Paying the price for flexibility? Training, skills and non-standard jobs in Britain

Given the interest in non-standard jobs and the heightened political interest in training and skills, it is perhaps surprising that the trade-off between the two has not occasioned more debate. This article seeks to stimulate and contribute to such a debate. It assembles original data from three British surveys and compares the skill levels of workers according to working time, length of contract, employment status and unionisation. Two different dimensions of skill are considered - the importance of particular activities carried out at work and the broad requirements of jobs including levels of discretion exercised at work. According to these measures, the article finds that overall part-timers, temporary workers and those in the unorganised sector are in less skilled jobs. Moreover, analysis of the most recent data suggests that the position of some non-standard workers is getting worse over time, hence making the trade-off more marked and raising the price of flexibility still further.