Restructuring of the demand for labour: a study of labour market adjustment mechanisms in Stockton-on-tees

Abstract

This thesis investigates the inter-relationships between industrial restructuring, labour demand and unemployment through detailed case studies in the Travel to Work Area (TTWA) of Stockton-on-Tees in the North-East of England. After examining the legacy of previous rounds of investment in the TTWA the changing labour demands of six local employers are monitored and analysed over a one year period to July 1987. Focus of attention is on how employers adjust their labour inputs to meet changes in labour demand, as derived from the requirements of the production process. By selecting employers known (or thought) to be establishing new working patterns and practices it was possible to study the 'dynamics of employment' in a variety of settings. These include a 'branch plant' employing mainly female labour, investing in new technology and changing from full-time to part-time workers; a joinery company which has suffered from the decline in public sector housebuilding and has been the subject of a series of takeovers; the District General Hospital attempting to cope with cash constraints in the public sector; a small engineering firm 'sandwiched' between large suppliers and customers; a recently arrived Japanese company producing electronic components and an historic engineering company that attempted (unsuccessfully) to diversify into the offshore supply industry. In each case, an attempt is made to assess the net impact of 'flows' of labour to and from employment on the (official) unemployment count, drawing on data held on the National Online Manpower Information System (NOMIS).