an article by Gill Kirton (Queen Mary University of London, UK) and Cécile Guillaume (University of Roehampton, UK) published in Work, Employment and Society Volume 33 Issue 6 (December 2019)
Abstract
This article utilises a multi-method case study of the probation service of England and Wales to explore the perspectives of practitioners and their union on how restructuring / privatisation affected the probation profession.
Professionals perceived restructuring / privatisation as ideologically and politically motivated, rather than evidence-based in relation to service goals. Against this context, the article outlines the probation union’s organised resistance, but ultimately its inability to halt the reform.
The findings highlight practitioners’ concept of ‘the death of probation’ created by philosophical opposition to privatisation, but also by the splitting of their profession and the resultant assault on professionalism.
The study underlines the unique aspects of restructuring / privatisation in the specific service domain, in particular those linked to working with a socially stigmatised client group, but it also has resonance for other public service professions facing the actuality or prospect of restructuring/privatisation.
Showing posts with label outsourcing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label outsourcing. Show all posts
Monday, 9 December 2019
Thursday, 14 March 2019
Interserve, and the other companies running Britain that you’ve never heard of
Or: why are construction firms involved in your welfare?
an article by Anoosh Chakelian for the New Statesman
WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
Have you heard of Interserve? If you’re one of its 45,000 employees in the UK, then yes. If you work in the country’s public sector, then probably. If not, you may have noticed but barely registered the studiedly bland name on a hospital cleaner’s uniform, a security guard’s badge, or a construction worker’s hi-vis vest.
But you’re much more likely never to have heard of Interserve at all. Which is strange, given it’s one of the government’s largest contractors, providing an array of cleaning, security, maintenance, probation, healthcare and construction services across the country.
From train stations to schools, Interserve is there, running things (or not, in the case of its disastrous recent foray into the energy-from-waste industry, when the company racked up £630m debts).
Having refinanced with a £300m rescue deal last March and issued a profit warning last September, Interserve’s future hangs in the balance this week as it awaits shareholder backing for another rescue deal to avoid administration.
Continue reading
Hazel’s comment:
The numbers are too vast for my head to cope with. Outsourcing can be a good thing but not on this scale and definitely not allowing companies to be bailed out by government again and again.
an article by Anoosh Chakelian for the New Statesman
WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
Have you heard of Interserve? If you’re one of its 45,000 employees in the UK, then yes. If you work in the country’s public sector, then probably. If not, you may have noticed but barely registered the studiedly bland name on a hospital cleaner’s uniform, a security guard’s badge, or a construction worker’s hi-vis vest.
But you’re much more likely never to have heard of Interserve at all. Which is strange, given it’s one of the government’s largest contractors, providing an array of cleaning, security, maintenance, probation, healthcare and construction services across the country.
From train stations to schools, Interserve is there, running things (or not, in the case of its disastrous recent foray into the energy-from-waste industry, when the company racked up £630m debts).
Having refinanced with a £300m rescue deal last March and issued a profit warning last September, Interserve’s future hangs in the balance this week as it awaits shareholder backing for another rescue deal to avoid administration.
Continue reading
Hazel’s comment:
The numbers are too vast for my head to cope with. Outsourcing can be a good thing but not on this scale and definitely not allowing companies to be bailed out by government again and again.
Thursday, 28 February 2019
Regulations, immigration, and firms' offshoring decisions
a column by Simone Moriconi, Giovanni Peri and Dario Pozzoli for VOX: CEPR’s Policy Portal
Firms’ offshoring decisions depend on the size of entry costs in target countries. But the institutional and policy determinants of these costs have received little empirical attention.
This column uses data on 2,000 Danish manufacturing firms to explore how costs of entry affect offshoring decisions. Higher levels of labour market rigidity, credit risk, and corruption all lower the probability of offshoring to a given country, while immigrant networks within the firm increase the likelihood of offshoring to their home countries.
Continue reading
Firms’ offshoring decisions depend on the size of entry costs in target countries. But the institutional and policy determinants of these costs have received little empirical attention.
This column uses data on 2,000 Danish manufacturing firms to explore how costs of entry affect offshoring decisions. Higher levels of labour market rigidity, credit risk, and corruption all lower the probability of offshoring to a given country, while immigrant networks within the firm increase the likelihood of offshoring to their home countries.
Continue reading
Tuesday, 5 February 2019
Watchdog wants public sector contractors subject to FOI laws
a post from the Out-Law blog
Freedom of information (FOI) laws should be updated to account for the risks to transparency and accountability in the performance of public services where they are outsourced to businesses, the UK's information commissioner has said.
Continue reading (you may need to register but it will be worth it)
Freedom of information (FOI) laws should be updated to account for the risks to transparency and accountability in the performance of public services where they are outsourced to businesses, the UK's information commissioner has said.
Continue reading (you may need to register but it will be worth it)
Friday, 27 April 2018
The 1990s trade and wages debate in retrospect
a column by Adrian Wood for VOX: CEPOR’s Policy Portal
Two decades ago, the economics profession concluded that trade with developing countries was not seriously hurting unskilled workers in developed countries. This column argues that the debate from which that consensus emerged came to an end prematurely. Even now, the evidence does not permit any firm conclusion about the contribution of globalisation to the economic misfortunes of less-educated people in developed countries. Had there been less consensus among economists, more might have been done, sooner, to mitigate the social costs of globalisation.
Continue reading
Two decades ago, the economics profession concluded that trade with developing countries was not seriously hurting unskilled workers in developed countries. This column argues that the debate from which that consensus emerged came to an end prematurely. Even now, the evidence does not permit any firm conclusion about the contribution of globalisation to the economic misfortunes of less-educated people in developed countries. Had there been less consensus among economists, more might have been done, sooner, to mitigate the social costs of globalisation.
Continue reading
Tuesday, 20 February 2018
Work, employment and engagement conditions in a female-dominated public service occupation after restructuring/outsourcing
an article by Gill Kirton (Queen Mary University of London, UK) and Cécile Guillaume (University of Roehampton, London, UK) published in Industrial Relations Journal Volume 48 Issue 5-6 (November 2017)
Abstract
Most research on the phenomenon of public service restructuring/outsourcing focuses on lower skilled work in peripheral activities and typically provides an overview of effects on work, employment and employment relations.
Through an in-depth case study of probation, the intention of this article is to explore professional worker experiences of the restructuring/outsourcing of a core public service activity where the workforce is female dominated.
The article highlights three dimensions of job quality that all suffered deterioration – work, employment and engagement.
The case of probation adds to evidence demonstrating that employees experience adverse effects even though transfer regulations and union agreements supposedly protect workers. Probation also stands as an exemplar of impoverishment processes in a female-dominated occupation which reinforces the view that public services can no longer be relied upon to provide high-quality jobs for highly qualified women.
Abstract
Most research on the phenomenon of public service restructuring/outsourcing focuses on lower skilled work in peripheral activities and typically provides an overview of effects on work, employment and employment relations.
Through an in-depth case study of probation, the intention of this article is to explore professional worker experiences of the restructuring/outsourcing of a core public service activity where the workforce is female dominated.
The article highlights three dimensions of job quality that all suffered deterioration – work, employment and engagement.
The case of probation adds to evidence demonstrating that employees experience adverse effects even though transfer regulations and union agreements supposedly protect workers. Probation also stands as an exemplar of impoverishment processes in a female-dominated occupation which reinforces the view that public services can no longer be relied upon to provide high-quality jobs for highly qualified women.
Thursday, 16 August 2012
G4S, policing and freedom
Savi Hensman writes on the Ekklesia blog about the controversy sparked by the private contrator G4S advertising for staff to take over certain policing functions.
In view of the “humiliating shambles” of the firm’s handling of the security for the Olympics
And if you want some “fun” type “G4S recruitment” into your preferred search engine. Following the typical statements about what a wonderful company this is to work for (tell that to stewards who are called in at the last minute for events and have no contract of employment) you’re likely to find information about various recruitment fiascos.
In view of the “humiliating shambles” of the firm’s handling of the security for the Olympics
Plans to pay private companies to take over many of the tasks previously carried out by the police, such as investigating crimes, detaining suspects and preparing cases for court, have raised concerns not only about the reliability and quality of work but also about power and accountability.Continue reading
And if you want some “fun” type “G4S recruitment” into your preferred search engine. Following the typical statements about what a wonderful company this is to work for (tell that to stewards who are called in at the last minute for events and have no contract of employment) you’re likely to find information about various recruitment fiascos.
Monday, 30 July 2012
Graduates' reactions to recruitment process outsourcing: A scenario-based study
an article by Marius Claus Wehner, Angelo Giardini and Rüdiger Kabst (University of Giessen, Germany) published in Human Resource Management Volume 51 Issue 4 (July/August 2012)
Abstract
This study examines how successive outsourcing of recruitment activities to an external provider – also known as recruitment process outsourcing (RPO) – affects graduates’ reactions.
Using an experimental scenario technique, a total of 158 graduates participated in four hypothetical scenarios that have been developed as an experimental between-subject design.
Results provide support for negative effects of the extent of RPO on graduates’ satisfaction with the recruitment process and company attractiveness. More-over, mediated by graduates’ satisfaction with the recruitment process and company attractiveness, an increasing extent of RPO negatively influences job-acceptance intentions.
© 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Abstract
This study examines how successive outsourcing of recruitment activities to an external provider – also known as recruitment process outsourcing (RPO) – affects graduates’ reactions.
Using an experimental scenario technique, a total of 158 graduates participated in four hypothetical scenarios that have been developed as an experimental between-subject design.
Results provide support for negative effects of the extent of RPO on graduates’ satisfaction with the recruitment process and company attractiveness. More-over, mediated by graduates’ satisfaction with the recruitment process and company attractiveness, an increasing extent of RPO negatively influences job-acceptance intentions.
© 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
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