This document discusses the bright and dark sides of work. It notes that work engagement, characterized by vigor and dedication, represents the bright side. However, rising work intensity without increased job control can lead to greater psycho-social risks and health dangers on the dark side. While work engagement is increasing, possibly due to greater skills and job interests, this rise is accompanied by higher job-related anxiety, especially in higher skilled occupations. Overall trends regarding job quality across Europe are worrying as work intensity rises without consistent increases in skills discretion and other positive job characteristics.

1. The Bright and the Dark Side of Work
Duncan Gallie
Nuffield College, Oxford

2. The Bright and the Dark Side of Work
Wilmar Schaufeli :
•Engagement is the bright side
•Work is changing in ways likely to enhance engagement (eg greater self-control and empowerment)
Agnes Parent-Thirion :
•Presentation situated in psycho-social risks tradition, which has emphasized dangers to health of changes in work conditions
•Work intensity rising but not job control
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3. The Bright Side ?
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4. What is ‘Work Engagement’?
•‘Work engagement is a positive, affective-motivational state that is characterized by vigor, dedication, and absorption’ (Schaufeli et al. 2002).
•‘mounting evidence suggests that absorption – which is akin to the concept of flow – should be considered a consequence of engagement, rather than one of its components. In contrast, vigour and dedication are considered the core dimensions of engagement…’
(Salanova and Schaufeli, ‘A cross-national study of work engagement as a mediator.’ International Journal of Human Resource Management, 2008)
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5. Non-Financial Employment Commitment
•If you were to get enough money to live as comfortably as you would like for the rest of your life, would you continue to work or would you stop working?
•British Skills and Employment Surveys 1992- 2012 (representative national samples of people in employment)
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6. Non-Financial Employment Commitment
6
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
1992
2000
2006
2012
All
Men
Women

7. Job-Related Anxiety and Depression Mean Scores 2001-2006
7
1
1.2
1.4
1.6
1.8
2
2.2
2.4
2.6
2001
2006
2012
2001
2006
2012
Anxiety
Depression
All
Men
Women

8. Why is Work Engagement Rising ?
•Job resources (Positively valued job characteristics) :
Job control & participation in decision making increase work engagement
•Demands (Negatively valued job characteristics) :
Work intensity increases risk of burnout
•But Agnes : job control generally stable and work intensity rising
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9. Other Possibilities
•Rising trend in skills accelerated by the crisis, partly through selective displacement
•Those in higher skilled jobs, or who have seen an increase in their job skills, more committed – perhaps because jobs more interesting
•But job-related anxiety stronger in higher occupational classes and in those who have experienced skill upgrading.
•So some of the factors that increase work engagement may also increase job-related anxiety
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10. The Dark Side?
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11. •Intrinsic job quality is the most important factor for health (emphasis on job demands & task discretion)
•Relatively little difference across the life cycle, except that 18-35 year olds living with their parents do badly (? a Southern effect) and 60+ couples do well (good news !)
•But overall empirical trends worrying….
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12. Capacity to change : Job quality indices in EU-15 countries, 1995 – 2010
12
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
Skills and Discretion
(T)
Work Intensity(T)
Good Physical
Environment(T)
Working Time
Quality(T)
1995
2000
2005
2010
Source : trends in job quality, eurofound 2012 12

13. Employees Task Discretion : 2004-2010
0.0
1.0
2.0
3.0
4.0
5.0
6.0
7.0
8.0
UK
Ireland
Denmark
Finland
Norway
Sweden
Belgium
Germany
Netherlands
France
Greece
Spain
Portugal
Czech
Estonia
Hungary
Poland
Slovakia
Slovenia
2004
2010
Data from European Social Survey
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14. Change in Work Intensity 2004-2010
3
3.1
3.2
3.3
3.4
3.5
3.6
3.7
2004
2010
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15. Workplace Voice and the Quality of Work
•Intrinsically important since responds to needs/values for self-determination
•Associated with higher task discretion
•Stronger learning environment
•Lower incidence of physical risks
•Reduces job insecurity at times of organisational change
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16. Influence of Employee Representatives (ESS 2010)
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0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1
1.2
1.4
1.6
1.8
2
Nordic
Liberal
Continental
France
Southern
Transitiion

17. Conclusions
•Current developments ambivalent with respect to well-being at work: trends to both higher commitment and higher job- related anxiety
•But country differences show that institutions and policies can make a significant difference to the balance between positive and negative developments in key factors that affect well-being
•Workplace voice likely to be particularly important and should be included in the OECD indicators
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