Precariat Contemporary Face of Labour Relations

Precariat refers to a situation where people are forced to make a living out of work which is low- quality, insecure, temporary, low-paid, with little or no promise of promotion, without social insurance, and often off-the-books. The concept of precariat goes beyond the form of employment and encapsulates several factors that determine whether a particular job/form of employment exposes an employee to instability of employment, lack of union protection (protection of interests), or social and economic insensitivity. The article aims, in the first place, to answer the question of whether precariat is a global phenomenon. Does it look the same in the rich North and poor South? Is it justified to view it as a structural characteristic of contemporary labour? To address the problem, the classification proposed by Rodgers and Rodgers (1989) and revised by Duell (2004) is employed.