Abstract
Manpower management in the construction industry is heavily influenced by the particular characteristics of the industry described in the Introduction. The most significant include the substantial fluctuations in demand for construction, the labour intensive nature of much construction, employment instability, an unstable industrial structure which has been referred to as the ‘construction jungle’,1fragmented bargaining structures and the interdependence of trades as well as pervasive regulation. Analysis is also complicated by the diversity of labour management practices. Within private construction unionised trades and firms coexist with a significant non-union sector and a large casualised subcontracting industry. The emphasis in this chapter is on private sector construction and particular attention is paid to the growth of ‘labour-only’ subcontracting.
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© 1989 The University of Reading
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Buckley, P.J., Enderwick, P. (1989). Manpower Management. In: Hillebrandt, P.M., Cannon, J. (eds) The Management of Construction Firms. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-13626-1_8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-13626-1_8
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