Criteria for evaluating qualitative studies

Many countries are becoming increasingly reliant upon an aging workforce. Yet, much literature positions older workers as ‘last resort’ employees, held in low esteem by employers whose preference for youth extends into decision-making about workplace engagement and support. As part of a broader study on maintaining the competence of older workers, we investigated the extent to which a group of employees in Australia aged 45 or more perceived they were discriminated against because of their age, including access to training, promotion opportunities and job security. Against expectations arising from the literature, informants reported little in the way of explicit age-related bias in their employment, opportunities for advancement and further development. Although the informants have particular characteristics and featured paraprofessional and professional workers, the contrast is noteworthy between what is reported in the literature and often premised on surveys, and our data were based on interviews. The findings indicate a need to be wary of making easy generalizations about the extent to which older workers per se are discriminated against in the workplace, while at the same time acknowledging that such discrimination exists, and perhaps for particular kinds of workers. In addition, we found a range of nuanced responses that suggest there are tensions between discriminations policies and practice that are a challenge for human resource development professionals.     

Advantage through Training in Poland? A Microeconometric Evaluation of the Employment Effects of Training and Job Subsidy Programmes

I estimate the employment effects of publicly financed training and intervention works (subsidized employment) programmes in Poland. The analysis is based on the Polish Labour Force Survey (PLFS). Two widely applied approaches to identify causal effects are used. The results are qualitatively invariant with respect to the applied methodology. I find some evidence that training improves the employment opportunities of both men and women, whereas intervention works do not. Previous findings using PLFS data thus seem to be robust. The contrary view expressed by other authors on intervention works (subsidized employment) is likely to stem from the different data source (on only some Polish regions and with fewer control variables) used by them and does not seem to be related to the estimation strategy.     

Skill Acquisition in the Informal Economy and Schooling Decisions: Evidence from Emerging Economies

Informal jobs offer skill acquisition opportunities that may facilitate a future switch to formal employment for young workers. In this sense, informal training on the job may be a viable alternative to formal schooling in an economy with a large and diverse informal sector. In this paper, I investigate if these considerations are relevant for the schooling decisions of young individuals using panel data for 17 Latin American countries and micro‐level data for Turkey. Specifically, I ask if the prevalence of informal jobs distorts schooling attainment. I concentrate on three measures of schooling outcomes: (1) secondary education enrollment rate; (2) out‐of‐school rate for lower secondary school; and (3) tertiary education graduation rate. I find that the secondary education enrollment rate is negatively correlated with the size of the informal economy, whereas the out‐of‐school rate is positively correlated. Moreover, the tertiary education graduation rates tend to fall as the informal employment opportunities increase. This means that informal training on the job may be crowding out school education in developing countries. Policies that can potentially affect the size of the informal sector should take into consideration these second‐round effects on aggregate schooling outcomes.     

Employment of Older People in the European Union

Abstract. This article identifies the alternative employment modes of older workers in the European Union. Against a background of changing levels of labour force participation and declining employment opportunities the paper describes and discusses the relative significance for older workers of alternative employment modes. Two atypical modes, part‐time and self‐employment, are discussed in detail. The paper concludes that atypical employment modes offer ageing employees the opportunity to gradually retire by providing a bridge between full‐time employment and final retirement.     

Clustering of small agro-processing firms in Indonesia

Small-scale industries in Indonesia provide more than 65% of total manufacturing employment. Sixty-three percent of small-scale firm employment is in firms that are clustered. A cluster is defined statistically in Indonesia as at least 20 firms in a village. For some agro-processing industries, such as bamboo plaiting, clustering does not involve interaction among firms; for others, notably the furniture industry, clustering firms make joint marketing efforts, subcontract each other, and share large orders. This article uses two recent case studies in the agro-processing sector—the furniture and the palm sugar industries—in Central Java. We argue that the target market of the industry (local or international) influences the nature of the contracts and other forms of interaction in the clusters. Targeting an international market requires formal contracts, more focus on marketing, and separate roles for finishing firms and subcontracting firms. Policy should be directed at enabling clusters to shift to the international market by improving contract enforcement regulations, vocational training, and providing opportunities for group lending.     

Job creation: New work for women?

The movement of some women into self employment is considered in this paper. It is argued that if this movement is to be successful, and thus have any influence on the equality of employment opportunities, then it is necessary for the business ventures involved to be run strategically rather than operationally. It is also argued that there must be greater scope and encouragement for innovation in this area, otherwise there is a danger of mirroring, in new business formation, the structure of inequality that applies to the formal, and declining, structure of current employment. Finally, the paper examines the need for women's entrepreneurial ventures to be better accepted by and integrated into the wider social fabric. The potential sources of stress and of satisfaction in women's self employment are noted.     

The Access of the Young Graduates in Sciences into R&D Profession: A Switching Model Treatment for the French Case

We address the question concerning the choice of graduates in sciences and engineering to look for employment in research and development. We use an endogenous switching regression to avoid the existence of self‐selection biases. The study shows that human capital is decisive where both employment opportunities and remuneration are concerned within, but not without, this sector. The results also suggest that in the early stages of a career, the R&D sector is less rewarding than other types of employment only for doctors and not for graduates from engineering schools.     

Plasma level of catecholamines and lipids when speaking before an audience

Abstract

The movement of some women into self employment is considered in this paper. It is argued that if this movement is to be successful, and thus have any influence on the equality of employment opportunities, then it is necessary for the business ventures involved to be run strategically rather than operationally. It is also argued that there must be greater scope and encouragement for innovation in this area, otherwise there is a danger of mirroring, in new business formation, the structure of inequality that applies to the formal, and declining, structure of current employment. Finally, the paper examines the need for women's entrepreneurial ventures to be better accepted by and integrated into the wider social fabric. The potential sources of stress and of satisfaction in women's self employment are noted.     

The development of a Mentor Program to foster career management

Because of dramatic changes in the employment environment and the increased frequency with which employees change jobs and careers, career management has become increasingly important. This article introduces and evaluates an academic Mentor Program that was developed in response to these changes. The Mentor Program provides students with many benefits including career counseling, practical work experience, employment opportunities, and networking.     

The Determinants of Contract Length in Temporary Help Employment

Abstract. This paper investigates the determinants of labor contract duration in the case of temporary help employment. A simple theoretical model is developed, in order to depict the choice of contract length made by a firm that recruits temporary agency workers to deal with activity peaks. Assuming that the hiring of a new worker is associated with selection and training costs, longer contracts have an option value in face of a greater persistence of positive shocks. The model has two testable implications. First, the degree of serial correlation in market demand positively affects contract length. Second, the shortage of alternative employment opportunities negatively affects contract length. Using data on Italian temporary agency workers, both implications are confirmed by the econometric analysis.     

Disasters and dilemmas: aid agency recruitment and HRD in post-tsunami Sri Lanka 1

Abstract

This article examines the ethical dimensions and implications of recruitment and human resource development that face both local and international aid agencies operating in the context of an emergency response. Focusing on post-tsunami Sri Lanka it contends that, although the rapid proliferation of humanitarian organizations responding to the disaster created a boom in employment opportunities with international agencies, it also resulted in a human resource crisis for local ones and consequently the erosion of national emergency response capacities. It argues that the current recruitment and HRD practices of humanitarian organizations are insensitive to the disaster response needs of local agencies. It concludes with a call for international aid agencies to be more aware of the implications of their recruitment and HRD strategies in disaster-affected countries and recommends a number of ways in which practices could be improved to support, rather than diminish, local capacities.     

Risk Management for Development—Assessing Obstacles and Prioritizing Action

Throughout the process of economic and social development, decisionmakers from the household to the state level are confronted with a multitude of risks: from health and employment risks, to financial and political crises, as well as environmental damages and from the local to global level. The World Bank's 2014 World Development Report (WDR) provides an in‐depth analysis of how the management of such risks can be improved. In particular, it argues that a proactive and integrated approach to risk management can create opportunities for fighting poverty and achieving prosperity—but also acknowledges substantial obstacles to its implementation in practice. This article presents and discusses these obstacles with respect to their causes, consequences, interlinkages, and solutions. In particular, these include obstacles to individual risk management, the obstacles that are beyond the control of individuals and thus require collective action, and, finally, the obstacles that affect the ability of governments and public authorities to manage risks. From these obstacles, this article derives a policy roadmap for the development of risk management strategies that are designed not only around the risk they have to cope with, but also around the practical obstacles to policy implementation.     

Supporting temporary agency workers’ affective commitments: exploring the role of opportunities for competence development

Nowadays, many organizations employ parts of their workforce via employment agencies and, as such, temporary agency workers (TAWs) are important for our economies. Increasingly, research is conducted to explore the relationships among the three parties involved – the TAW, the client organization and employment agency – and how this relationship can be strengthened by HR instruments. This study adds to this stream of literature by studying to what extent TAWs’ affective commitment (AC) towards the client organization and employment agency relates to their expectations and their fulfilled expectations regarding offered opportunities for competence development (OfCD) by both organizations, and by exploring to what extent TAWs regard both employment organizations responsible for offering them OfCD. A cross-sectional survey study was conducted among TAWs in the Netherlands (n = 449), including quantitative and qualitative analyses. All results of this study together revealed that TAWs tend to be focused on the client organization with regard to OfCD. This is the organization to which they feel most affectively committed, that they regard responsible for organizing their OfCD, and where they ask for OfCD. This study indicated that TAWs do not yet profit maximally from the triangular employment relationship, and have a rather traditional view on TAW constructions.     

Aspects of quality . . . and world domination!

Training, learning and development tend to be regarded as central to the success of every organization and the nation. However, not all organizations are able or willing to invest resources in such processes. The paper presents a view that training, learning and development occur as a consequence of successful persuasive actions in a chain of talk, which draw on the discursive and rhetorical resources of an emerging learning movement. Utilizing the findings from an examination of data from the UK Department of Education and Skills-sponsored National Training Award winners, the paper provides an employment of actor-network theory and the sociology of translation to show how some organizations make the case for training, learning and development as a virtuous endeavour. It concludes by suggesting that what is needed is a more detailed understanding of how the case for the adoption of training, learning and development, or not, within organizations is made meaningful.     

Americans with Disabilities Act: overview of the employment provisions

The Americans with Disabilities Act, when fully implemented, will affect almost every person in this country. The Act covers employment, public accommodations, transportation, and telecommunications. It will affect the employment, training, promotion, compensation, and termination policies of every employer having 15 or more employees. It also will affect the provision of goods and services by both private and public entities. This article examines the requirements included in Titles I and V of the Act pertaining to employment.     

What is to be done about unemployment?

The rate of unemployment in Britain has been rising, and will doubtless continue to rise for the foreseeable future. On present trends any significant fall in the rate of unemployment appears improbable. We face the prospect of unemployment in the 1980s as severe as that experienced in the 1930s when only at its worst did the rate rise to the equivalent of nearly four million in today's terms. Against this background it is natural to despair of solutions. Certainly we cannot provide a policy which will produce an immediate return to ‘full employment’. but there are opportunities available for appreciably improving employment prospects. Particular policies are discussed and recommended in this paper, and the initiative has to be taken now.     

员工自愿离职倾向关键性影响因素分析

离职倾向通常被认为是预测员工离职行为最有效的指标.本文从实证调查入手,通过GM(1,N)建模,对影响员工离职倾向的影响因素进行了灰色处理,得出了影响国企员工离职倾向的五大关键性影响因素:工作内容、升迁制度、薪酬、可选择工作机会的主观感知、情感性承诺.     

Open sourced organizational learning: implications and challenges of crowdsourcing for human resource development (HRD) practitioners

As the value of organizational learning as a source of competitive advantage has become increasingly evident, human resource development (HRD) practitioners may face stronger demands to develop training more quickly and efficiently and increase rates of training transfer. One approach is to externally source organizational learning. In using this approach, it may be important for HRD practitioners to both develop training to engage external participants while utilizing organization development solutions to help internal employees adjust to the change. By examining the impact of open sourced and crowdsourced organizational learning on HRD practitioners, it is hoped that HRD practitioners may engage in informed workplace learning practice, even as the nature of the employment contract changes.     

British Employment Measures: Policy and Evidence

ABSTRACT: This paper examines how British labour market policy has developed over the decade up to mid-1986 and summarises the evidence available on the effects of the so-called 'special employment measures'. Given the wide range of schemes and the variations in rules governing them as they evolved, no attempt is made to give details of the different schemes. The aims are to identify the main shifts in policy and to address the principal methodological and empirical issues which arise in attempting to evaluate policy. The main focus of the paper is on those measures which have been designed to increase employment without threatening the attempts by successive governments first to restrain the growth of public expenditure and then to reduce the level in real terms. The mainstream macroeconomic and labour market strategy continues to stress the need for fiscal and monetary restraint combined with much greater labour market flexibility. Whilst the paper is concerned with employment measures, the Youth Training Scheme is also included. It represents the biggest of all the programmes initiated during the last decade or so of policy intervention and is concerned with providing employment as well as training opportunities.