Browse by author
Lookup NU author(s): Professor Steve VincentORCiD
Full text for this publication is not currently held within this repository. Alternative links are provided below where available.
The skills that employers require are changing, with soft skills replacing technical ones. This article draws on two detailed case studies of outsourced public sector work, where these changes were particularly marked. Here, the new skills polarized the workforces. Highly skilled IT professionals were advantaged as soft skills gave them an additional dimension to their work, while benefit caseworkers with intermediate skills were disadvantaged since soft skills were presented as an alternative to technical competences. Women caseworkers suffered a double penalty, as not only were their technical skills devalued but many were confined to traditionally ‘feminine’ and unskilled work at the reception desk. Soft skills certainly aided the acknowledgement of women’s skills but they did nothing to increase their value.
Author(s): Grugulis I, Vincent S
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: Work, Employment and Society
Year: 2009
Volume: 23
Issue: 4
Pages: 597-615
ISSN (print): 0950-0170
ISSN (electronic): 1469-8722
Publisher: Sage Publications Ltd.
URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0950017009344862
DOI: 10.1177/0950017009344862
Altmetrics provided by Altmetric
