Restructuring, Redeployment and Job Churning within Internal Labour Markets

Robert MacKenzie and Christopher J McLachlan
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Robert MacKenzie: Karlstad University, Sweden
Christopher J McLachlan: Queen Mary University of London, UK

Work, Employment & Society, 2023, vol. 37, issue 6, 1480-1496

Abstract: This article explores the phenomenon of recurrent internal redeployment, through a case study of restructuring at a UK based steel firm. While redeployment reflected one of the key functions of the traditional internal labour market at SteelCo, frequent restructuring events meant some workers experienced redeployment on a recurrent basis. For these workers the experience of repeated redeployment was analogous to churning in and out of jobs on the external labour market. Adapting this term to internal organisational processes, the article presents a new way of analysing recurrent redeployment through the formulation of the concept of Internal Labour Market Churn . This new contribution to internal labour market theory highlights problems with human capital development, career progression and in-work insecurity associated with internal churning, which tarnishes the sense of mutual commitment traditionally associated with and engendered by internal labour markets.

Keywords: churning; internal labour markets; job insecurity; redeployment; redundancy; restructuring; steel (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:woemps:v:37:y:2023:i:6:p:1480-1496

DOI: 10.1177/09500170221080389

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