Labor in Flux. A Case Study on Flexibilization and Precarization of Work in the Hungarian Electronics Industry
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| Format: | Recurso digital |
| Language: | English |
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Zenodo
2024
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| _version_ | 1866901636314562560 |
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| author | Bodor, Krisztofer |
| author_facet | Bodor, Krisztofer |
| contents | <p>The phenomenon of flexibilization and precarization of work within the electronics industry has become a growing concern in the field of social sciences, including sociology. For employers in manufacturing, to reduce costs and enhance competitiveness it is crucial to adapt the various components of production – including the workforce – in a flexible manner to accommodate changes in production and market conditions. In Hungary, this is coupled with a regulatory environment and subsidies favorable to employers, often to the neglect of the interests of workers. As a case study, this thesis examines the working conditions in the Hungarian electronics sector and also explores the implementation of practices that lead to precarious and flexible working conditions, as well as the strategies that workers adopt in response. This is done by analyzing empirical data gathered during field research with the workers of an electronics industry factory in Hungary. The data includes qualitative interviews with workers, work-related documents, and relevant statistical information. The findings show that the factory under study practices various methods that lead to precarious and flexible working conditions. These practices include low basic wages, sometimes excessive overtime or compulsory leave according to production needs, typically with short notice for overtime, unstable forms of employment such as temporary agency work, and other precarious working conditions resulting in high levels of job insecurity. In response to these, workers primarily employ individual adaptive strategies, using existing channels in the workplace. Additionally, workers' limited room for maneuver is further reduced by the lack of institutionalized means of collective advocacy and the fragmentation of the workforce in terms of the form of employment and ethnicity. This paper focuses on temporary workers and migrant workers from Ukraine and the Philippines, who are particularly exposed to asymmetric labor relations.</p> |
| format | Recurso digital |
| id | zenodo_https___doi_org_10_5281_zenodo_15587193 |
| institution | Zenodo |
| language | eng |
| publishDate | 2024 |
| publisher | Zenodo |
| record_format | zenodo |
| spellingShingle | Labor in Flux. A Case Study on Flexibilization and Precarization of Work in the Hungarian Electronics Industry Bodor, Krisztofer <p>The phenomenon of flexibilization and precarization of work within the electronics industry has become a growing concern in the field of social sciences, including sociology. For employers in manufacturing, to reduce costs and enhance competitiveness it is crucial to adapt the various components of production – including the workforce – in a flexible manner to accommodate changes in production and market conditions. In Hungary, this is coupled with a regulatory environment and subsidies favorable to employers, often to the neglect of the interests of workers. As a case study, this thesis examines the working conditions in the Hungarian electronics sector and also explores the implementation of practices that lead to precarious and flexible working conditions, as well as the strategies that workers adopt in response. This is done by analyzing empirical data gathered during field research with the workers of an electronics industry factory in Hungary. The data includes qualitative interviews with workers, work-related documents, and relevant statistical information. The findings show that the factory under study practices various methods that lead to precarious and flexible working conditions. These practices include low basic wages, sometimes excessive overtime or compulsory leave according to production needs, typically with short notice for overtime, unstable forms of employment such as temporary agency work, and other precarious working conditions resulting in high levels of job insecurity. In response to these, workers primarily employ individual adaptive strategies, using existing channels in the workplace. Additionally, workers' limited room for maneuver is further reduced by the lack of institutionalized means of collective advocacy and the fragmentation of the workforce in terms of the form of employment and ethnicity. This paper focuses on temporary workers and migrant workers from Ukraine and the Philippines, who are particularly exposed to asymmetric labor relations.</p> |
| title | Labor in Flux. A Case Study on Flexibilization and Precarization of Work in the Hungarian Electronics Industry |
| url | https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15587193 |