<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p>Flexibility in highly skilled jobs combines the characteristics of the secondary and the professional labor market, which oblige to revise the separation between salaried work and self-employment. Two cases are studied: the employment system of artists and technical workers in the performing arts and the work of independent contractors mediated by umbrella firms. An analysis of the French labor market shows how “flexicurity” may work, but also how its books may get unbalanced, as employers learn to make strategic use of unemployment insurance.</p></abstract>

Flexibility in highly skilled jobs combines the characteristics of the secondary and the professional labor market, which oblige to revise the separation between salaried work and self-employment. Two cases are studied: the employment system of artists and technical workers in the performing arts and the work of independent contractors mediated by umbrella firms. An analysis of the French labor market shows how “flexicurity” may work, but also how its books may get unbalanced, as employers learn to make strategic use of unemployment insurance.

Contingent High-Skilled Work and Flexible Labor Markets. Creative Workers and Independent Contractors Cycling Between Employment and Unemployment

pierre-michel.menger@college-de-france.fr

Swiss Journal of Sociology

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Flexibility in highly skilled jobs combines the characteristics of the secondary and the professional labor market, which oblige to revise the separation...

Contingent High-Skilled Work and Flexible Labor Markets. Creative Workers and Independent Contractors Cycling Between Employment and Unemployment

Published Online: May 29, 2017

Page range: 253 - 284

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/sjs-2017-0015

Keywords
performing arts, independent contractors, flexibility, unemployment insurance

© 2017 Pierre-Michel Menger, published by De Gruyter Open

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Contingent High-Skilled Work and Flexible Labor Markets. Creative Workers and Independent Contractors Cycling Between Employment and Unemployment

Published Online: May 29, 2017

Page range: 253 - 284

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/sjs-2017-0015

Keywordsperforming arts, independent contractors, flexibility, unemployment insurance

© 2017 Pierre-Michel Menger, published by De Gruyter Open

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Keywords
performing arts, independent contractors, flexibility, unemployment insurance