Aesthetic labour and the policy-making agenda: time for a reappraisal of skills?

Previous research in the area of 'aesthetic labour' has suggested that 'aesthetic skills' are important in interactive service work, such as retail and hospitality. To-date, research on aesthetic labour has merely pointed to the existence of aesthetic skills, but there has been n...

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Main Authors: Nickson, D, Warhurst, C, Dutton, E
Format: Working paper
Language:English
Published: ESRC Centre on Skills, Knowledge and Organisational Performance (SKOPE) 2004
Subjects:
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author Nickson, D
Warhurst, C
Dutton, E
author_facet Nickson, D
Warhurst, C
Dutton, E
author_sort Nickson, D
collection OXFORD
description Previous research in the area of 'aesthetic labour' has suggested that 'aesthetic skills' are important in interactive service work, such as retail and hospitality. To-date, research on aesthetic labour has merely pointed to the existence of aesthetic skills, but there has been no real attempt to examine the extent of the demand for such skills. This paper seeks to rectify this omission. It reports on a survey undertaken in the Glasgow retail and hospitality labour markets by examining labour demand in terms of recruitment and selection, skills and training. The findings point to a high level of demand for aesthetic skills in retail and hospitality. Pursuant on this identification of the demand for such skills we consider apposite policy responses, suggesting that there is increasingly a need for a reappraisal of skills in the current, service-dominated economy.
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spelling oxford-uuid:ea3db28b-49df-4e8f-827d-099e9b8a43f12022-03-27T11:00:37ZAesthetic labour and the policy-making agenda: time for a reappraisal of skills?Working paperhttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_8042uuid:ea3db28b-49df-4e8f-827d-099e9b8a43f1EducationEmploymentEnglishOxford University Research Archive - ValetESRC Centre on Skills, Knowledge and Organisational Performance (SKOPE)2004Nickson, DWarhurst, CDutton, EPrevious research in the area of 'aesthetic labour' has suggested that 'aesthetic skills' are important in interactive service work, such as retail and hospitality. To-date, research on aesthetic labour has merely pointed to the existence of aesthetic skills, but there has been no real attempt to examine the extent of the demand for such skills. This paper seeks to rectify this omission. It reports on a survey undertaken in the Glasgow retail and hospitality labour markets by examining labour demand in terms of recruitment and selection, skills and training. The findings point to a high level of demand for aesthetic skills in retail and hospitality. Pursuant on this identification of the demand for such skills we consider apposite policy responses, suggesting that there is increasingly a need for a reappraisal of skills in the current, service-dominated economy.
spellingShingle Education
Employment
Nickson, D
Warhurst, C
Dutton, E
Aesthetic labour and the policy-making agenda: time for a reappraisal of skills?
title Aesthetic labour and the policy-making agenda: time for a reappraisal of skills?
title_full Aesthetic labour and the policy-making agenda: time for a reappraisal of skills?
title_fullStr Aesthetic labour and the policy-making agenda: time for a reappraisal of skills?
title_full_unstemmed Aesthetic labour and the policy-making agenda: time for a reappraisal of skills?
title_short Aesthetic labour and the policy-making agenda: time for a reappraisal of skills?
title_sort aesthetic labour and the policy making agenda time for a reappraisal of skills
topic Education
Employment
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