Työmarkkinoiden lohkoutuminen : segmentaatioteoriat, Suomen työmarkkinat ja yritysten työvoimastrategiat

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to analyze labour market segmentation both (1) at the national and (2) the local level. At the national level the aim was to study to what extent the assumptions of the segmentation theories are relevant in Finnish labour markets. The empirical research data was a study of working conditions, carried out by the Central Statistical Office in 1984, including interviews with 4502 wage and salary earners. Four segmentation models were formed on the basis of the main theories of segmentation: a dual model, a qualification model, a labour process model and a control model. The main common hypotheses of the different segmentation theories concerning differences between segments were chosen as a target for the study: labour mobility in general and between the segments in particular, the frequency of internal labour markets, the bargaining power of employees, employer-employee relations, work orientations, and wage determination. According to the results the labour market models structurated labour market activities in ways which agreed with the hypothesis. At the local level the purpose of the case study was to analyze the effects of management strategies to the segmentation of five department store labour markets in Jyväskylä, Finland. The managers and shopstewards of the firms were interviewed, a questionnaire was mailed to the workers. Of the 655 workers 422 returned the questionnaire (66 %). According to the strategies of the department stores in commodity markets (competitive strategies) the firms were grouped into two types: those emphasizing service and those emphasizing low prices but not service. As supposed, there were differences also in the use of labour (e.g. use of part-time work) between these two types of department stores. In addition to the competitive strategies also the internal strategies of the management were examined. The analysis concentrated on those areas in the use of labour where management is most independent. These areas were job structure, labour selection and allocation, and personnel development. According to the results the three decision-making areas, representing various types of managerial influence, produced effects parallel to each other. Therefore, it was concluded that it was in the interests and within the influence of the management to differentiate the internal labour markets as to both the jobs and their human contents.