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Social Forces 82.2 (2003) 843-845



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Work in the New Economy: Flexible Labor Markets in Silicon Valley. By Chris Benner. Blackwell Publishers, 2002. Cloth, $62.95; paper, $27.95

This book, one in the Information Age Series edited by Manuel Castells, provides a comprehensive overview of changes in the structure of employment in Silicon Valley. With careful attention to detail and definition, Benner makes several distinctions that help bring clarity to debates about the nature of contingent employment. The book has a strong grasp of the range of labor market intermediaries that have become critical in the past decade but does not delve into the practices inside organizations.

The link between the growth of contingent work and market dynamics in the high technology industry is one strength of the book. A great deal of employment and wage data is presented that reflects some resourcefulness in areas where good data are just not available. All types of contingent work are [End Page 843] considered — not just core or periphery. Data on changing employment practices in California may not surprise, but they confirm preconceived notions. California has the second-highest "churn rate" of jobs gained and lost. Benner's analysis provides insight into labor market volatility and suggests that a deeper understanding of the dynamics of "churn" and the costs for all parties is needed.

This book makes an important contribution primarily because it highlights the long-neglected importance of labor market intermediaries. Benner provides a careful categorization of the growth in scale, complexity, and importance of private, public, and membership-based labor market intermediaries. How these intermediaries interact in a dynamic setting is less developed. For example, Benner tells us of a job-matching service provided by a membership-based labor intermediary that declined when firms started preferring contractors employed by private agencies (W-2) to independent contractors (1099). Firms feared that independent contractors might introduce ambiguity about their status as an employer. This datum invites a critique of how IRS determinations affect the market for intermediaries, but one is not advanced.

Benner lays out a nice typology that shows how private, public, and membership-based intermediaries differ in the strength of their relationship to employers and employees, which no doubt affects their respective market power. Some readers will be disappointed to see this receive only one page. Benner finds that membership-based intermediaries have some advantages in advancing the skills of their members but are not as well linked to employment opportunities as private sector organizations. Private sector brokers on the other hand must do more translation in their judgments about placements. Job assignment depends on skill translation. For highly technical workers, this can be problematic. Could perceptions of skill obsolescence be an unfortunate by-product of an increasingly mediated, not to mention lucrative, market? The second-order implications that can emerge from a mediated market are latent but not systemically brought to light.

Among the missing discussions are the causal mechanisms that take the reader from macro-level economic data to changes in employment practices. For example, a more analytical perspective on how and why employers use contingent work might help explain how market data encourage the need for flexibility. The distinction between flexible work and flexible employment is often emphasized. Flexible work practices "refer to the actual tasks performed by workers" while flexible employment "refers to the contractual relationship (both explicit and implicit) that shapes labor control and compensation."

But, as Benner mentions, flexibility for one may bring benefits at the expense of another. Benner does such a fine job illustrating the problems with the word flexible that he leaves the reader wondering why he bothered to use it at all. The relevant distinction is the decoupling of the business of employment from the organization of work. This distinction is crucial, because it suggests relevant [End Page 844] policy levers. In conclusion, Benner advocates measures that support greater employment (not job) security to enhance work flexibility.

I applaud Benner's focus on a segment of the economy that is not well understood, is increasingly...

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