Background
Recent attempts in clustering the work force
Profile (% in sample) | Profile description |
---|---|
Lowe [15], 6 profile solution, 2002 workers in Canada | |
1. “total rewards” (6%) | non-manual work, most positive scorings for all work indicators assessed, except pay and benefits (ranking 2nd) |
2. “decide and say” (9%) | manual work, good scorings for skills and discretion, but poor on pay and work life balance |
3. “relationships and balance” (20%) | mixed physical/non-physical work group, good scorings for social work environment indicators, but poor on discretion |
4. “economics and support” (12%) | non manual work, positive scorings for all work indicators except discretion, best scorings for pay and benefits |
5. “security” (16%) | mostly manual work, good benefits, rather healthy, safe and secure work place, otherwise low scorings, including poor social work environment |
6. “few rewards” (37%) | all manual work, most negative scorings for all work indicators assessed |
Vanroelen [13], 5 profile solution, 10,074 workers in the Flemish part of Belgium | |
1. “low stress” (26%) | predominantly non-manual work, low demands, high control, good social relations, high job security |
2. “passive manual” (24%) | manual work, average demands, low control, average level social relations |
3. “human contacts” (21%) | moderate physical demands and comparably adverse exposure for social work environment indicators |
4. “high demand” (18%) | non-manual work, high work demands, high control and an advantageous social work environment, high job security |
5. “high stress” (11%) | very high quantitative and physical work demands, adverse social environment, atypical work schedules, high job insecurity |
Eurofound [14], 5 profile solution, 26,648 workers from 28 European countries | |
1. “high flying” (21%) | non-manual profile, high on skills and discretion, good social environment, good earnings and prospect, higher than average work intensity |
2. “smooth running” (25%) | non-manual profile, very good social environment and working time quality, very low work intensity. However, low on skills and discretion and especially earnings |
3. “active manual” (21%) | distinctly manual profile with good social environment and prospects, otherwise poor working time quality and work intensity |
4. “under pressure” (13%) | a mixed, manual non-manual profile characterised by least favourable scores for the social work environment and work intensity. Else higher skills and discretion scores and better earnings, but poor working time quality |
5. “poor quality” (20%) | mostly manual profile with less favourable scorings for all indices. Distinctly low skills and discretion, prospects and earnings. |
Purpose of the present study
Methods
Study design, sample selection and description
Calculation of work indices
Index | Scales/ items included (weighting factor) | Descriptives |
---|---|---|
Physical exposure | Proportion of working time: sitting (1); bending, kneeling/ lying/working above head (1); lifting heavy loads (1); repetitive movements (1) | 50.0 (50.0)a |
Working time quality | Shift work (1); night shifts per month (1); having another job (1) | 100.0 (33.3)a |
Work intensity | COPSOQ-Scale „quantitative demands – 4 items “(2); frequency of interruptions at work (1) | 47.6 (25.5)b |
Skills & discretion | COPSOQ-Scale „influence at work – 3 items “(1); COPSOQ-Scale „possibilities for development – 3 items “(1) | 50.8 (21.6)b |
Social environment | COPSOQ-Scale „support from colleagues – 2 items “(1); ERI item: receiving acknowledgment from colleagues (1) | 69.7 (29.0)b |
Quality of leadership | COPSOQ-Scale „quality of leadership – 3 items “(3); ERI-item stress due to lack of recognition from superior (1) | 61.1 (22.2)b |
Continued education | Participation in continued education in the last 12 months: 0 = no, 1 = yes | .20c |
Earnings | Monthly equivalised household net income | 16.2 (7.5)b |
Prospects | Open ended or fixed-term work contract (1); recent job cuts/dismissals in enterprise (1); risk of losing one’s job (1); promotion prospects (1); chances for occupational advancement (1) | 60.0 (20.0)a |
Work-related outcomes
Statistical analyses
Results
Determination and interpretation of profiles
Demographic characteristics across profiles
Poor Quality (n = 1175, 18.7%) | Relaxed Manual (n = 1880, 30.0%) | Strained non-Manual (n = 976, 15.5%) | Smooth Running (n = 2064, 32.9%) | High Flying (n = 182, 2.9%) | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Sex: χ2(4) = 14.74, p = .005 | |||||
Male | 48.2 | 44.1 | 45.4 | 48.9 | 54.4 |
Female | 51.8 | 55.9 | 54.6 | 51.1 | 45.6 |
Educational level: χ2(8) = 774.95, p < .001 | |||||
Low | 36.3 | 37.9 | 13.1 | 15.7 | 5.5 |
Medium | 54.7 | 54.0 | 55.2 | 53.3 | 47.0 |
High | 9.0 | 8.1 | 31.6 | 31.0 | 47.5 |
Job task requirement level: χ2(12) = 1401.07, p < .001 | |||||
Un−/Semiskilled task | 15.6 | 16.6 | 1.9 | 1.6 | a |
Skilled task | 68.7 | 70.1 | 44.4 | 44.6 | > 20.0a |
Complex task | 10.7 | 8.9 | 25.7 | 24.0 | 23.3 |
Highly complex task | 5.1 | 4.4 | 28.0 | 29.8 | 50.0 |
Weekly working hours: χ2(8) = 264.54, p < .001 | |||||
Full-time (> 34 h/week) | 69.4 | 59.6 | 74.8 | 74.5 | 88.8 |
Part-time (20 to 34 h/week) | 19.9 | 22.4 | 20.9 | 19.8 | > 5.0a |
Part-time (< 20 h/week) | 10.8 | 18.0 | 4.3 | 5.6 | a |
Occupational area: χ2(32) = 872.79, p < .001 | |||||
Armed forces personnel | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
Agriculture, forestry, gardening and fishing | 2.0 | 2.0 | 0.5 | 1.0 | 0.0 |
Production of raw materials and goods, and manufacturing | 27.5 | 24.3 | 15.3 | 17.0 | 9.4 |
Construction, architecture, surveying, and technical building services | 4.5 | 7.2 | 3.1 | 4.8 | 3.3 |
Natural sciences, geography, and informatics | 1.5 | 2.0 | 5.8 | 5.8 | 7.2 |
Traffic, logistics, safety and security | 20.6 | 18.6 | 4.2 | 3.9 | 3.3 |
Commercial services, trading, sales, hotel business and tourisms | 12.0 | 13.4 | 8.1 | 9.6 | 8.9 |
Business organisation, accounting, law, and administration | 13.5 | 13.5 | 30.0 | 29.3 | 48.3 |
Health care, the social sector, teaching and education | 16.9 | 18.1 | 28.7 | 25.0 | 15.0 |
Philology, literature, humanities, social sciences and economics, media, art, culture and design | 1.6 | 0.9 | 4.3 | 3.7 | 4.4 |
Differences in work-related outcomes
Physical health | Mental health | Work-privacy-conflict | Work ability | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Profile | M (SD) | M (SD) | M (SD) | M (SD) |
Poor Quality | ||||
n | 478 | 478 | 489 | 476 |
2011 | 47.1 (9.1) | 49.6 (10.4) | 43.7 (27.5) | 7.4 (1.5) |
2014 | 47.4 (8.8) | 48.6 (10.5) | 39.5 (27.4) | 7.5 (1.5) |
2018 | 45.9 (8.7) | 49.8 (10.6) | 40.1 (27.0) | 7.2 (1.7) |
Relaxed Manual | ||||
n | 777 | 777 | 784 | 779 |
2011 | 49.3 (8.8) | 53.1 (8.9) | 27.8 (26.2) | 8.1 (1.4) |
2014 | 48.9 (8.9) | 51.8 (9.3) | 30.2 (26.5) | 7.9 (1.4) |
2018 | 46.5 (9.2) | 52.0 (9.7) | 32.1 (26.7) | 7.7 (1.5) |
Strained non-Manual | ||||
n | 473 | 473 | 478 | 474 |
2011 | 50.7 (8.7) | 49.7 (9.9) | 44.0 (27.4) | 7.9 (1.6) |
2014 | 50.6 (8.9) | 48.7 (10.3) | 39.5 (27.3) | 7.8 (1.5) |
2018 | 49.8 (9.2) | 50.8 (9.3) | 40.1 (26.8) | 7.7 (1.5) |
Smooth Running | ||||
n | 1031 | 1031 | 1051 | 1039 |
2011 | 52.0 (8.1) | 53.6 (8.9) | 32.6 (25.4) | 8.5 (1.3) |
2014 | 51.5 (8.6) | 51.7 (10.0) | 33.9 (26.0) | 8.3 (1.4) |
2018 | 49.9 (9.2) | 52.8 (9.4) | 35.8 (25.7) | 8.1 (1.4) |
High Flying | ||||
n | 90 | 90 | 90 | 88 |
2011 | 54.0 (7.4) | 52.3 (10.2) | 37.6 (27.1) | 8.8 (1.2) |
2014 | 54.0 (7.0) | 50.4 (11.0) | 37.5 (25.3) | 8.4 (1.4) |
2018 | 52.7 (7.8) | 52.3 (10.0) | 38.8 (28.1) | 8.1 (1.6) |