Employment Systems in Transition? A Comparative Analysis of Britain and Australia

Abstract

This paper seeks to broaden the scope of internal labour market analysis by investigating changes in the character of company employment systems in a cross-national context. Taking Britain and Australia as the point of reference, the aim is to ascertain whether there are common trends emerging in the character of internal labour markets despite national variations in employment regulation and labour market policy trajectories. Through an analysis of matched organisations in the banking and postal service industries, as well as macro labour market trends, the study finds that comparable forms of employment flexibility, such as part-time working, have developed in both Britain and Australia. At the same time, however, important divergencies have emerged in the structure of pay, largely due to the distinctive impact of national regulatory systems. It is argued that sectorally specific imperatives, such as competitive and technological pressures, and the state and regulatory frameworks, have been simultaneously influential in the restructuring of employment systems in these two countries.