The recession and recovery are accelerating previously slow-moving trends, and adding a couple of new ones. First, and most obviously, the new private sector jobs that are being generated are predominantly part time and temporary rather than full-time and permanent, with all that implies as well for lack of paid holidays, final salary pensions and job security. “Part-time Britain” might be a good thing if it is what we wanted – but 1.6 million of the workforce declare themselves unwilling participants in this casualisation of the workforce, according to the official figures. So a million and half and more of us are in jobs we’re only doing because the economy cannot create traditional “proper” positions, of the type previous generations took for granted.
The Independent, January 2011
Read this article in full
here.