Proceedings of 8th European Assembly on telework (Telework2001)

166such as students, and to smooth the transfer <strong>of</strong> unemployed into permanent work arrangements.Temporary work is spreading fastest and widest in countries in which strict dismissal protectionlaws make it harder for companies to employ workers open ended. If intended, governments inthese countries could employ measures to counteract the trend.Job tenure has remained largely unchanged in almost all OECD countries (with the exception <strong>of</strong> theUSA). This may be explained by the increasing need to tap the tacit knowledge <strong>of</strong> the workforceand develop work environments that foster innovation. Both are made easier by a workplaceculture in which trust and experimentation can simultaneously occur. The need for trust withingroups <strong>of</strong> co-operating individuals acts as a limit to the spread <strong>of</strong> atypical employment formssuch as short-term work contracts, but also freelancing. Labour markets that rely on electronicrepresentation <strong>of</strong> market participants in general present a magnified ‘trust dilemma’ becauseobtaining the information needed to assess someone’s characteristics is even more difficult because<strong>of</strong> the diminished information richness <strong>of</strong> the electronic medium as compared to face-to-facecommunication.With regard to work content and the applied skills <strong>of</strong> workers, a more frequent change <strong>of</strong> function,job enrichment and job enlargement, but also deskilling are strategies companies use to increasetheir flexibility. One the higher end <strong>of</strong> the skills/qualification spectrum, (mostly) informal contractsbetween employer and worker have been changed so that more responsibility over structuringthe work is handed over to employees. As boundaries <strong>of</strong> work relationships become blurred andmanagement by objectives instead <strong>of</strong> instructions is introduced, workers gain freedom <strong>of</strong> action,but have to pay for this by taking on the duty <strong>of</strong> structuring their work in a way that enables themto cope with it. These changes take place inside <strong>of</strong> regular employment relationships, althoughthey may to some extent prepare employees for working self-employed. On the lower end <strong>of</strong> thequalification spectrum, deskilling can be observed as the know-how that formerly was embodied inworkers has been codified and automated in computer systems. Such deskilling benefits companiesbecause they can now draw a greater share <strong>of</strong> their staff from the contingent workforce whichenables them to cut their payroll. In this case, ICTs increase only company-centred flexibility,whereas workers lose bargaining power.In any case, the available data confirm that the stability and continuity <strong>of</strong> employment structureshave been underestimated by many observers and commentators. Developments are not uniformand are not unidirectional. But there is the possibility that available data conceal many features<strong>of</strong> work that have been undergoing significant, if not fundamental change, but are not reflected inbasic features <strong>of</strong> work such as the type <strong>of</strong> formal contract. Against this background, the ILO (2001:n.p.) states that ‘employment stability is no indication <strong>of</strong> the absence <strong>of</strong> change’. This change,however, does seem largely to take place inside regular employment relationships. Rather than anextinction <strong>of</strong> the regular employment relationship, we agree with Kleinhenz (1998) who foreseesa gradual change towards a redefinition <strong>of</strong> regular employment models in the EU which thenwill encompass patchwork careers, stints in self-employment as well as dependent employment,different work time models, etc., without sacrificing basic social insurance standards.