The variability of the employment relationship

Abstract

Throughout the world, mass unemployment has become one of the most pressing problems of modern times. The automotive industry has been hit by a crisis of restructuring and excess capacity. It would have been easy enough for Volkswagen to follow the example of many other companies and simply shed jobs. But as “Every Job has a Face”, the company therefore decided, in the autumn of 1993, to break out of the vicious circle of mass unemployment. It is all very well for market trends, technological progress or productivity to define personnel requirements — but these factors alone should not be allowed to dictate the nature of the solution to the problem.

Most people’s ultimate goal is sill to have a full-time jot. But when work is in short supply a better alternative to unemployment is a redistribution, redefinition and sharing of existing jobs. It is therefore important for society to place a higher value on variable working times and new forms of employment relationships than has been the case up till now. In terms both of remuneration and psychology, the relationship between a company and sis workforce offers mush more scope for creative approaches than has been assumed in the past. It is possible to considerably increase the variety of types of employment contract offered.