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Outsourcing, Employment and Industrial Relations in the Public Sector

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2023

John Burgess  and
Duncan Macdonald
John Burgess
Affiliation:
Department of Economics and School of Management respectively, University of Newcastle
Duncan Macdonald
Affiliation:
Department of Economics and School of Management respectively, University of Newcastle
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Abstract

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Outsourcing is very much part of the neo-liberal agenda for the public sector. The rationale for transferring the provision of goods and services, traditionally the responsibility of governments to private enterprise lies in the perception of public sector inefficiency and the philosophy that reducing the role of government, is essential for the optimal performance of the economy. While the impact of outsourcing is not always easy to isolate given its coexistence with a variety of complementary neo-liberal strategies such as legislative attacks on trade unions, there is strong evidence to suggest that it has contributed significantly to the reduction of employment, wages and working conditions. This has occurred both as functions are transferred to the less regulated private sector and as those left in government employment are subjected to the impact of ongoing financial stringency in their struggle to compete with the private sector and hold on to their jobs.

Type
Symposium on Outsourcing
Information
The Economic and Labour Relations Review , Volume 10 , Issue 1 , June 1999 , pp. 36 - 55
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s) 1999

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