Employment: A Key Idea for Business and Society introduces a topic that many of us take for granted yet is central to how we understand business and management.

Dr Jamie Woodcock is a senior lecturer at the University of Essex and a researcher based in London. He is the author of The Fight Against Platform Capitalism (University of Westminster Press, 2021), The Gig Economy (Polity, 2019), Marx at the Arcade (Haymarket, 2019), and Working the Phones (Pluto, 2017). His research is inspired by workers' inquiry and focuses on labour, work, the gig economy, platforms, resistance, organising, and video games. He is on the editorial board of Notes from Below and Historical Materialism.

Introduction: What is Employment and Why Does it Matter?

What is Employment?

Chapter 1: A Critical History of Employment

The Beginnings of Work

The Industrial Revolution

Exploitation

Scientific Management

Labour Process Theory

Struggles Over Employment in Britain

The Employment Relationship Today

Chapter 2: The Global Division of Labour

Employment Across the World

Imperialism

Reshaping Global Employment

Unemployment

Informal Work

Unpaid Labour

A Global View of Employment

Chapter 3: The Management of Work

Human Resource Management

Recruitment and Selection

Pay and Rewards

Retention, Engagement, and Turnover

Employee Voice

Management in Practice

Chapter 4: Key Dynamics of Contemporary Employment

State Regulation and Employment Rights

The Public Sector and the State as Employer

Post-Industrial Employment

Emotional Labour

Precarious Work

Platforms and the Gig Economy

Trade Union Decline and Renewal

Chapter 5: Researching Employment

A Brief History of Researching Employment

Research Questions for Understanding Employment

Research Ethics

Collecting Data

Quantitative research

Interviews

Ethnography

Why Research on Employment Matters

Chapter 6: Future(s) of Employment

The Different Futures of Work?

Academic Exercises