. Overall, these country-specific studies provide a highly detailed examination of national trends that are well situated within a broader European context.
The final section of the text will be of interest to policymakers as well as academics, as it raises policy solutions to both address growing labor market insecurity and promote inter-generational social cohesion. Looking at the European level, Marina Monaco identifies the need to combine an employment strategy that promotes full employment and high quality work with policies that foster cooperation between generations, for example through mutual learning in the workplace and lifelong learning through education and training. Finally, Anna Ponzellini suggests that this process will require stronger policies to facilitate transitions from school to employment, welfare state provisions that promote “flexicurity,” and investments in human capital that support workers’ transitions between different career stages. With this emphasis on the central role of labor market institutions in shaping the experience of work, the text offers concrete measures through which governments, employers, and unions may each play an active role in addressing the growing labor market insecurity faced by workers of all generations in contemporary Europe.