Flexibility in New Zealand Workplaces: A Study of Northern Employers

Abstract

This article repons on the results of a questionnaire survey undertaken in August September 1991 on the employment practices of members of the Auckland Employers' Association. It looks at the ways in which flexibility in employment practices differs amongst Northern employers, and suggests that these vary in different sectors of the economy and in firms of different sizes, with the predominant tendency being towards the adoption of short-term rather than long-tetnz adjustment strategies.

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“…In New Zealand, Ryan (1992) found that employers were able to adjust the amount of labour, so-called 'numerical flexibility' perhaps to an even…”

The Pursuit of Flexibility in the New Zealand Supermarket: The Employment Contracts Act, Continuities and Discontinuities

“…However, as Ryan's ( 1992) research suggests, the issue of workplace flexibility is not one which should, or can, be reduced to generalisations. Organisations do not operate in a vacuum and the success of individual attempts to introduce variations in "the , modus operandi of managing labour" (Littler, 1990) must eventually be measured against the achievements of other employers in the same industry (Child, 1969).…”

Adapting to the Recession: Labour Force Changes and Labour Costs Reductions

“…(p248) A survey of a group of employers in southern New h;tland by McAndrew and Hursthouse ( 1991) indicated that those employers had considerable latitude in the way in which they were able to structure employment within their enterprises. Major studies of non-wage flexibility include Ryan's (1992) survey of employers in northent New Zealand and Anderson, Brosnan and Walsh's (1992(a); 1992(b)) national survey. Both surveys conclude that there was a g~eater degree of numerical flexibility than often claimed.…”