Seeking flexibility: The rise of new forms of work in large Canadian urban areas (1971--1996).

摘要

This thesis is concerned with the recent rise of flexibility within Canadian labour markets. The analyses of trends towards a greater use of atypical forms of working arrangements seek to highlight both the extent of that transformation and the factors influencing it. In adopting a combination of theoretical approaches, it is argued that the rise of flexible working practices in the workplace is best conceptualised when features of the demand side and supply side are considered in combination at the local scale. Such an approach is tested through two empirical studies. The first case study of part-time employment in Montreal investigates the processes that, from a supply side perspective, are producing flexible tendencies in labour practices. It is notably found that levels and growth of part-time employment are influenced by pre-existing concrete structures of urban labour markets such as the industrial and occupational structures of cities and their socio-cultural context. Second, through a case study of Toronto firms, the role of demand side factors is documented by exploring the actions and perceptions of life insurers in terms of labour flexibility. This case study found that recent expansion of flexible work practices in the life insurance business is the result of corporate strategies developed in the face of growing competition, and of employers' willingness to adapt to certain needs of flexibility on the part of their employees.