Resumen de Who bears the burden of flexibility? Working conditions and labour markets in the European retail trade

Florence Jany Catrice, Steffen Lehndorff

• The retail trade is currently undergoing fundamental changes in terms of employment, working time, and working conditions, all of which deserve detailed analysis. The present study is focussed on the interaction between efforts of large retail firms at �flexibilising� their workforces on the one hand, and on the existing structures of labour supply on the other. The main result of the study is a sceptical assessment of the current development: work in the retail trade is becoming more stressful and less attractive, and the share of those to whom it serves as the basis for an independent livelihood is decreasing. The labour market in this industry is undergoing major changes in Europe. This state of affairs presents trade unions with extremely intricate challenges, the form of which varies considerably from one country to another.