Skills shortages and training: a forgotten dimension in new technology

Skills shortages and training problems are forgotten by many companies when they adopt new technology. 52 engineering firms in a 'traditional' industry in a single local labour market were interviewed to examine their attitudes to new technology and the skills and training implications of technology adoption. Skills and training issues were often forgotten or misjudged during the new technology appraisal process. It was these same areas which created most problems for many companies after adoption. Misjudgements concerning the level of labour force flexibility and training requirements for staff often created problems after the adoption of new technology. Skills shortages for adopting firms are most acute at the skilled level, this predominantly concerns the 'local labour market'. Most firms adopted a short term response to skills shortages. Relatively low utilisation of policy initiatives and 'formal' avenues of assistance prior to new technology adoption were also identified.     

Reviews

GRAND STRATEGY OR DRAINING LAKE WINDERMERE WITH A TEASPOON?

Chandler, J.A. and Lawless, P. 1985: Local Authorities and the Creation of Employment. Aldershot: Gower, £14.50 hardback only.

HOW IT'S DONE IN HAMMERSMITH.

Allan, M., Fenton, M. and Flockhart, A. 1985: Creating a local economic development network. A case study of Hammersmith and Fulham. Dundee Park Place Publishing/The Planning Exchange, £7.50 paperback.

ENTREPRENEURSHIP FOR THE UNEMPLOYED?

Nabarro, R., Davies, R., Cobbold, C. and Galley, N., 1986: Local enterprise and the unemployed. London: Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation. £4.00 plus 60p postage.

THE CO-OP BANK LOOKS AT CO-OPS.

P. A. Management Consultants Ltd. and Co-operative Bank plc, 1985: Workers Co-operatives Past, Present and Future. Manchester: P. A. Management Consultants (Manchester), £20.00.

HOUSING LAND: ARE PLANNERS LOSING THEIR GRIP?

Rydin, Yvonne, 1986: Housing Land Policy. Aldershot: Gower, £15.00 cloth.

MONETARISTS LOOK AT LIVERPOOL.

Liverpool Research Group in Macroeconomics, 1986: Merseyside Economic Prospect Vol. 1, No. 1 February 1986. Liverpool: University of Liverpool, £6.00.

THE FORGOTTEN DEPRIVATION OF RURAL AREAS.

Association of District Councils, 1986: The Rural Economy At The Crossroads—A Review of Rural Needs and Problems in the '80s. ADC,

9 Buckingham Gate, London SW1E 6LE. £5.00.

THE LONDON FINANCIAL STRATEGY.

Greater London Council, 1986: London Financial Strategy London: Greater London Council, £3.50 (now available from London Strategic Policy Unit, 20 Vauxhall Bridge Road, London SW1).     

The afterlife of living under contract,an epilogue

This epilogue summarizes key challenges in the critical study of contract farming (CF) that are highlighted in this special issue, and it utilizes our co-edited volume Living under contract as the platform to ask what has been learned and what questions remain nearly three decades after the book's publication. It discusses the political and historical moment of the late 1980s when our CF project was started and the neo-liberal roots of structural adjustment programmes (SAPs) were firmly implanted, especially in Africa—the regional focus of our book. We argue that this neoliberal turn continues to shape many topics addressed in this special issue, including the role of the state, labour and land (and ecology) relations, and the vertical integration of CF within global values chains. The epilogue concludes with a plea for more systematic comparisons and “big picture” analyses that highlight how space, local agrarian formations and classes, state powers, and materiality (the commodity itself) shape the character and dynamics of CF schemes.