What is a Good Job and Who Gets It? A Typological Analysis of Job Quality in a Global Sample of Countries
CPF's Dr Arianna Gatta and Professor Greg Marston, with Dr Christine Ablaza and Dr Rose-Marie Stambe, conducted a study to gain an understanding of recent trends which underscore job quality, as organisations continue to adapt to the changing dynamics of the modern workplace.
The first to draw on a truly global sample, encompassing self-employed and waged workers in 37 high, low and middle-income countries, this study demonstrates that the global divide between 'good' and 'bad' jobs creates a clear distinction between winners and losers in the labour market, reinforcing existing social and economic inequalities. A key shift in employment policy has brought a growing recognition that governments must focus on job creation as well as improving job quality.
Findings
The importance of the ‘privilege of opportunity’ in terms of having access to higher levels of education, upskilling opportunities or sufficient capital to start a business was identified. Those who had experienced multiple periods of unemployment in the past 5 years were almost 50 percent less likely to be in a high-quality job than those who were continuously employed.
This study shows – for the first time – the presence of a common thread across labour markets globally. Specifically, the existence of both ‘good’ and bad’ jobs across all countries in the study's sample was observed. More importantly, these jobs are distributed unevenly across workers, with disadvantaged populations holding a disproportionate share of bad jobs.
This finding has important implications for policy.
"The global divide between good and bad jobs creates economic winners and losers, which has ramifications well beyond the labour market. Our findings underscore the urgent need for implementing social and economic policies that guarantee decent work and economic security, ensuring no one is left behind", states Dr Gatta.
Research Team
Dr Arianna Gatta, Research Fellow, School of Economics and Centre for Policy Futures, The University of Queensland
Dr Christine Ablaza, Lecturer, College of Education, Psychology and Social Work, Flinders University and Honorary Research Fellow, Centre for Policy Futures, The University of Queensland
Dr Rose-Marie Stambe, Adjunct Fellow, School of Social Sciences, The University of Queensland
Professor Greg Marston, Director, Centre for Policy Futures, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
