Abstract
Following on the research presented in his book The Fissured Workplace, the author describes the fundamental transformation that has taken place in the economy over the past several decades and its effects on workplace and labour market outcomes. The term "workplace fissuring" refers to far-reaching changes in business organization whereby work has increasingly been shifted from primary to secondary and, often, tertiary businesses through various forms of subcontracting, outsourcing, third-party agency staffing, and franchising.
The impacts offissuring are widespread, and include reduced compliance with labour standards, diminished access to workplace benefits and safety net protections, and the unravelling of social networks historically associated with employment. In particular, the author focuses on the connection between the fissured workplace and widening income inequality since the mid-1970s. In this regard, he reviews evidence tending to confirm the hypothesis that the movement of work from "inside" companies to "outside" them results in a reduction of
earnings for workers engaged in performing the same work. While the forces underlying the spread of the fissured workplace are significant, they are not, in the author's view, inexorable, but rather can be shaped by engaging all parties in discussion and implementing public policies aimed at preserving fairness at work and in society.