Redundancy in an Expanding Labour Market: A Case-study of Displaced Workers from Two Manufacturing Plants in Southampton

Abstract

Previous studies of redundancy have been derived from a restricted geographical base; they have been predominantly concerned with workers made redundant by manufacturing firms in older industrial regions and have largely ignored redundancies in more buoyant labour market areas. This paper examines the post-redundancy experience of workers made redundant by two large manufacturing firms in Southampton in the mid-1980s. Comparison with previous studies of redundancy in less prosperous labour markets in northern regions of the UK highlights contrasts in the proportions of workers finding alternative employment and in rates of pay, working conditions and levels of job satisfaction. The study also highlights the importance of gender in post-redundancy experience, another factor that has been neglected in previous studies.